Real Life Control Panel for Second Life
January 24, 2007
One of the things that have fascinated me since I joined Second Life has been mixed reality events. Just as I joined, my friend Hiro Pendragon was working on The Happening. I thought that was pretty neat and have watched the new events since, even built a few gadgets of my own. I just finished another one, a real life control panel linked through into Second Life. My friend Bill Ward built a small control box, just like this:
which I then hooked to my computer just like this:
and built a representation of in Second Life like this:
The two are now entangled together through a Python web server so that turning the knob on the real world one, or pushing a button, changes the same on the one in Second Life.
What for? Well, the same techniques can connect other real world objects to other SL objects. We’ll probably be connecting the panel to trains and fireworks, maybe a few other things soon, and then working on other panels and in-world applications.
You can see the RL and SL panels at my display gallery in Pi. Or as best as can be shown in the larger picture below:
That’s Bill(Williem Leandros) on the left, myself on the right, and Rhiannon Chatnoir looking on in the middle.
Channel 3B 
January 24, 2007 at 7:15 pm
This is awesome. I have been wondering what that was. I also wondered why, when I clicked it, nothing happened. Nothing I could see anyway 😉
January 24, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Wow, so many tremendous applications to this. Here’s a couple thoughts:
* Creating a controller with force-feedback that rumbled when you ran into other SL objects. Great for driving and flying in SL.
* A DJ controller for more naturally queuing tracks and mixing at virtual gigs.
* Avatars being able to control a real world robot that they could see via streaming video
Good work!
January 24, 2007 at 8:09 pm
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January 24, 2007 at 8:19 pm
Otakupope: Heh, I was wondering if anyone had noticed the box as I was building it. Feedback from SL is coded in but not really hooked up for this demo, the second light from the right does blink in SL and RL and the blinking is driven from the SL side, other feedback is not attached due to lack of servo motors.
Rik: Yep, on the DJ line we’ve been thinking much more lighting control, at a virtual or mixed reality gig you could control both sets of lights.
January 25, 2007 at 2:48 am
Very nice! Please bring this to the NMConnect show and let’s look at this more!
http://www.nmc.org/campus/NMConnect
We are looking for more interactive breakthroughs from talented builders and scripters inworld so bring your work and bring friends.
January 25, 2007 at 3:06 am
Cool, we are definately interested in the art that can be based off of this, both building some ourselves and working with artists possibly. I couldn’t see from your site though whether your show has a real world component, does it?
January 29, 2007 at 4:16 am
Hi,
I went to the SLURL and there’s nothing there except a protected home for rent. Is the SLURL correct? Or am I doing something wrong. I’m going to:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pi/112/243/33
February 15, 2007 at 7:27 pm
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February 17, 2007 at 2:10 am
So how can you make SL objects control real-world devices?
February 17, 2007 at 2:54 am
The channel is two way already, when the control panel is running the second red light blinks both in real life and in Second Life. This blink is controlled from the LSL script in the panel. Depending on what’s being controlled I can use http request, XMLRPC, or (theoretically) e-mail for the outbound channel.
April 12, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Which Python HTTP server were you using? Were you able to receive the special headers SL sends along with ever HTTP request, such as HTTP-X-SecondLife-Object-Name? I’m using Python’s cgi and CGIHTTPServer modules for my server and everything is working fine except that the special SL headers aren’t showing up in form.headers, where form=cgi.FieldStorage(). Any tips are appreciated. Thanks!
May 13, 2007 at 7:16 pm
TM: You should be able to access those special headers fairly easily using mod_python’s apache module, though I could have sworn that the vanilla cgi/CGIHTTPServer modules could do so as well.
October 25, 2007 at 2:03 pm
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