The Virtual Social Continuum Expressed

2010 ◽  
pp. 336-349
Author(s):  
Alan Rea
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
World Of Warcraft ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Role Specialization

From the interactive textual worlds of MUDs and MuSHes to the visually rich, textured three-dimensional realms of MMORPGs, participants move from loose to strong associations forming social networks via structured guidelines and interaction patterns. These virtual world inhabitants create communication conduits, collaborate to attain goals and solve problems, or entertain themselves. In this chapter, the author uses Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, one of the most successful MMORPGs to date, to chart the various associations ranging from casual conversations to groups and guilds in which role specialization is critical to close-knit community success. The author argues that using rewards for accepted behavior creates a socialization continuum that stimulates players to interact with one another.

Network Autocorrelation of Task Performance via Informal Communication Within a Virtual World

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caleb T. Carr ◽  
Paul Zube
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
World Of Warcraft ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Informal Communication ◽  
Online Groups ◽  
Network Autocorrelation ◽  
Virtual Group ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Individual Achievement

Network autocorrelation occurs when individuals receive assistance from others which regulates their own behavior, and it can be used to explain how group members may improve their task performance. This study explored how network autocorrelation, via informal communication within a virtual group, affected an individual’s task achievement in the online game World of Warcraft. Informal interactions between guild members during a 4-year period were collected and analyzed to assess how informal interactions with other group members affected an individual’s in-game achievement. Findings indicate informal communication from other group members (specifically the experience and helpfulness of the other members) positively predict an individual’s task performance, while tenure with the group negatively predict individual achievement. Findings are discussed with respect to network analysis and influence in online groups.

Conical SNA using fuzzy k-medoids based on user experience

2021 ◽  
pp. 002072092098849
Author(s):  
Poonam Rani ◽  
MPS Bhatia ◽  
Devendra K Tayal
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
User Experience ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Dynamic Parameters ◽  
Clustering Method ◽  
Cone Model ◽  
Intelligent Approach ◽  
Conical Model

The paper presents an intelligent approach for the comparison of social networks through a cone model by using the fuzzy k-medoids clustering method. It makes use of a geometrical three-dimensional conical model, which astutely represents the user experience views. It uses both the static as well as the dynamic parameters of social networks. In this, we propose an algorithm that investigates which social network is more fruitful. For the experimental results, the proposed work is employed on the data collected from students from different universities through the Google forms, where students are required to rate their experience of using different social networks on different scales.

Facilitating 3D Virtual World Learning Environments Creation by Non-Technical End Users through Template-Based Virtual World Instantiation

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang Liu ◽  
Ying Zhong ◽  
Sertac Ozercan ◽  
Qing Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
End Users ◽  
Preliminary Evaluation ◽  
3D Design ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Functional Learning ◽  
Preliminary Experimental Data

This paper presents a template-based solution to overcome technical barriers non-technical computer end users face when developing functional learning environments in three-dimensional virtual worlds (3DVW). iVirtualWorld, a prototype of a platform-independent 3DVW creation tool that implements the proposed solution, facilitates 3DVW learning environment creation through semantics-based abstract 3DVW representation and template-based 3DVW instantiation. iVirtualWorld provides a wizard to guide the 3DVW creation process, and hide low-level programming and 3D design details through higher-level abstracts supported by pre-defined templates. Preliminary evaluation of the effectiveness of iVirtualWorld showed positive results. The contribution of this study is threefold: 1) It provides a paradigm for investigating and developing 3DVW building tools from end users’ perspective; 2) It develops a prototype of a 3DVW building tool, which gives educators a framework to easily create educational virtual worlds using domain-specific concepts; 3) It conducts empirical research and collected preliminary experimental data for evaluation.

“Wow, woo, win”: Interprofessional simulation in three-dimensional virtual world for healthcare students

2021 ◽  
pp. 105018
Author(s):  
Sok Ying Liaw ◽  
Tingwei Choo ◽  
Ling Ting Wu ◽  
Wee Shiong Lim ◽  
Hyekyung Choo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual World ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Healthcare Students

scholarly journals Transformative (h)activism: Breast cancer awareness and the World of Warcraft Running of the Gnomes

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren B. Collister
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Civil Disobedience ◽  
Role Playing ◽  
World Of Warcraft ◽  
Cancer Awareness ◽  
Breast Cancer Awareness ◽  
Player Experience ◽  
Role Playing Game

Players of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft (WoW) are accustomed to a transformative culture that appropriates off-line events and personas into virtual-world representations inside of the game. Following this culture, players have transformed an off-line event—the Race for the Cure, to benefit breast cancer charities—into an online event called the Running of the Gnomes with parameters and participation properties appropriate for the virtual world. This transformative event is a disruptive form of civil disobedience including elements of hacktivism. Though the event conforms to the game's culture and rules, the mass collective action of the Running of the Gnomes disrupts the player experience by flooding the game's chat boxes with messages about an off-line concern (breast cancer) and also disrupts the game itself by crashing the server through the sheer volume of player participation. This disruption is embraced as an integral part of the event and is one of the primary causes for the event's success as a fundraising activity.

scholarly journals XRSISE: An XR Training System for Interactive Simulation and Ergonomics Assessment

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michail Pavlou ◽  
Dimitrios Laskos ◽  
Evangelia I. Zacharaki ◽  
Konstantinos Risvas ◽  
Konstantinos Moustakas
Keyword(s):  
Virtual World ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Knowledge Retention ◽  
Training System ◽  
Human Model ◽  
Interactive Simulation ◽  
Industrial Training ◽  
The Real ◽  
Physical Constraints

The use of virtual reality (VR) techniques for industrial training provides a safe and cost effective solution that contributes to increased engagement and knowledge retention levels. However, the process of experiential learning in a virtual world without biophysical constraints might contribute to muscle strain and discomfort, if ergonomic risk factors are not considered in advance. Under this scope, we have developed a digital platform which employs extended reality (XR) technologies for the creation and delivery of industrial training programs, by taking into account the users and workplace specificities through the adaptation of the 3D virtual world to the real environment. Our conceptual framework is composed of several inter-related modules: 1) the XR tutorial creation module, for automatic recognition of the sequence of actions composing a complex scenario while this is demonstrated by the educator in VR, 2) the XR tutorial execution module, for the delivery of visually guided and personalized XR training experiences, 3) the digital human model (DHM) based simulation module for creation and demonstration of job task simulations avoiding the need of an actual user and 4) the biophysics assessment module for ergonomics analysis given the input received from the other modules. Three-dimensional reconstruction and aligned projection of the objects situated in the real scene facilitated the imposition of inherent physical constraints, thereby allowed to seamlessly blend the virtual with the real world without losing the sense of presence.

scholarly journals Automated monitoring of behavior reveals bursty interaction patterns and rapid spreading dynamics in honeybee social networks

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (7) ◽  
pp. 1433-1438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Gernat ◽  
Vikyath D. Rao ◽  
Martin Middendorf ◽  
Harry Dankowicz ◽  
Nigel Goldenfeld ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Communication Networks ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Reference Network ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Automated Monitoring ◽  
Phone Calls

Social networks mediate the spread of information and disease. The dynamics of spreading depends, among other factors, on the distribution of times between successive contacts in the network. Heavy-tailed (bursty) time distributions are characteristic of human communication networks, including face-to-face contacts and electronic communication via mobile phone calls, email, and internet communities. Burstiness has been cited as a possible cause for slow spreading in these networks relative to a randomized reference network. However, it is not known whether burstiness is an epiphenomenon of human-specific patterns of communication. Moreover, theory predicts that fast, bursty communication networks should also exist. Here, we present a high-throughput technology for automated monitoring of social interactions of individual honeybees and the analysis of a rich and detailed dataset consisting of more than 1.2 million interactions in five honeybee colonies. We find that bees, like humans, also interact in bursts but that spreading is significantly faster than in a randomized reference network and remains so even after an experimental demographic perturbation. Thus, while burstiness may be an intrinsic property of social interactions, it does not always inhibit spreading in real-world communication networks. We anticipate that these results will inform future models of large-scale social organization and information and disease transmission, and may impact health management of threatened honeybee populations.

Benefits of Virtual Worlds in Educational Environments

2013 ◽  
pp. 305-315
Author(s):  
Vicente Galiano ◽  
Victoria Herranz
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
University Students ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Virtual Model ◽  
Educational Environments ◽  
The University

In this chapter, the authors describe the project of a virtual world that they developed in their university and with their students. In this work, they joined concepts like social networks and virtual reality, creating a virtual model of the University Miguel Hernandez (UMH), where students are able to walk around the campus, inside the buildings, chat with other students, and moreover, use videoconferencing rooms where students talk and see other students in the same virtual world. The authors describe this project, called UMHvirtual (available in http://virtual.umh.es), which has been supervised by the authors, implemented by a group of students, and focused on all the university students.

Adapting Three-Dimensional-Virtual World to Reach Diverse Learners in an MBA Program

2012 ◽  
pp. 1207-1219
Author(s):  
Rosalyn Rufer ◽  
Ruifang Hope Adams
Keyword(s):  
Learning Styles ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Instructional Strategy ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Diverse Learners ◽  
Multimedia Design ◽  
Teaching Pedagogy ◽  
Mba Program

The purpose of this chapter is to adapt instructional strategies to virtual world learning environment in Second Life and reach more diverse learners with different learning styles. Part of the approach will focus on learners who are visual as compared to auditory and kinesthetic. Additionally, the approach will examine how changes in pedagogical methods can be used to reach diverse learners with different learning styles in virtual learning environments. The major topics address how styles of learning were considered in designing an instructional strategy and how differences in learning styles were rationalized via learning in a virtual world. Thus student success can be correlated to teaching pedagogy, and hence modified to reach diverse learners. Suggestions are included for adapting a cognitive process combined with multimedia design principles in a virtual world.

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