Thinking differently, right down to your tippy toes

Posted by Bettina Tizzy

While I maintain that no other platform can rival virtual worlds for thinking differently about design - and specifically Second Life® and OpenSim where user-created content is not only possible but encouraged - my pulse still quickens when I come across innovations by Real Life mavericks.

One such designer is Netherlands-born, London-based and award-winning artist Marloes ten Bhömer. Her brainchildren actually belong on our feet, and offer an alternative to existing design languages.





Marloes' shoes, which are more architectural than fashionable, afford women the incredibly rare chance of freedom from conventional style clichés and codes. Everything about her approach is different, including the materials she works with: carbon fiber and stainless steel, among others.




Many thanks to artist AM Radio for the toes up on Marloes' shoes.

Use Second Life and get brainier - Imagination made tangible

In his book The Brain That Changes Itself, Norman Doidge explained,“experiments have shown that we can change our brain anatomy simply by using our imaginations.” He goes on to say, "...the faster you can imagine something, the faster you can do it.”

Unless you are a neuroscientist, it is difficult to appreciate the seismic shift that is taking place regarding our understanding of the brain, but scientific evidence is piling up: the more imaginative and creative we are, the better our brain works. In fact, no matter what our age may be, it seems that the more we stimulate our brains, the faster we produce new cells or neurons.

Here's someone who's imagination is firing on all cylinders... rebecca's profile on her Flickr stream reads as follows: "the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars"


Dreamscape Escape - This would be easy to do in Second Life®, but we have to love the thinking that made this happen in Real Life. It does beg the question, though... what would Rebecca be capable of in virtual worlds?

Now then, I've said it before and I'll say it again.. Second Life is the most affordable and complete tool I know of to commit hardcore creativity. It is also the place where the distance between imagination and tangible creations is the shortest. I personally know hundreds of people in Second Life who are capable of dreaming up something completely new in the morning, and by evening are already sharing it with others.