Active Projects

• We are currently partnering with the Smithsonian Latino Center to develop the Smithsonian Latino Virtual Musuem (LVM).
• This exciting collaboration aims to create a user experience that promotes innovative approaches in education to accessing and viewing Smithsonian Institution Latino collections, research, and resources online within a 3-D virtual museum environment in the virtual world of Second Life.
• This avatar based 3D environment provides a working model of a virtual museum as an archive of everything Latino which can transcend spatial and temporal limitations, extending the Smithsonian Lation Center's services beyond its physical boundaries.
• The vision for LVM is to become the leading web portal for U.S. Latino and Latin American collections and research at the Smithsonian Institution and to facilitate the creation and dissemination of new knowledge.
• The museum’s unique navigational features will provide access to the Smithsonian Latino exhibitions, art and music collections, science, history, as well as the Latino Virtual Gallery. The LVM is the first 3-D digital initiative committed to improving access to Smithsonian Latino collections and resources.
• The first part of the museum to be completed will be a large circular central Lobby and four wings. After which, sixteen radiating ‘spokes’ or wings will be built, each one featuring a different aspect of Latino culture including: art, music, science, and history.
• The Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum is the first model of its kind for the prestigious Smithsonian Institution, as well as one of the VITAL Lab’s most rewarding projects to date.
• For more information about this ongoing project, please contact VITAL Lab designer Arnold Jonas at 740-593-1236 or Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum Director, Melissa Carrillo at 202-633-0806, carrillom@si.edu.
• The first phase of this exciting project is scheduled to be open to the public in February 2009.

To learn more about the Smithsonian LVM please visit the Smithsonian Latino Center Website

• We are currently developing phase II of a Financial Literacy Game for Members United Inc.
• This game is being developed on the Second Life Teen Grid
• Teenagers playing the game go through a virtual lifetime and see the results of various life decisions
• Players have the opportunity to attend college or start work immediately after high school
• They can choose many different cars and homes to purchase or rent
• The game automatically keeps track of players’ income and gives them feedback about their own financial health
• This game is scheduled to be available to the public by the end of November 2008.

• We are currently in our 3rd year of our 1.67 million dollar NSF GK-12 grant project
• STEAM stands for "Science and Technology Enrichment for Appalachian Middle-schoolers"
• The project aims to broaden graduate education for engineering students at Ohio University
• And to improve learning in science courses for middle schoolers at surrounding middle schools
• NSK GK-12 STEAM Fellows develop engaging computer based educational modules for use in their classrooms
• So far they developed 19 modules, click here for more information about the STEAM project