Linden Lab Announces Co-Winners of Inaugural Linden Prize

Contest Honors Second Life Projects That Are Improving Real Lives; Studio Wikitecture and Virtual Ability Both Awarded $10,000 USD

SAN FRANCISCO — April 30, 2009 — Linden Lab®, creator of the virtual world Second Life®, today announced the winners of the first annual Linden Prize, an initiative to honor Second Life projects that have a tangible impact on the real world. After reviewing more than 230 applications from around the world, the voting committee pronounced a tie, prompting Linden Lab to proclaim Studio Wikitecture and Virtual Ability as co-winners. As a result, both projects will be awarded $10,000 USD for their efforts, marking the largest prize ever given in the virtual world industry to an individual or organization.

"How do you measure the value of a project? Should making a deep impact on a select group of individuals weigh heavier than making an impact on a large population? Ultimately that wasn't a question we could answer, so we decided to celebrate and honor both projects," said Mark Kingdon, CEO, Linden Lab. "The reach, scope and success of all the entries — exemplified by the winners — demonstrates how individuals and organizations are using Second Life to improve the overall human condition, something Linden Lab has strived for since day one. Heartfelt thanks and congratulations to the winners, finalists, entrants and every Resident and organization that continues to demonstrate how Second Life is fundamentally changing the way people learn, play, communicate and collaborate."

Summaries of the winners and each of the finalists are provided below. To read full descriptions of each project please click here.

The Winners

Studio Wikitecture
Studio Wikitecture explores how a geographically dispersed design team can simultaneously work on the same architecture or urban planning project. This includes sharing ideas, editing the contributions of others and voting on the success or failure of proposed design iterations. To help guide and manage collaboration effectively, Studio Wikitecture built a version tracking Wiki that it calls the "Wiki-Tree." Unlike conventional wikis that track text documents in a linear history, Wiki-Tree tracks versions of 3D models and saves them within a continually evolving digital tree structure. Studio Wikitecture's most recent project saw a number of different participants from varying disciplines come together and collaborate on the design of a health clinic in one of the more remote parts of Nepal.

Virtual Ability
Offering a series of courses and resources to help people with real-world disabilities get acclimated and start using Second Life, Virtual Ability helps realize the documented medical and psychological benefits offered by virtual environments. The organization has developed a unique orientation process that assesses individual skills, provides customized training and makes recommendations for assistive hardware as needed. Once users are comfortable in the virtual world, Virtual Ability offers a series of daily field trips, including everything from mountain climbs, skydiving, fishing, dancing, and countless other activities that are difficult or impossible in the real world.

The Finalists

  • Alliance Virtual Library: A collaborative international community of volunteer librarians, educators and non-profits, Alliance hosts book discussions, training sessions, conferences, non-credit courses, speakers and immersive events.
  • American Cancer Society (ACS) Island: combining counseling, awareness and fundraising efforts, ACS Island has offered support to thousands of cancer patients, survivors and their families and raised over $200,000 USD.
  • Invisible Threads: Combining a virtual manufacturing facility with a physical store, Invisible Threads produces real world jeans sold through its Double Happiness label, providing a view into the future of telematic production.
  • Let There Be Night (LTBN): A community-wide science experiment that demonstrates pollution's effects on the night sky, LBTN's presentation has been distributed to hundreds of planetariums around the world
  • NonProfit Commons (NPC): A worldwide community that helps non-profits tap into the potential of virtual worlds as an avenue for fundraising and awareness efforts, The NPC has guided over 100 nonprofits from over 70 countries.
  • Skoolaborate: A global initiative that demonstrates how virtual worlds can make education more meaningful, productive and engaging for students, Skoolaborate contains over 30 schools and organizations from 10 countries.
  • The Space Between These Trees (TSBTT): Designed to raise awareness and funds for Heifer International, a charity that aims to end world hunger and care for the Earth, TSBTT has raised $7,500 USD to date.
  • The Tech Virtual (TTV): A virtual-world-to-real-world exhibition gallery, TTV democratizes museum content by enabling faster testing and prototyping. To date, 8 real-world exhibits have been produced from the work in TTV.

Special Mentions

  • Clinical Scenarios (CS): Designed to offer widespread access to advanced, interactive medical training programs, CS cost effectively enhances general or specialist healthcare training with simulations of real-world scenarios.
  • Language Lab (LL): The largest and most established language school in Second Life, LL has helped 25,000 users from 50 countries learn to speak a foreign language with a series of classes, activities and real-world simulations.
  • <The New Media Consortium (NMC): Consisting of more than 300 colleges, museums and research centers, NMC helps educators explore the education potential of virtual worlds through training, events, conferences and programs.

About Second Life and Linden Lab
Developed and launched by Linden Lab in 2003, Second Life is the world's leading 3D virtual world environment. It enables its users - known as Residents - to create content, interact with others, launch businesses, collaborate and educate. With a thriving inworld economy that saw over $360 million USD transacted in 2008, and a broad user base that includes everyone from consumers and educators to medical researchers and large enterprises, Second Life has become one of the largest hubs of user-generated content (UGC) in the world.

Linden Lab, founded in 1999 by Chairman of the Board Philip Rosedale and headquartered in San Francisco, develops revolutionary, immersive technologies that change the way people communicate, interact, learn and create. Privately held and profitable, Linden Lab is led by CEO Mark Kingdon, and has more than 300 employees spread across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Media Contacts:
LEWIS PR for Linden Lab
Kristin Mitchell
Tel: (415) 992-4434
secondlifeus@lewispr.com