A lot of communities exists not only because of common interest but because its members can help each other out.  You might keep an eye on each other’s house in your neighborhood.  You might work together to support a school.

I like how technology has brought us to the point where we can form communities that are not location based.  I’m involveded with automotive, Second Life, CAD and professional communities on-line. Many of these people I have never met but the sense of community is just the same.

Sometimes these virtual and real life communities overlap. SWGeek is one of my friends in one of my CAD communities. He is involved with Orangewood Children’s Foundation.  It is an interesting story and you can read more about it on his blog post, “Design for the Future” .

So if you have a few bucks or some space on your own blog or just want to retweet his link above, here’s a place for you to do a good deed for the day. You certainly got to like a place that produces guys like Alex.

In case you haven’t noticed, I use an avatar (cartoon figure) for most of my pictures.  You can even go to the more serious sites like linkedin and find it. If you google “mark burhop”  under images, I don’t even think you will find me there, just my avatar.  Sometimes I get a bit of flack about this…it is hardly professional, right?

Maybe,  maybe not.  In my case, I have a message behind my avatar.  It is time to start thinking about the virtual world.  I don’t mean “Second Life”, “WoW” and other virtual environments although that is included.  I mean all things virtual… virtual product development, virtual architectural design, virtual travel, any real life things you can simulate on a computer.

For businesses, it can save you money.  The CAD industry is based around designing products in a virtual world.  You might say CAM and 3D printing are technologies for taking virtual products into the real world. Testing with a computer simulation (CAE) is much cheaper than building a real life prototype.  

You will hear most universities talk about virtual education and virtual training and I’ve been a part of a number of virtual meetings. How much will businesses save here in travel costs? It is hard to say but it could be substantial.

Even if there is a neutral cost/benefit, virtual technology is still more eco friendly.  The carbon footprint of  virtual products and virtual people are sure to be less than the volume of burnt carbon created flying and driving real me around or building real life prototypes.

One interesting side effect of using an avatar is that it is makes it harder to make judgments about people.  How old  is the person?  Are they disabled?  What color is their skin?  How much do they weigh?  Are they male or female?   In a real life meeting, these are the first things you learn about someone despite being completely unimportant to most discussions. 

Now there is a negative side. You miss out on certain social cues and body language that is so important to effective communication. Some people like to talk face to face. Since we are talking about my static image, a real life picture really isn’t going to help you much here.  The best it will do is give you a hint as to who I am before you have to find me in a croud.

So while being a white, average, middle aged male would not get ME a second look, I’d at least like to provide some token support to those that would prefer not to be judged by their initial appearance.

We established a few posts ago that I am a football expert but did you also know I’m a 3D expert? I can spin 3D CAD models with a flick of my wrist. I fly around Second Life with an avatar. You might say I live in the 3D world. So, when 3D technology meets football, I am THE person to talk about it.

In my case I went to see the BCS title game between the Gators and Sooners in 3D down in Hunstville, Alabama.  Huntsville is at the center of the universe for the SEC and therefore college football.  I was given a set of “Men in Black“  3D glasses to wear ( Note to old people, they are not blue and red anymore, they are clear). I sat in front of a 5000 inch hi-def digital screen with 800 surround sound speakers.  I’m just estimating screen size and number of speakers but it was definitely more than my friends 61 inch LCD and eight speakers (in your face, Bob!).

It was put on at the Rave cinema using technology from 3ality Digital, Sony, and Fox Sports.  Here are my observations and suggestions for any future games:

1. Put your glasses on after you sit down.  DO NOT STAND while watching the show or risk falling into the next row. If you do stand, at least put your drink down.
2. Expect a headache.  I don’t know that this is from the 3D glasses. It might have come from banging my head after those interceptions. In any case, it could have been prevented if the Rave, got their liquor license before the game. 
3. Having the camera on the fields is great!  I felt like I was walking around with Tim Tebow.  I think a few people tried to touch him. One person in a wheelchair may have been healed.
4. The technology is surprisingly good. It was a sharp picture and I had a feeling like I was there. OK, it has it’s glitches like when the camera loses focus and causes the entire crowd to scream in pain from going cross-eyed.  This only happened a few times and most of us were able to walk it off.  I think the problems I did see were 1/3 technology and 2/3 execution (which is good) so lets talk more about that.
5. We had several policemen at the theater. At first, I figured this was normal since it was football in the south and they might not have know the liquor licence was delayed.  I realized later that it was to go after the cell phone users. Phones must be turned off in a theater!  Those darn geeks are always ruining a good game with their PDAs and text message flame wars.
6. Broadcasters do not ask your viewers to text you comments about the experience during the game.  If one of them gets clubbed by the phone police (see above) they will sue you.
7. Cameramen, is this your first time covering football?   Yes, I know there are 24 players on the field but most football fans like to watch the one with the ball. The cuts to the cheerleaders are great, BUT NOT WHILE THE GAME IS BEING PLAYED. Ok, some of this is Oklahoma’s fault with thier hurry offense.
8. More Cameraman suggestions.  The camera on the field between plays or during breaks is good. The camera on the field during the play is bad. I now know why it is so hard to tackle a small back like Demps and Rainey.  It’s hard to see around a 6’6’’ 300 lb lineman to find them.
9. The crowd wanted to know about doing the SuperBowl in 3D. Yes, I hear it is coming.  You should go if you get the chance. Of course some smart aleck in the back wanted to know if it would be the same cameramen (see above).
10. Digital graphics person, Do not make your graphics (score, stats, logo) like they are 10 inches from my face. I get it.  It is 3D and it is cool.  However, I want to watch football.  Imagine you are at a football game focused on something 50 yards away and then have to focus on your cell phone. It takes a second. You don’t have this with 2D TV and I bet you can fix it in 3D by making the graphics show at a greater distance.
11. For the future football players, walk up to the 3D camera pointing. You wouldn’t think having a 20 foot arm coming out of the screen is cool but it is.  In the future, I wonder who will be the first to spit at the camera.
12. For the sound guys doing the production, be sure Michelle is with her friends before starting.  I spent a good part of the game listening to Michelle’s friends calling her name looking for her. Michelle might have also kept her friend form getting drunk and singing “We are the boys of old Florida” off key (that is the end of the 3^rd quarter for non-gator fans). On second thought, just find a better place for the mic.
13. Rave, the price was $25.  Please don’t nickel and dime us to death with $1 raffles. Now don’t get me wrong, the extra attention was nice but I’d rather not be digging through my pockets in a dark theater.  Just let me pay $30, give me some free Nachos or a coke (ok, Rave, you probably have some contract with someone else – complain to them).
14.  At some point, confetti must be thrown in the air for all 3D games.  This is very cool in 3D.  Big Ten teams, this technology is for you when the snow starts.  The SEC and PAC10 can’t compete (unless they start throwing beach sand at the cameras).

Here are a few pictures from the Huntsville tweetup. 

I’ve tagged them with #HSVTWEETUP in Flickr