Beyond use and design: the dialectics of being in virtual worlds

2009

Thomas and Brown / Why virtual Worlds Can Matter 37 Virtual worlds are persistent, avatar-based social spaces that provide players or participants with the ability to engage in long-term, coordinated conjoined action. In these spaces, cultures and meanings emerge from a complex set of interactions among the participants, rather than as part of a predefined story or narrative arc. At least in part, it is the players themselves who shape and to a large extent create the world they inhabit. While many virtual worlds provide the opportunity for that kind of world to emerge, game-based environments such as World of Warcraft or Eve Online illustrate it best because of the intense degree of coordinated action and co-presence among players. This sense of “being with others” and being able to share space, see physical representations of each other, and communicat e and act in that shared space provides a very specific set of affordances for players. This article is an effort to trace out and...

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Through a technalysis of a group of designers constructing a three-dimensional virtual world we suggest new concepts for understanding our relationship to information technology. By conceptualizing information technology as the organizing structure for social interaction and regarding it as an influential mediator and moderator of human experiences, we arrive at a new perspective that reaches beyond the traditional dichotomy of use and design.

Qualitative Sociology Review, 2009

©2 20 00 05 5--2 20 00 09 9 Q Qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve e S So oc ci io ol lo og gy y R Re ev vi ie ew w V Vo ol lu um me e V V I Is ss su ue e 2 2 w ww ww w. .q qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve es so oc ci io ol lo og gy yr re ev vi ie ew w. .o or rg g 3 Q Qu ua al li it ta at ti iv ve e S So oc ci io ol lo og gy y R Re ev vi ie ew w Abstract Virtual-worlds research is a dynamic and growing interdisciplinary area in the social sciences and humanities. Sociological theory can play an important role in how virtual worlds are conceptualized and studied. Drawing on data from ethnographic projects on two distinct types of virtual worlds, an asynchronous text-based internet forum and a massively-multiplayer online game, I consider what social and cultural similarities these two types of virtual worlds have with one another, despite their radically different forms and functions. My comparative analysis is framed in terms of three questions. First, are virtual worlds temporary and/or intentional communities? Second, what are the frames of reference through which virtual-world communities are built? Third, how do boundaries function in virtual worlds? My discussion suggests some of the common social and cultural features of virtual worlds.

The Sociological Review, 2006

This paper explores the organisation of social interaction amongst participants 'in' Virtual Reality. Despite the wide-ranging sociological interest in 'virtual' technologies, there is rather little detailed sociological investigation of user experiences of the virtual technology par excellence, namely multiuser Virtual Reality. Interestingly the discourses that underpin discussions of more mundane virtual technologies (eg email, the Web, mobile phones, etc.) tend to draw on design visions for Virtual Reality, such as the opportunities for social life freed from the constraints of the physical body. This paper contributes to a growing number of empirical studies that provide a critique of this view, but maybe more importantly, provides a detailed analysis of action and interaction in virtual worlds. It considers the organisation of interaction within VR with particular emphasis on the ways in which visual features of the digital domain are seen and shared by participants. The paper describes the ways in which the abilities to share views on the virtual world requires participants to overcome problems associated with the very material character of the VR interfaces. The study is based on the analysis of recordings of a Virtual Reality system that enables participants to talk to one another and see one another's actions within a virtual environment.

AVANT: Trends in Interdisciplinary Studies, 2020

In this text it is argued that immersion in virtual reality (VR) with the aid of contemporary VR equipment may offer access to novel types of virtual worlds that differ qualitatively from the “real” world and from other types of fictional worlds. The text begins by (a) distinguishing between VR systems, virtual environments, and virtual worlds; (b) showing how the virtual worlds facilitated by VR systems resemble and differ from the “virtual worlds” created in one’s mind when, for example, reading a novel or watching a film; and (c) identifying necessary and optional elements of a VR-facilitated virtual world. Employing a phenomenological approach that draws on the thought of Ingarden and Norberg-Schulz, it is shown that a visitor to a VR-facilitated virtual world can (and frequently does) shift his or her conscious attention along three different “axes”. First, one’s attention can move “horizontally” between the media that disclose the virtual world through different senses. Second, one’s attention can shift “vertically” between the virtual world’s different ontological strata, including its layers of myriad atomic stimuli; distinguishable elements that possess spatiotemporal extension; assemblages of elements that have a context and relations but lack individual meaning; glimpses that build up a lattice of meaning and contribute to one’s knowledge of the world; and the virtual world envisioned as a coherent mentally concretized whole. Third, one’s attention can shift “interspatially” between the many different overlapping constituent spaces of the virtual world, including its perceptual, concrete, natural, built, identifiable, technological, emotional, social, economic, political, cultural, ecological, and possibility spaces. This triaxial phenomenological framework can shed new light on the rich and diverse ways in which VR-facilitated virtual worlds manifest themselves as emergent wholes constituted within human consciousness; also, it suggests approaches by which visitors might more proactively mentally explore and come to inhabit such virtual worlds.

Journal of Visual Languages and Computing, 1999

Virtual reality (VR) can be considered as the leading edge of a general evolution of present communication interfaces, one whose main characteristic is the full immersion of the human sensorimotor channels into a vivid and global communication experience. By analyzing VR as a communication tool this paper tries to outline a psycho-social framework for the development and tuning of VR systems. In particular, the author identifies two key characteristics of satisfying virtual environments: disappearance of mediation-a level of experience where both the VR system and the physical environment disappear from the user's phenomenal awareness-and the sense of community developed by interaction. Social and psychological consequences of this approach are discussed, both for single-and multi-user virtual worlds.

International Journal of Virtual Communities and Social Networking, 2012

Virtual worlds have emerged as important socio-technical artifacts in contemporary society. They have enabled unique business models in the digital economy. This paper presents a rich account on how virtual worlds have transformed modern society and how they have been presented as having outstanding benefits and promise, with examples of successes and failures. The goal is to synthesize the research and demonstrate an accurate understanding of this novel artifact and its multi-facet consequences. In addition, and more importantly, this review proposes a research agenda for the information systems discipline and assists in identifying critical issues on virtual world technologies and strategic management practices. The objective of this study is to establish a foundation for research on virtual worlds.

Intercom - Revista Brasileira de Ciências da Comunicação, 2022

The article delves on the question about the movement and other ways of appropriating techno-social frameworks of the present. Thus, it develops a theoretical and reflexive systematization and update on approaches of differential experiences in virtual environments. The main themes for this purpose are spatialities, corporeality, agencies and appropriations of spaces and tools. This approach is based on theories such as technofeminism and social studies of technologies, especially the perspectives of social constructionism. We use the theoretical tools of feminist and intersectional studies to explore on the notion of differential experiences. The conclusions offer situated proposals for conceptual frameworks, as possible ways of approaching on issues about digital technologies, diversity, access and equity.

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2013

This article makes a brief foray into state-of-the-art in Virtual Reality technologies and into semiotic studies in the field of Human-Computer Interaction in order to invite the reader to think about human´s current situation. From this perspective, we shall seek to raise new questions about the forms of communication and interaction mediated by digital technologies. These forms deal with the fact of fiction and non-fiction going hand-in-hand, taking shape in images which, and in virtual beings who, co-inhabit both our imagination and the scenarios which comprise the parallel worlds of virtual environments. This thinking is indispensable for us to understand, for example, the implications of these changes on children and young people development and how we conceive education in today´s world. Therefore, this article is based on: 1) studies that led to the dissertation entitled Digital Self: exploring the "I" construction on the Internet,

Symbolic Interaction, 2010

2010

This research investigates the artistic practice in Second Life that builds upon existing practices developed in virtual environments, and other forms of technology-mediated spaces; and sits within the field of knowledge of art and technology, and the emerging field of virtual worlds research. In the wider field of media arts practice engagement with virtual worlds as spaces for artistic practice (and protest), challenges and enhances our experience of the phenomena of imagining. Artists working in the Second Life space are exploring the potentials of this unique combination of the user-created, and the avatar mediated space. The research presents Kriti Island, the laboratory space for the ongoing artistic and imaginative practice research, but in particular presents, discusses and analyses, the participating artist interviews that were undertaken following the Kritical Works in SL exhibitions that the Island hosted in 2008 and 2009. Casey suggests that 'imagination (in Western thought) is not securely situated in regard to such decidedly different acts as sensory perception and conceptual thinking (Casey 2000: 19). This paper considers the implications of methodological approaches that have been chosen within this inter-disciplinary context, and in particular, and the case for investigating artistic and imaginative experience through phenomenological methods, is examined. Yet the process of creating the laboratory space, the selection and development of the Artworks under the themes of the two phases of Kritical Works in SL, applied as a method, has inevitably impacted on the conclusions drawn. The implications of the mediation of the research through my avatar, Wanderingfictions Story, are discussed.

Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge - LAK '13, 2013

In this paper we describe some case studies of the use of virtual worlds in corporate training as well as Higher Education. In particular for Higher Education we describe how the Virtual World constructed using the platform Avaya Live Engage, is used as an immersive environment with pre-service teachers, who are undergoing a 1-year teacher training program, and how the data analytics collected in-world is being used to monitor and direct content development. We focus our studies on the initial hypothesis that 3D immersive environments are highly engaging and offer an experience that goes beyond the 'traditional' online education. We want to combine different analysis methods to be able to get empirical evidence showing the students' engagement with the 3D space in ways that can help us in the design of the learning experience accompanying the learners in their journey. In this paper we describe the research methods we use for the study, and give an overview of the information we can collect from the in-world analytics. We also propose how these analytics can be used for a predictive model with the intention of refocusing the virtual world experience to match learner needs.

2004

In this article, we offer theoretical reflections on the notion of place in which learners supposedly develop and evolve a structure of social interactions in networked learning environments. We claim that a general concern is to develop more social artefacts that may help learners organise the virtual place in a way that is meaningful to them and helps foster their social presence. Drawing from symbolic interactionism we examine the ways in which individuals interact with their environment, and from Activity theory, Wenger's communities of practice, and Wartofsky's taxonomy of artefacts to elaborate on the notion of social artefact.

The adoption and pedagogical use of technologies such as virtual worlds to support teaching and learning, and research in higher education involves a complex interplay of technical, organisational and personal factors. In this paper, eighteen educators and researchers provide an overview of how they perceive a virtual world can be used in education from the perspective of themselves as individuals 'me', their educational organisations and as members of the Australian and New Zealand Virtual Worlds Working Group (VWWG) community of practice 'us', as well as the complex technology that underpins this learning environment 'IT'. Drawing on Linstone's (1981, 1984) Technical, Organisational and Personal (TOP) multiple perspective concept as the framework for analysis, the authors discuss their perspectives of how the personal, organisational and technical aspects of teaching through the use of virtual worlds have impacted on their teaching and research in higher education. The potential of employing the TOP framework to inform future research into the use of technologies such as virtual worlds in teaching and learning is explored.