To get to Inspiration Island, the home of Whole Brain Health, you will FIRST need to be able to log into the Second Life virtual world (often referred to as SL). And to do that, you will need to download a viewer.
Linden Lab (the creators of Second Life) provide an official viewer on their website, but many people (including those at Inspiration Island) recommend using a different one called the Firestorm Viewer. This viewer provides many more features, and is much easier to customize. Also, if you download this viewer, you will find many more individuals who can give you support.
Important note: If you previously registered and downloaded the Second Life viewer, but have not used Second Life in a while, please uninstall the old version before you start, then skip to step 4 below. You can use the same Username and Password that you used before.
Your journey in Second Life starts out by creating an avatar, or a virtual representation of yourself. To set one up, there is a simple registration process:
- Go to this URL: http://SecondLife.com
- On the webpage, scroll down and click the Join Now button on the right.
- Follow the instructions to set up a Free User Account. Here are some suggestions:
- When you are asked to choose an avatar, we suggest that you choose the Classic category at the top, as these are easiest avatars to customize.
- Your Username will always float above your avatar’s head to identify you to others, so most people prefer NOT to use their real names in Second Life. A Username cannot have spaces between words. You will be given the generic surname of “Resident” by Linden Lab, the company that runs and supports Second Life.
- Treat your Username and Password like other identifying information you create online. Keep a record of them somewhere safe.
- You may want to set up a separate email account just for Second Life (such as a Gmail account). By default, when you are not logged into Second Life, or “in-world”, Instant Messages and other notifications will be sent to the email address that you give Linden Lab.
- Follow directions to download and install the Second Life Viewer, which is your window into Second Life. The download page is at http://secondlife.com/support/downloads/. The viewer should start automatically when the installation finishes.
- Your Username and Password should automatically appear on the Login Page. They will automatically be saved there. (If they do not show up there for some reason, simply type in the username and password you chose earlier.)
- When you first log into Second Life, you will be placed into a training area designed by Linden Lab. You are welcome to take advantage of this if you want, but since we provide our own orientation, you can skip this by closing your viewer.
- Restart the viewer.
- In the Location Box of the login screen, delete anything there and type in INSPIRATION ISLAND. Be sure that you spell the name correctly, with a single space between the two words (capitalization is not important). When you click the “Log in” button, your avatar will come directly to the landing point at the center of our island region (which you will also hear some refer to as a “sim”).
- Once you arrive in Second Life, click on the blue disk on the ground in front of the welcome sign. This will take you to our Newcomers Orientation Center, a self-paced self-guided introduction to Second Life.
- If you have any problems, use the “Send Message” button on the Buddy Board on the second floor of the Center to get help. A box will pop up in which you can type your message. Click “Submit” to send it.