Sun Microsystems has done a lot of work in Second Life, and I visited part of their island. It was very interesting, because it showed their approach to moving portions of their business into a virtual world. They have a mix of customer-facing exhibits that include videos and product information, and resources for employees to meet together. Overall, I think they could take advantage of the interactive features of Second Life, but it's good to see companies using virtual worlds in interesting ways. Sun Microsystems was recently purchased by Oracle. It will be interesting to see how it affects Sun's presence in Second Life.

Continuing my theme of visiting virtual versions of Bay Area museums, I really enjoyed the virtual Exploratorium. In flatland, the Exploratorium is famous for their hands-on displays. It is very kid-friendly, and is a fun place to visit for all ages. I was interested to see how they would transfer this hands-on approach to learning into Second Life. I was not disappointed. The exhibits are very original and very interactive, and I had a lot of fun exploring. I will definitely be returning to the virtual Exploratorium. A previous Diigo post talks about the virtual Exploratorium, so I found this great video that shows off a number of the exhibits. Hopefully it will inspire you to visit it yourself!

I was excited to see that The Tech, a wonderful museum in San Jose, CA, has a virtual exhibit. I found it interesting that they have very few traditional exhibits on display. Instead, they share free materials and teach visitors how to make virtual exhibits and display some user-generated exhibits - and there is the possibility that your user-generated exhibit could be displayed in museums in flatland. It's an interesting approach to a virtual museum, and I enjoyed the visit.