The virtual experience of being able to travel to another country in Second Life is pretty amazing, as it allows me to fly across continents and explore new things outside of Singapore. I am able to meet new friends during my “trip” and I can always talk to them if I feel bored. If we were to talk to some random people whom we do not know in real life, the person may have the impression that we are weird. However, this does not happens in Second Life, as I am able to interact with other people accessing to the game and we can actually “tour” around together, as it would be bored stiff if I were to travel alone.
Upon reaching Japan...
It was a pretty fast trip to reach Japan, since I just have to type in the country that I would like to visit in the search box and it will automatically bring me to Japan within seconds. As I arrived at Japan, the screen showed a map which depict a picture of where Japan is located.
I then began to explore the shops available around the vicinity.
The above picture shows me looking at the available Japanese-inspired slippers.
I can even find kimonos, with photos of models wearing them. This made me feel like buying one to wear! Kawaii!!
I can have such a fantastic shopping experience even in a virtual world.
Also, I chanced upon an aeroplane like object and even sat on it to try.
Besides the various facilities, I have also make new friends who are also exploring Japan. It is always good to travel with people (although they may be people whom you don't know, they helped to kill the boredom of travelling alone in an unfamiliar surrounding. )
Also, as we are chatting, they were talking in Japanese language which I do not understand, but realised after a while that there is a Google translator, which can help to translate to Japanese so that I can easily communicate with people around the world easily. This is a useful tool, as there would always be a communication barrier if speaking to people from different countries. This feature or service is not available in the real world, hence I felt that it comes in handy if we were to travel online virtually. We can always make an enquiry with others and they can easily translate and reply to me.
There is also sign boards around , just like those in the real world, which aids me in finding the direction of places of interest that I would like to visit.
Other than Japan, I have even explored another country- Australia.
Above shows the map of Australia.
The outside of a shopping centre.
It sells many products, ranging from clothings to even scenery pictures, as shown below.
It also allows SecondLife users to know what are the things that Australia is famous for, for example Dingo are Aussie birds, which I initially do not know. Hence, this virtual experience is actually meaningful, as it teaches me more information about various countries. Also, it allows users to fly around and teleport on countries easily. This experience allows me to visit various countries within seconds. I will be able to access to the different cultures and products available. Best of all, it's FREE of charge to travel across countries. Hence, we do not have to think twice to travel to other countries. There are no boundaries to the countries that you can visit, as we do not have to pay for travelling to other countries, which is the advantage of travelling in virtual world. It allows us to be able to travel around the world, even if we are unable to afford or do not have the spare time to visit other countries.
The multimedia websites that I have visited are as follows: http://www.serbia.travel/nature/national-parks/ and http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/. Enjoy some of these beatiful pictures featured on both the websites:
If you were to visit the above websites, you can actually view these pictures which are moving (ie. these magical and mystical pictures are moving images and graphics which moves by itself, creating a nice visual effect).
The evaluation criteria for the multimedia websites for my dream holiday is presentation and arrangement, as the website should be of neat and easy to navigate for the potential tourists to find out more information on their holiday destination. The website should be aesthetically pleasing for their readers, so that they would not have a hard time finding the correct navigation. In addition, the images or graphics should help to enhance the appearance of the website and not make it confusing or distracting, ie. They are placed at the appropriate places and not out of nowhere. Another feature that it should have is easy to read text. For example, if the font size of text of information provided in the website is too small, it makes it hard for the readers to decipher what information the website is trying to inform the tourists. I would also consider presentation and arrangement, as it is quite crucial for websites to use frames, as users will have a clear indication as to where to navigate. The text or information given should also be well written, as it would indirectly tell me if it is a credible website, ie the information that it has given me is quite reliable. It should also be consistent in the presentation and arrangement, as it would be somewhat impractical or peculiar if the website is of different format whenever you navigate. In conclusion, the arrangement of the website should be of logical and properly categorized for me to look for the information that I am searching on and it should be easy to navigate, ie I can clearly see the navigational icons eg homepage etc.
I have never been to Japan before, but I have heard from friends and relatives that it is a very beautiful place, where the people are very polite and friendly. Also, Japan is known for its wonderful creations of various everyday appliances and this reminds me that Daiso is also from Japan and there are a lot of interesting things that you would not be able to find from other parts of Singapore. From the multimedia images and graphics, it further prompts me to choose Japan as a holiday destination. Besides, the advertisements on the website look very appealing and it contains many itineraries of exciting places that I can visit if I were to go on a trip to Japan.
I would like to comment on Syafiqah's blog this time around, and as I read her blog, I realised that we are both from Business School. What a coincidence! :) And I learnt that she would love to Maldives. From the pictures featured in her blog, I would also like to visit this country next time, as it has beautiful reefs and she did a great job in finding such pictures, as they captured the beauty of Maldives.
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