Own the universe - and a piece of Second Life - in Real Life

Posted by Bettina Tizzy

This mathematical structure - known as the E8 Polytope created by Wizard Gynoid in Second Life® with the guidance of renown physicist Garrett Lisi (and sometimes avatar, Garrett Netizen)... is now available for purchase in Real Life.

The virtual version consists of 6,672 prims that were generated via script by Wizard with the assistance of Desdemona Enfield and Nand Nerd. Given its complexity, it seemed unlikely that its recreation in Real Life would be possible, barring enormous expense.

Now art, math and 3D printing artist Bathsheba Grossman has done it.


The 80mm glass cube will cost $72 USD and will be available as of July 10, 2009

Batsheba used Wizard's mathematical data for the crystal visualization and explains: "This 3D projection is notable for showing all 240 vertices, arranged in the concentric circles that appear in the common 2D "spirograph" rendering of this polytope." She adds that if Garrett Lisi's unified field theory is true, it "would mean that it explains most aspects of the observable universe. Here's a handy model for pondering the possibility."

In Lisi's seminal work from which these mathematical virtual creations stem, "Theory of Everything," the E8 Polytope may at last reveal the link between gravity and the other fundamental forces of nature.

"It has all 240 vertices and if you look straight down from the top, the zenith downwards, you will see a hole through the middle. If it were flattened, it would form the perfect spirograph," Wizard explained.

Here is a TED talk recorded in February, 2008, in which Lisi unenviably attempts to get us up to speed on his unified field theory in just 18 minutes.



See also:
Universe in the Metaverse by Hamlet Au, New World Notes

Wizard Gynoid: "I think it's important. I have an intuition about it"

Posted by Bettina Tizzy


Could this be the shape of our universe?

This is a favorite blogpost of mine by Hamlet Au of New World Notes in which he describes the October 2008 unveiling of a virtual E8 Polytope created by Wizard Gynoid with the guidance of renown physicist Garrett Lisi (and sometimes Second Life® avatar, Garrett Netizen).

Today, Bryn Oh teleported me to see what Wizard calls "the best representation of my previous work. The previous E8 Polytopes were like sketches of this." The new mathematical structure consists of 6,672 prims that were generated via script by Wizard with the assistance of Desdemona Enfield. "Desde's giving me a crash course in quantum physics," laughed Wizard, but those of us who know them both realize that this is exactly what is happening.

In Lisi's seminal work from which these mathematical virtual creations stem, "Theory of Everything," the E8 Polytope may at last reveal the link between gravity and the other fundamental forces of nature.

"It has all 240 vertices and if you look straight down from the top, the zenith downwards, you will see a hole through the middle. If it were flattened, it would form the perfect spirograph," Wizard explained.

Here is a TED talk recorded in February, 2008, in which Lisi unenviably attempts to get us up to speed on his unified field theory in just 18 minutes.



I wondered outloud if there is a benefit to realizing an E8 in-world. If it can be realized in CAD, then isn't that enough? Why here? Why now? "This is going to sound paradoxical, but somehow it's more real here. You can almost reach out and touch it. You fly around it and bonk into it," she replied.

Wizard was unaware of any Real Life reconstructions of the E8, and believes that it would be a hugely expensive proposition to try to construct the same sculpture in Real Life. Indeed. Faster, cheaper, easier to create in a virtual environment, and people from all over the world can visit it and share it simultaneously from the comfort of their own homes.

Had Dr. Lisi been involved in some way with the creation of this newest model? "He kept giving me hints and guidance," said Wizard. Did she mean the he wanted her to figure it out herself? She believes so. "I think of him as a mentor or teacher."

Wizard's parting words to me this afternoon about this work brought it all home: "I think it's important. I have an intuition about it."

I like to think that she is right.

This latest E8 is due to disappear any moment, along with the sim it is sitting on. If you hurry, you might still catch it by teleporting directly from here.

Not Possible IRL Field Trips with Seifert Surface

NPIRL members received a notice on August 14, 2007 advising them that it was MATH FINALS WEEK. And so it was...

Our very own Seifert Surface is a postdoctoral mathematician who can explain, in terms a layperson can grasp, what in the heck is going on with the many (dozens and dozens - is that a legitimate quantity, Seifert? ^.^) elegant, math-inspired sculptures he's not only built but often scripted.

But his work isn't just about mathematical representation. These things are... beautiful. Yep. And fun. And most would simply not be possible in Real Life. Well, maybe some of them would be but you would need a budget equal to the GNP of a small nation to realize them.

So... on Friday, August 17th, this math-mage hosted TWO tours for NPIRL'ers at his Future sim, rezzing things from his inventory, activating kinetic sculptures such as a rotating 4D hypercube and a procedurally-generated Fibonacci sequence, and then...he explained them! T'was great fun walking all over the Costa-Hoffman-Meeks surface and then having him personally demo his interpretation of Robert Heinlein's Crooked House.



I'm sorry if you weren't there. Was way cool. For those of us who have always thought of math as a PITB (you figure it out), this was math therapy. But go check this place out anyway! On a practical level, *his elevator and transporter system alone* are reasons enough to drop everything and run over to have a look.
The Future
***
It was simply not possible to see all the ingenious things this man has created in even two sessions. Here are some extra links and things to kick your experience up a knot or two:

NMC Campus - Sculpture at the NMC Campus
Seifert's Sculpture Garden, The Future

Hey Scope Cleaver: thank you for introducing us to Seifert. He's a keeper!