Published 8 July 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a683
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a683

Letters

International conferences

Surgeons have held conferences in Second Life

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Robust alternatives to international conferences are currently readily attainable.^{1 2} On 22 April 2008, the first international Virtual Association of Surgeons (iVAS) meeting was held in the virtual world of Second Life. Forty seven delegates from five countries attended, ranging from professors to students of medicine and engineering. Within this "metaverse," each person is represented by an avatar (a digital representation of the self), and is able to communicate with other users by voice over internet protocol (VOIP), instant messaging, body language, and multimedia slide presentations. The conference lasted for two hours, and ideas were exchanged about surgical robotics and technology. A questionnaire survey was completed by the delegates; of the people who responded, 96% "agreed" or "strongly agreed" that the overall experience was highly rated, and all delegates "agreed" or "strongly agreed" to attend another meeting in the same medium.

The cost of attending the conference was a computer with . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ Imperial College London, London W2 1NY

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