Comments on: Remotely control Second Life with Yugma

By: Jill

Jill — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:26:06 +0000

I found this Youtube video about Yugma’s vision. It’s actually pretty cool and interesting.

see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe9qU3H3LJk

By: Karel Lukas

Karel Lukas — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 02:22:21 +0000

Hi everyone,
This is Karel Lukas from Yugma. I noticed the post and that someone experienced slowness. Just wanted to tell you that we just complete a major upgrade to Yugma V3. Yugma V3 comes with sharing speed improvements, and a few other very cool things. So I just wanted to say that this would be a good time to try Yugma again. We’re completely committed to quality, so I will be very interested to receive you comments and feedback. Just write to me at info@yugma.com.
Thanks!
Karel

By: Daniel Livingstone

Daniel Livingstone — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:54:59 +0000

Do you think it might in some cases be useful to be able to see what someone else is doing on their desktop (either as a tutor or as a desktop support bod)?

If yes, then there is an application for this.
If no, then this isn’t a product for you – but there is a big market in this kind of desktop sharing/conferencing software, which would seem to indicate that many people do find it useful.

Is this the answer to every problem? No, of course not. But it is a tool that many people might find useful. Have I used it with my own students? No, not yet – but I did use e/pop at one point last year. Would I use it? Yes, if I felt it would help a student in need of help, that couldn’t be done easier another way.

I fully agree, all that glitters is not gold. Indeed, I can imagine some reader of this debate thinking “I can see why Yugma is useful… but why are these idiots wasting their time with Second Life – what use is THAT!!!”

By: Taran Rampersad

Taran Rampersad — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 23:50:41 +0000

My point, Daniel, is that this isn’t about you. What you do, etc – really a very small issue. What someone could do as far as security issues – big deal.

And as far as showing someone where a button is – if they’re having that much trouble with the interface such that they cannot understand ’search is at the bottom middle’, I don’t see how clicking it for them will help. Sure, the interface is complicated, but it isn’t *that* complicated. Often, the person searching for these items themselves allows them to find other things along the way and ask intelligent questions.

But like you, Daniel, I’m not trying to change your mind. What I am saying is that all that glitters is not gold. If you disagree with that, that’s fine.

By: Daniel Livingstone

Daniel Livingstone — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 23:09:45 +0000

I really don’t expect to convince you Taran, but for simple tasks such as learning where a particular button is – by no means a ‘deep’ learning issue, I really don’t see why not cut out some difficulties.
What if it helps reduce my learner’s stress? While improved, the UI in SL is still not always clear, and its entirely possible that someone can simply not see a control. Why should I not want as many *options* for supporting learning as I can get.

On the other hand, without taking control, it can let me see what a trainee is doing as they attempt something – potentially letting me see where they are going wrong (which might not be at all obvious if I can only see SL via my regular desktop).

Absolutely, there are security issues. No, you don’t give control of your desktop to someone you don’t trust. On the other hand, these systems are used for remote administration and remote learning support already by many thousands of users around the world.
If it works for ’serious’ IT companies and training, then why not for educators working in SL?

I wouldn’t give control of my desktop to someone I don’t know, but if it helped I’d certainly allow my students to view my desktop – or to let me view theirs. We know who we are in RL, and they know where my office is.

By: Taran Rampersad

Taran Rampersad — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 21:58:45 +0000

Let me put it this way:

Simply decreasing *your* stress by doing it for them doesn’t make it a good training tool. Because it makes what *you* want to do possible doesn’t necessarily teach anyone anything.

And – if you take control of the PC while someone else is logged in, that’s a big gaping security hole that eventually will make the tool useless when someone loses Linden dollars or more.

By: sbrunozzi

sbrunozzi — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:53:33 +0000

Good points, Taran and Daniel.
Well, it is probably more useful if mixed with voice learning… but I really understand what you’re saying.
Hmmm, it deserves a deep try to decide

By: Daniel Livingstone

Daniel Livingstone — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:48:19 +0000

First, you can *show* what you are doing without giving away control.
The first user still has to log in – and doesnt share their credentials, and I doubt if used for training that LL would object – they tend to have a fair degree of common sense when actually enforcing TOS violations.

I also disagree about the possible usefulness. Having on a few occasions tried to tutor someone in building in SL and had to spend a lot of time trying to describe what I was doing with the UI to help them find a particular button or option – if I could *show* them the button, then life would be easier.
Dont forget, its not just a magic cursor – its also the trainer at the other end of the cursor, plus the interaction between learner and trainer.
Finally, you can record sessions, so yes it can be referenced in the future.

By: Taran Rampersad

Taran Rampersad — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:56:28 +0000

Technically, using it would be a breach of the Terms of Service since one would be logged in as someone else.

That could be remedied, but I don’t really see how running Second Life on someone else’s computer shows them anything. Torley’s videos are worthwhile. Having someone’s magic cursor rolling around doesn’t actually teach anything, and it cannot be referenced in the future – like a book or a video.