Buildings and City Plans Getting a First Look in Second Life

A California hospital taps Second Life for a fly-by tour of its building plan.

Hello and welcome to the hospital of the future." That’s the simple greeting a stylish avatar in thick, black-rimmed glasses and a chunky up-do offers at the beginning of a virtual tour of a facility. It may be a Second Life simulation — and visitors may be able to fly through the air or high-jump over corridors during their virtual visit — but it’s a tour of a real hospital that’s under construction and set to open in San Diego County in 2011. Here’s something else that’s real: The brick-and-mortar building is being built by Palomar Pomerado Health, California’s largest public health district, and is being funded by the largest health care-related bond package in California’s history.
San Diego County’s Second Life Hospital

Opening a virtual model within Second Life is a cutting-edge way to give the public a look at what $850 million will buy. But more important, hospital personnel who will work there have a chance to visit the space and figure out how it will work for them. Second Life provides a relatively easy and inexpensive way for employees to think through questions about workflow, equipment placement and other work-related elements.

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