Wheelies is a disability themed virtual nightclub on the online platform Second Life . Created by Simon Stevens, it was awarded the Revolutionary Award in 2008 by Gordon Brown. [1] [2]
Wheelies is a disability themed virtual nightclub on the online platform Second Life . Created by Simon Stevens, it was awarded the Revolutionary Award in 2008 by Gordon Brown. [1] [2]
Launched in September 2006, "Wheelies aims to make guests feel comfortable about disability as well as dancing, drinking and just plain having a good time." [3] Destroyed in December that year by a griefing attack, it was relaunched in May 2007. [4]
The Revolutionary Award was awarded "for something that makes people in power more aware of the need for change" [5] as part of the 2008 Community Awards for Social Technology (Catalyst). According to their website, Wheelies is "The world's first virtual disability nightclub. Based in Second Life, it is connecting disabled users and providing a platform for them to discuss common issues." [1]
Stevens has been interviewed about Wheelies on the CBC news. [6] The transcript from this broadcast was featured in the second edition of the Pearson Longman book Open Book English Skills. [7] Stevens was also interviewed by the British newspaper The Times [8] and a Wheelies user was interviewed by the Australian site Web Usability. [9] Wheelies has been discussed in a number of books, [10] [11] and in the BBC magazine along with a wider discussion of the use of Second Life by people with disabilities. [12]
Second Life is an online video game that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user-created content within a multi-user online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Francisco–based firm Linden Lab and launched on June 23, 2003, it saw rapid growth for some years and in 2013 it had approximately one million regular users. Growth eventually stabilized, and by the end of 2017 the active user count had declined to "between 800,000 and 900,000". In many ways, Second Life is similar to massively multiplayer online role-playing games; nevertheless, Linden Lab is emphatic that their creation is not a game: "There is no manufactured conflict, no set objective."
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Daniel Jonathan Stevens is an English actor. He first drew international attention for his role as Matthew Crawley in the ITV acclaimed period drama series Downton Abbey (2010–2012). He also starred as David in the thriller film The Guest (2014), Sir Lancelot in the adventure film Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014), The Beast/Prince in Disney's live action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast (2017), Lorin Willis in the biographical legal drama Marshall (2017), Charles Dickens in the biographical drama The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017) and Russian Eurovision singer Alexander Lemtov in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020). From 2017 to 2019, he starred as David Haller in the FX series Legion. In 2018, he starred in the Netflix horror Apostle, and since 2023, he has starred as Korvo Opposites in the animated series Solar Opposites. In 2024, Stevens starred as Trapper in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
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Simon Stevens, also known as Simon Walsh in Secondlife, born 1974, is an English activist, Huffington Post blogger, and disability consultant known for his discussions on disability issues in the UK and on social media. Stevens formed Wheelies, a disability-friendly virtual nightclub within the 3D online community of Second Life. He is known as Simon Walsh and for his avatar's use of a wheelchair and helmet. Stevens was a prankster in the disability-themed hidden camera/prank show I'm Spazticus on UK's Channel 4 in 2012–2013. Stevens has received numerous awards and recognitions for his disability advocacy. He was the founder and chief executive of the disability consultancy firm Enable Enterprises from 1998–-2008. Stevens lives and works from Coventry, UK.
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