Later this October, my first in-print article hits Design News Magazine. The culmination of several months of research, I report on the virtual world of Second Life (SL) and show how this new technology will impact engineering design. My conclusion: SL is disruptive technology that will revolutionize computer aided engineering design and facilitate new kinds of global design collaboration.

Second Life, created by Linden Lab, is a computer-generated universe (a metaverse) that is free to use for anyone with an Internet connection. Within this world, virtual objects can be created from scratch using a library of primitives, basic shapes such as cubes and spheres. By manipulating these elemental objects, adding uploaded image textures, and combining components, anything that can be imagined can be constructed. Completed objects are then augmented with additional layers of sophistication by adding software scripts, making them intelligent, responsive, and interactive.

Multiple branches of the Smartvest Investment and Savings shut down at the end of September, after a land scam involving two alleged teens went bad. SmartVest, run by 15-year-old Blazed Miles, billed itself as a full-service bank providing savings accounts, certificates of deposits accounts and portfolio management, with intent to eventually offer mortgages at an interest rate of 1.5%.

On Friday Sept. 28, A Smartvest customer, who wished to remain anonymous but will be referred to as John Smith, told SLNN.com that Miles had just asked him to withdraw his money from the bank. Miles confessed to Smith that he was fifteen, and in major trouble.

While recent developments in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology have given humans the power to mentally control computers, nobody has used the technology in conjunction with the Second Life online virtual world — until now.

A research team led by professor Jun’ichi Ushiba of the Keio University Biomedical Engineering Laboratory has developed a BCI system that lets the user walk an avatar through the streets of Second Life while relying solely on the power of thought. To control the avatar on screen, the user simply thinks about moving various body parts — the avatar walks forward when the user thinks about moving his/her own feet, and it turns right and left when the user imagines moving his/her right and left arms.