At the beginning of this quarter, I wrote an essay on the shape that I identified as part of my introduction, and I chose the rectangle. I chose this shape due to my desire to embrace what the shape stands for: Calm, Security, and Order. I still very much desire these things. To exit the stressful mindset and enter serenity sounds wonderful. Ultimately, this shape never really defined me, it is just what I desire. In my younger years I could really be defined as the creative splotches shape. I was once very spontaneous and unpredictable. I was never afraid to try new things or travel to new places. I was fearless back then.  Through this quarter I have learned to embrace the Hexagon shape as I have learned to trust the process more, improve my communication skills and balance the work loads between my classes and home life priorities.

I don’t believe that I can be defined by one shape alone. I have been defined by many different shapes over the years. Constantly changing and evolving as I have grown. Although my process through life has not been traditional by any means, I do believe that my experiences are my greatest inspirations that will help me to truly make the most out of this college education and will be the reason that I succeed. Maybe one day I will be able to know what it’s like to be the Rhombus shape as my efforts pay off and I can enjoy luxury, sophistication, and an abstract lifestyle.

Shape meanings acquired from Psychology of Shapes in Design: A Guide for Visual Storytelling

I chose the “Curiosity” key to success because I am a very curious person, and that curiosity has led me to seek answers. I have learned so much over the years being a curious person. Upon choosing this key I was tasked with creating it in 3D. I was intimidated greatly by this as I had no idea what I was doing. 3D seemed so complicated and well, it’s kind of is at first. There are so many apps to choose from in which you want to create 3D work and none of them work the same while also not all of them work to be able to import work into Second life. Without an industry standard app to work in, I settled on using a mix of Adobe Illustrator and Blender. WOW, it was easier than I thought to create this key. I scaled it to size and even gave it color and texture. The key looked amazing, and I was so proud of it that I couldn’t wait to show it off. I turned in my key eagerly awaiting feedback. I was astounded to learn that my key was way too big to be in the Second Life app as it had the record largest land impact. Although my key was not a complete success, it was created well and despite the size I still like it. The creation process has shown me what is possible and more importantly, things to consider when constructing 3D objects. I believe the keys in Second Life are important as they continue to inspire new generations who dive into the world of 3D showing them what they can create.

Extended reality engagement and education are quickly becoming the new reality of education. Extended Reality In Learning: Revolutionizing Education – eLearning Industry  talks about a new dimension of learning with extended reality but not limited to just that. Through a mix of virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, and extended reality, future education can be taken to a higher level providing 3Delements to truly engage the students with more available information. This leads to a 90% retention rate of the information. This is possible because of what extended reality can do. A class like this can take a boring old history class and transport you into the past where you can experience history firsthand. You can learn to perform open heart surgery from your bedroom with the visuals and motion as if you are in the operating room. You can also rearrange the periodic table of elements as if they are building blocks bringing more of a hands-on approach to learning chemistry. All of this and more can be done with cost savings in mind. This also solves the problem of “everyone has a different learning style” as learning paths can be personalized for each type of person. Imagine a world where everyone can learn based on their specific needs and you just may see a world where we are all advanced in education and society leaps into the future because of it. With more people having access to education tailed for them we may also see new technology coming into the world like the cartoon “The Jetsons” which was the first time I ever seen “face time”, now maybe the flying cars will become the next reality.

In today’s world there are many ways to work on projects with a team virtually such as these ones featured on this blog site 6 Best Collaboration Tools for Remote Teams [Tested in 2025] or even the ones listed on this blog site 15 Best Remote Collaboration Tools in 2025 (Free & Paid). Of course, there are also apps such as Adobe that allow virtual teamwork on projects. With all the technology in today’s world it is so easy to be productive from anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet signal. It has become so easy to stay connected which can lead to spending an unhealthy amount of time working online, something that I struggle with. Spending too much time on the computer can lead to health conditions such as weight gain, muscle loss, vision loss, and more. The list goes on, but in short if we don’t get out and live our lives we have no mental break and without exercise we lose our health. That is why it is so important to learn how to create a balance between living life and working from home such as outlined in these books listed on 15 Work-Life Balance Books to Help You Take Control of Life – LifeHack. When we have a healthy balance of work and life, we can maintain optimal health both mentally and physically. We can do this through creating a schedule or a pie chart to dedicate time to each task throughout the day. In the Book Ready Player One some people spend so much time in the virtual environment that they literally become obsessed. Find time to enjoy life and work will not only be more pleasant, it will be easier to complete.

The “Uncanny Valley” phenomenon is a psychological sense of uneasy, empathetic or repulsive, feeling a person has when seeing an object that resembles a human appearance and motion. The effect is determined by how realistic the movement and appearance are. This phenomenon can be felt when viewing man made lifelike animations, robots, dolls, or mannequins. The feeling is not always negative, in fact, people can have positive feelings when seeing a human lifelike creation. The easier it is to see the difference between artificial and human, the more positive the feeling is. The more realistic it is can bring more of a negative feeling. Some negative examples of this are found in realistic imagery of video games and human life like robots which appear so real that they create an uneasy feeling in people. The only positive example to me would be that we know this exists and as creators we can use this to our advantage by pushing the boundaries of realism without crossing the threshold. By using noticeable differences between real and artificial we can create a pleasant experience for the game players or robot users.

Another aspect of this can be related to trust as imagined in the book “Ready Player One”. In the virtual world we can create any avatar that we like. In the virtual world other players only see what we want them to see, and we accept the appearance of the avatar. So, when meeting someone in the real world that we met in online gaming and the appearance is off, it can be shocking and uneasy. This is similar to the “Uncanny Valley” phenomenon.

more examples found in this video:

My favorite example of digital 3D design is 3D product previews. 3D product previews allow users to interact with the products that they are considering buying. Lenovo has done a great job with this utilizing 3D presentations and animations. Lenovo allows users to zoom in on specific areas of the products and rotate them any way they wish. This gives users a feel for the product. It allows them to shop online in a way that was not possible before. 3D product previews make online shopping better than shopping in the store. Users get the same view of the product with the bonus of product knowledge. This helps lead to a more informed buying.

I can imagine Wade Watts using 3D product preview in an OASIS classroom. This would allow for more in depth learning about biology, chemistry, history, and even math. Imagine a classroom with this technology. The content you are learning pops out of the book. It turns into a 3D design that you can interact with. I believe this is a revolutionary way to learn. It would engage more students. This engagement goes beyond what books ever achieve. We see some of this technology presented in movies. Still, I wonder how long it will be until it becomes the new educational standard.