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 multimedia computing platform 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 fallen 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."
A virtual world is a computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many simultaneous users who can create a personal avatar and independently explore the virtual world, participate in its activities, and communicate with others. These avatars can be textual, graphical representations, or live video avatars with auditory and touch sensations. Virtual worlds are closely related to mirror worlds.
George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight is a Canadian television talk show hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos that aired on CBC Television from 2005 to 2014.
The metaverse is a loosely defined term referring to virtual worlds in which users represented by avatars interact, usually in 3D and focused on social and economic connection.
Adam Christopher Hills is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. In Australia, he hosted the music quiz show Spicks and Specks from 2005 to 2011, and again in 2021 onwards, and the talk show Adam Hills Tonight from 2011 to 2013. In the United Kingdom, he has hosted the talk show The Last Leg since 2012. He has been nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award, the Gold Logie Award and numerous BAFTA TV Awards.
Mat Fraser is an English rock musician, actor, writer and performance artist. He has thalidomide-induced phocomelia.
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).
Elizabeth Anne Carr is an English actress, comedian, broadcaster and international disability rights activist. She is known for portraying the role of Clarissa Mullery in the BBC crime drama Silent Witness (2013–2020), and also for being a campaigner for disabled rights, and fronting the BBC documentary Better Off Dead? (2024).
Harriet McBryde Johnson was an American author, attorney, and disability rights activist. She was disabled due to a neuromuscular disease and used a motorized wheelchair.
Roblox is an online game platform and game creation system developed by Roblox Corporation that allows users to program and play games created by themselves or other users. Created by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004 and released in 2006, the platform hosts user-created games of multiple genres coded in the programming language Lua. For most of Roblox's history, it was relatively small, both as a platform and as a company. Roblox began to grow rapidly in the second half of the 2010s, and this growth has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Virtual Revolution is a British television documentary series and interactive web experience presented by Aleks Krotoski, which began airing on BBC Two on 30 January 2010. A co-production between the BBC and the Open University, the series looks at the impact the World Wide Web has had since its inception 20 years ago. The series took a different approach to BBC documentary making by encouraging an open and collaborative production.
The depiction of disability in the media plays a major role in molding the public perception of disability. Perceptions portrayed in the media directly influence the way people with disabilities are treated in current society. "[Media platforms] have been cited as a key site for the reinforcement of negative images and ideas in regard to people with disabilities."
Ian Hughes, also known as epredator, is a British metaverse evangelist, technology industry analyst, and television personality. In 2006, he set about leading a group of like-minded individuals and subsequently many thousands of colleagues at IBM into virtual worlds like Second Life, and beyond. This sparked a massive growth in interest from enterprises and press alike. Hughes was a public figure in Web 2.0 and, formerly, a blogger on Eightbar, a site maintained by former and current IBM employees on the fringes of innovation within their labs.
YoWorld is a browser-based virtual world game which was released on May 8, 2008. It is developed by Big Viking Games. The game operates on the freemium model, and is supported through microtransactions, as well as a voluntary in-game ad program. The game itself is free-to-play, however, players can purchase in-game currencies or enroll in special programs and offers to improve their game-play experience or help them progress faster, using real money.
Freaks, Geeks, and Asperger Syndrome: A User Guide to Adolescence is a non-fiction book about Asperger syndrome published in 2003. The then 13-year-old author, Luke Jackson, has Asperger syndrome himself. Jackson wrote the book because he felt there was not enough useful information on the Internet about the subject.
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.
Anthony James Heaton OBE is a British sculptor, disability rights activist and arts administrator, who was appointed an OBE in 2013 for services to the arts and the disability arts movement. He was CEO of the arts charity Shape until March 2017. In 2012, he won the competition to produce an installation celebrating Channel 4's involvement in the London 2012 Paralympic Games. This produced his 'Monument for the Unintended Performer'.
Jamie Beddard is one of the UK's leading disabled theatre practitioners. He is a writer, actor, director and workshop leader as well as a trainer and consultant. At present Jamie is co-director of Diverse City, Lead Artist of Extraordinary Bodies, and an Associate Artist at the New Wolsey Theatre.
Mik Scarlet is a broadcaster, journalist, actor and musician, as well as an expert in the field of access and inclusion for disabled people. He has been voted one of the most influential disabled people in the UK, and was one of the first television presenters in the world with a physical disability.
Jessica Thom is a British theatre-maker and comedian who established Touretteshero, an alter-ego and project aimed at increasing awareness of Tourette syndrome, the neurological condition which she was diagnosed with in her early twenties. The first Touretteshero production, Backstage in Biscuit Land debuted at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2014. The show won critical acclaim and has since toured across the UK and internationally, including various performances across North America and Australia. Thom has also made numerous appearances on British television, notably an interview on Russell Howard's Good News which has garnered more than 995,000 YouTube views as of August 2019, and was reported on by The Independent and Metro newspapers.