Web 3.0

True Knowledge’s Natural Language Search Engine

TechCrunch posted yesterday about the new natural language search engine by True Knowledge. While traditional search engines direct the user to a list of websites based on statistical analysis of key terms in the word or phrase being searched for, this natural language search engine actually translates the question (or phrase) into a query that returns real answers.

The video demoing the site and explaining the technology behind this powerful form of searching is very intriguing. You can see exactly how this type of site differs greatly and can be much more useful than your standard Google search engine.

Will the 3-D Web Ever Be a Reality?

The 3-D Web has been kicking around the web world for several years. Some companies have even tried to start some kind of 3-D Web environment, mostly with unsuccessful results (like the 3B web browser).

Most of these efforts have been to create a 3-D browser that just connects 2-D websites along virtual streets. Pretty ho-hum, especially in education. Who wants to float to a web site in a virtual world when you can just type in the address? Students would stay off-task forever.

The popularity of Second Life and other online virtual worlds has made some speculate that we may be close to having a 3-D web. However, there are two problems with this. First of all, each online virtual world is separate from all others. You don’t have this on the Internet. Second, virtual worlds are not that great for transmitting information (just communication), and that is what makes the Internet so much more popular than any virtual world.

Apparently, these two problems are getting close to being solved.

First off – Second Life, IBM, and others are working on a standard that will open virtual world borders by creating a way for one account to cross into any online virtual world. If this catches on, that’s one barrier down.

Second, OnRez has released a Second Life viewer that gives SL users the ability to open a web browser inside of their Second Life viewer. I was able to try it out, and it works really nice (even without supporting Flash – yet). One day, your web browsing experience could look like this:

Web 3.0 and Second Life

The benefits for education would be immense, as far as communication across distance and collaboration, but the higher technical needs to make any virtual world work on a computer would be a hindrance. But we’ll see where this goes….

Video Blurbs: Multitouch Interface and the Semantic Web

Turns out that MIT’s Technology Review is a very interesting site. (No surprise there. How much more wonderfully geeky can you get than MIT?) While browsing their site, I found their Documentaries section to have several interesting video clips, two of which I thought fellow edugeeks would find interesting.

Jeff Han on a Better Interface
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but Tech Review currently has an interesting video available titled “Jeff Han on a Better Interface”. Not only does the video discuss the obvious advantages multitouch functionality provides in terms of user interface, but he also discusses multitouch in relation to mirror and virtual worlds, collaboration, and information management.
[Jeff Han on a Better Interface]

Tim Berners-Lee on the Semantic Web
The inventor of the World Wide Web explains how the Semantic Web works and how it will transform how we use and understand data.
[Tim Berners-Lee on the Semantic Web]

Twingly

On the way in to work today, I was listening to a Metaverse Session podcast (which is excellent, by the way), and they were talking about a screensaver called Twingly that shows a 3D globe and maps out in real time as blogs are posted from around the world. As soon as I got to work, I downloaded/installed it, and I must say it is pretty darn cool. (However, don’t look too close at the blog posting titles since — as expected — every once in a while, something NSFW will scroll by.)

You can click/drag the globe to see different areas. You can zoom in on different areas and see what blog posts are coming out of that location. You can click on a post title and get more information and a link directly to that blog.

Is Education 1.0 Ready for Web 2.0 Students?

Everything on the web seems to come with it’s own version number now. Even though most desktop-based programs have moved past that. Recently, education has even been given a version number online. Are you teaching education 1.0, or education 2.0? Don’t know the difference? Then I have the article for you.

In a recent Innovate article, John Thompson of Buffalo State College explored how Web 2.0 is affecting education:

Is Education 1.0 Ready for Web 2.0 Students?
According to John Thompson, Web 2.0 is here. Having moved away from its roots in a read-only medium, the Internet is now a place where any and all users can create, upload, and transform information. A crucial consideration for Thompson is how this technological transformation will affect the pedagogical practices of institutions of higher education (IHEs). In his article, Thompson offers an exploration of the meaning and application of Web 2.0; evaluates how Net Generation students, who will enter the classroom with Web 2.0 expectations and experiences, will reshape IHEs and their practices; and examines what some IHEs are specifically doing to meet the needs of the next generation of students. Thompson suggest that in order to move our educational practices forward, it is incumbent upon us to recognize and react to our changing student population.

(note: you have to register with the site to read the whole article)

The article is very interesting. As an educator at heart, I hope that Web 2.0 does change education. Enough with the lectures and book reading assignments already….

However, I do have to point out that this article follows Marc Prensky in assuming that every college student in the future will be a Digital Native. As I’ve looked at before, this greatly ignores the digital divide, that is alive and well in this country. But, despite, the digital divide, education 1.0 does need to upgrade to education 2.0, especially before education 3.0 arrives.

I need to go home and eat my food 1.0, before it grows mold and becomes food 2.0. Leftovers just don’t do the upgrade thing very well….

Scanning 3-Dimensional Objects is a Reality

This is something straight out of Sci-Fi, but it is for real. 3-D scanners have existed for a while, apparently, but now they are coming down in price. 3-D printers are still expensive, but something that is possibly coming to a place like Kinko’s soon.

The New York Times had an article about this technology. You put an object on the scanner, the object gets scanned with a laser, and then you have a 3-D scan of a 3-D object. If you have something too big for the scanner, they also have laser devices like a camera that can take care of those. Then, you can edit the 3-D object in a computer program. Scanners start at $2500 and go up to nearly $40,000 for the camera, just in case you want to start saving up (to buy me one of course).

They also have the 3-D “printers” that can re-create the objects, in full color, using a resin or a starch-based powder. Sweet.

I’m thinking that, other than being cool, this could also be a giant leap forward for Second Life. The $2500 scanner is for desktops. The way the computer world goes, that will come down to about $250 in 2 years, right? So, want to create a realistic avatar of yourself? Want to recreate your favorite chair, coffee mug, chia-pet, or what ever in Second Life? What ever you want to transfer into Second Life will be a realistic possibility in the future.

The educational possibilities for the 3-D printer are also endless, as soon as the cost comes down. Ancient artifacts could be scanned and “faxed” to classrooms everywhere. Distance art education could become a reality. Of course, there are also new legal issue to wrangle with. The Time article linked above deals with those issues and some other ideas.

I’m ready for my Holodeck now….