Greetings,

I am Sally S. Cherry, a 3D immersive virtual worlds citizen by mission and a U.S. citizen by birth. My 3D computer-generated avatar has “dual citizenship” within the computer-generated grids, OpenSimulator and Second Life. A grid is an interconnected group of virtual worlds. Currently, my avatar is a full-time “resident” within the OpenSimulator grid, Kitely and a part-time “resident” in Second Life. In the OpenSimulator community, my avatar is known as Sally Cherry (or SarVana Cherry) and in Second Life, she is known as SarVana Haalan. Within the 3D computer-generated environments (aka virtual worlds), my avatars serve as navigators and "mission partners" for real life yours truly, Sally S. Cherry, MLS(ASCP). Due to the immersive nature of 3D virtual worlds, the in-world experience is seen from a first-person viewpoint. Therefore, the first-person pronouns… “I, me, my, mine” are usually used when communicating about virtual-based projects, “lessons learned”, and/or related activities.

Although my avatars are computer-generated, they are considered as the "creative conscience" that inspired and continues to inspire the creativity and development within their respective 3D immersive virtual worlds. It was my real life interest in 2D and 3D virtual worlds integration and distance learning that lead to the creation of the "avatar sisters", SarVana and Sally Cherry. In early April 2009, I responded to an invitation to become a beta tester for the 2D virtual world known as Metaplace while I was actively looking for a web-based virtual world to call “home”. Although Second Life had been an exploration destination for my “scout” avatar, Metaplace was my original virtual world “home” and the “birthplace” of SarVana. The vision and concepts for my current twelve (12) Kitely worlds were launched within Metaplace. Since then, I have lived, worked and conducted explorations within several grids including Metaplace, Second Life, JokaydiaGRID, OSGrid, Twinity, and Smallworlds. In 2011, Kitely was established as the “home” grid for my 3D immersive virtual world projects.

In the physical world, I am Sally S. Cherry, MLS(ASCP), an ASCP-certified medical laboratory scientist who instructs medical professionals about various laboratory methods for the diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Several years ago, the name, "Ms. BugLady" was given to me by a laboratory training participant and "Ms. BugLady's World" was launched. In the physical world and 3D virtual worlds, my passion is sharing information pertaining to medical laboratory science; 3D immersive virtual worlds, public health and other special interests. This passion has fueled the past and present years of learning new innovative skills, creating virtual content, and designing virtual-based projects. With the in-world assistance of my 3D avatars, I welcome the opportunities to learn about the innovative virtual world projects; to connect and collaborate with other virtual-based residents; and to maintain 3D virtual worlds connections within the physical world. Every day of virtual exploration reveals something new and fascinating. The amazing virtual-based discoveries are documented in my growing collection of websites, photos, videos, and social media postings. Here, you will find some photographs that reflect my experiences of exploring, living, creating, and networking within the 3D immersive virtual worlds communities. It is a delight to share my “Experiencing 3D Immersive Virtual Worlds” journey with you. You are invited to visit the Kitely-hosted embodiment of my vision, “Real To Virtual; Virtual To Real” at virtualnetworkweaver.com.