AMD Extends Developer Collaboration into Second Life; Open Source SL Discussion Upcoming

On Friday, AMD opened its Developer Pavilion in Second Life.  The AMD Dev Central archipelago is intended to be an extension and compliment to AMD’s existing Developer Central website and its Developer Outreach Program. The Outreach Program is designed for developers to learn about and discuss writing software code optimized for AMD hardware.

According to Adri Saarinen of Metaversatility who collaborated with AMD on building the Second Life project, the space is meant for collaboration, education and community-building, as well as to reach developers who may not have heard about AMD’s Outreach Program. Don’t go looking for a brand theme park; this space is designed for work.

The launch activities include a three-month Dell giveaway.  Hidden throughout the AMD sims, there are LSL (Linden Scripting Language) and open source programming challenges.  Developers who complete the challenges are entered to win a Dell Dimension E521 system.  During the challenge period, there will also be tech lectures and discussions.

The archipelago of islands includes space for meetings, lectures, a formal auditorium and a display hall.  The displays include scripted banners, streaming video, information booths, and various displays with live RSS feeds.  There are informal gathering spaces for avatar networking.  It appears AMD and Metaversatility have left room to grow.  But it struck me that they have also spread things out nicely to facilitate multiple groups chatting while minimizing the potential for cross-talk. 

Paul Nolte is AMD’s project manager and contributing builder.  Adri Saarinen credits Nolte with designing the sim as well as building the main expo hall.

According to the official press release, the first event at the pavilion will take place next Sunday, February 25 at 1:00 p.m. (SLT).  Prominent members of the SL Open Source  movement will be there to talk about the challenges and opportunities presented by an Open Source SL.

To reach AMD, teleport to ADM Dev Central 124, 251, 31.

February 18, 2007