Evolution of Business in Virtual Environments

2011 ◽  
pp. 90-102
Author(s):  
Rita King
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual Work ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Early Adopters ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Virtual Business

Virtual business as defined in this chapter is any business interaction that takes place in an immersive digital space in which individuals are represented by “avatars” in three-dimensional, user-created environments. While there are hundreds of virtual worlds and hundreds of millions of people globally participating in them, this chapter focuses on Second Life®, owned by Linden Lab. At the time of this writing, eighteen million Second Life® accounts have been registered and participants have spent a billion hours in-world. US $1 billion has changed hands in Second Life® between people in more than 100 countries representing hundreds of cultures. Thousands of universities, companies, institutions and organizations have Second Life® bureaus. This chapter will examine the evolution of some of the most remarkable projects taking place within this virtual world, featuring the passion of early adopters, the role of the media, current examples of virtual work, the evolution of the virtual workforce, the shift in the role of managers toward a collaborative virtual model, the relationship between education and virtual work, and virtual goods and services.

The Use of Virtual Worlds in Management Education: An Investigation of Current Practices in Second Life

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amarolinda Zanela Klein ◽  
Angilberto Freitas ◽  
Lisiane Machado ◽  
José Carlos da Silva Freitas Junior ◽  
Paulo Gaspar Graziola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Management Education ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Role Of Information

Frequently, research on management education does not take into account the role of Information Technology as a key resource to support teaching and learning processes. In this article, the authors explore the current applications of Three Dimensional Virtual Worlds (3DVW) for Management education. The authors researched the educational institutions subscribed to Second Life (SL) (http://secondlife.com/), as it is one of the most popular open 3DVW available worldwide. The results reveal that only 31% of the institutions that answered the authors’ questionnaire actually use SL in Management education. Regarding the acceptance of SL in Management education, one third of the 15 institutions using it claim that it has been well received and accepted both by students and lecturers/professors. These results lead to several questions for further research and development of practices concerning the use of 3DVW for Management education.

Collaboration in Virtual Worlds

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 60-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah ◽  
Shu Z. Schiller ◽  
Brian E. Mennecke ◽  
Keng Siau ◽  
Brenda Eschenbrenner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Team Process ◽  
Team Collaboration ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Team Trust ◽  
And Task

Virtual worlds are three-dimensional, computer-generated worlds in which team collaboration can be facilitated through the use of shared virtual space and mediated using avatars. This article examines the effect of task complexity on team collaboration. A puzzle game in Second Life was used as the collaborative task and task complexity was manipulated by varying the number of pieces in the puzzle. The hypotheses are that task complexity influences team trust, and team trust influences team process satisfaction in virtual team collaboration. The experimental results indicate that task complexity has significant effects on team trust and team process satisfaction, and team trust fully mediates the relationship between task complexity and team process satisfaction.

Physicalizing the Image, Physicalizing the Digital

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Truckenbrod
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Medical Profession ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Visual Image ◽  
Robotic Arms ◽  
3D Printers ◽  
Physical Interactions

Radically shifting personal experience of the visual image from virtual worlds like Second Life, from flat screens, cinema, and paper to physical forms, subverts the predominance of the digital realm. Living on the surface of the screen minimizes the tactility of materials and the resonance of memory and meaning embodied in objects. Digital 3D cinema, 3D television, and 3D cameras are precursors at the threshold of transforming digital into physical. The image flexes from screen to object with 3D printers and CNC machines. In the medical profession, computer 3D images from CT scans are transformed to remotely controlled, physical surgeries. Recently thinking experiments use brain activity to remotely control robotic arms. Vehicles for physicalizing the image from paper, screen, and from one’s imagination and thinking in the brain, manifest three-dimensional, palpable, sensory, tactile, objectified experiences. How will this phenomena transform modes of digital communication, physical interactions, and production on both the global and the personal scales? How will the material role of the computer prescribe new creative activities, new modes of artistic expression?

A Second Life in Qualitative Research

2015 ◽  
pp. 1409-1433
Author(s):  
Kakali Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Digital World ◽  
Key Concepts

Many institutions of higher education do not have well-developed qualitative research methods programs. Consequently, the role of qualitative research is minimized, and its legitimacy questioned as the methodology of choice in dissertations, relegating qualitative research as second fiddle to quantitative research. In this chapter, the authors present how using a three-dimensional multiuser virtual/digital world called Second Life serves as a fertile and rigorous space for critically engaged ethnographic practices in an institution where resources for qualitative research are scant. Using information extracted from students' projects conducting mini-ethnographies in Second Life, their YouTube podcasts, students' reflections in learning key concepts in qualitative research without prior exposure to this methodology, the authors engage in a discussion of transformative learning experiences. Discussion of transformative learning experiences includes an intersection of critical dialogue of integration of digital technologies, virtual worlds in qualitative research, kind of learning and learners produced as a result, and reflections necessary for pedagogically aligned instructional design and delivery.

Virtual Worlds Applications for Management Education

2017 ◽  
pp. 279-299
Author(s):  
Amarolinda Zanela Klein ◽  
Angilberto Sabino de Freitas ◽  
Lisiane Machado ◽  
José Carlos da Silva Freitas Jr. ◽  
Paulo Gaspar Graziola Jr. ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Management Education ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Role Of Information

Frequently, research on management education does not take into account the role of Information Technology as a key resource to support teaching and learning processes. In this article, we explore the current applications of Three Dimensional Virtual Worlds (3DVW) for Management education. We researched the educational institutions subscribed to Second Life (SL) (http://secondlife.com/), as it is one of the most popular open 3DVW available worldwide. The results reveal that only 31% of the institutions that answered our questionnaire actually use SL in Management education. Regarding the acceptance of SL in Management education, one third of the 15 institutions using it claim that it has been well received and accepted both by students and lecturers/professors. These results lead to several questions for further research and development of practices concerning the use of 3DVW for Management education.

A Second Life in Qualitative Research

2014 ◽  
pp. 301-326
Author(s):  
Kakali Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Digital World ◽  
Key Concepts

Many institutions of higher education do not have well-developed qualitative research methods programs. Consequently, the role of qualitative research is minimized, and its legitimacy questioned as the methodology of choice in dissertations, relegating qualitative research as second fiddle to quantitative research. In this chapter, the authors present how using a three-dimensional multiuser virtual/digital world called Second Life serves as a fertile and rigorous space for critically engaged ethnographic practices in an institution where resources for qualitative research are scant. Using information extracted from students’ projects conducting mini-ethnographies in Second Life, their YouTube podcasts, students’ reflections in learning key concepts in qualitative research without prior exposure to this methodology, the authors engage in a discussion of transformative learning experiences. Discussion of transformative learning experiences includes an intersection of critical dialogue of integration of digital technologies, virtual worlds in qualitative research, kind of learning and learners produced as a result, and reflections necessary for pedagogically aligned instructional design and delivery.

Homogenization and Mass Identity vs. Individual Identity. An Analysis in the Light of the Theory of “The Three Dimensional Spiral of Sense

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Miriam Aparicio
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Individual Identity ◽  
Cognitive Effects ◽  
The Media

This study tests some hypotheses included in the psycho-social-communicational paradigm, which emphasizes the cognitive effects of the media and the role of the psychosocial subject as the recipient

scholarly journals Second Life as a research environment: avatar-based focus groups (AFG)

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eman Gadalla ◽  
Ibrahim Abosag ◽  
Kathy Keeling
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Marketing Research ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages

Purpose – This study aims to examine the nature and the potential use of avatar-based focus groups (AFGs) (i.e. focus groups conducted in three-dimensional [3D] virtual worlds [VWs]) as compared to face-to-face and online focus groups (OFGs), motivated by the ability of VWs to stimulate the realism of physical places. Over the past decade, there has been a rapid increase in using 3D VWs as a research tool. Design/methodology/approach – Using a two-phase reflective approach, data were collected first by using traditional face-to-face focus groups, followed by AFGs. In Phase 2, an online, semi-structured survey provided comparison data and experiences in AFGs, two-dimensional OFGs and traditional face-to-face focus groups. Findings – The findings identify the advantages and disadvantages of AFGs for marketing research. There is no evident difference in data quality between the results of AFGs and face-to-face focus groups. AFG compensates for some of the serious limitations associated with OFGs. Practical implications – The paper reflects on three issues, data quality, conduct of AFGs (including the moderator reflection) and participant experience, that together inform one’s understanding of the characteristics, advantages and limitations of AFG. Originality/value – This is the first paper to compare between AFGs, traditional face-to-face focus groups and OFGs. AFG holds many advantages over OFGs and even, sometimes, over face-to-face focus groups, providing a suitable environment for researchers to collect data.

The American Ghetto, Gangster, and Respect on the Streets of Copenhagen: Media(tion)s between Structure and Street Culture

2021 ◽  
pp. 089124162110569
Author(s):  
Hakan Kalkan
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Perceived Similarity ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Street Culture ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Relationship

“Street culture” is often considered a response to structural factors. However, the relationship between culture and structure has rarely been empirically analyzed. This article analyzes the role of three media representations of American street culture and gangsters—two films and the music of a rap artist—in the street culture of a disadvantaged part of Copenhagen. Based on years of ethnographic fieldwork, this article demonstrates that these media representations are highly valuable to and influential among young men because of their perceived similarity between their intersectional structural positions and those represented in the media. Thus, the article illuminates the interaction between structural and cultural factors in street culture. It further offers a local explanation of the scarcely studied phenomenon of the influence of mass media on street culture, and a novel, media-based, local explanation of global similarities in different street cultures.

The Weight of Fear of Violence in Household Budgets

2021 ◽  
pp. 073401682110383
Author(s):  
Bruno Truzzi ◽  
Marcelo Justus ◽  
Henrique C. Kawamura ◽  
Thomas V. Conti
Keyword(s):  
Instrumental Variables ◽  
Regularization Method ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Household Spending ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Level Ii ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Selection Of

This article investigates the relationship between the perception of violence and the spending on security goods and services in households. Individual microdata from a random national survey on family budget carried out in Brazil in 2008-2009 were used for modeling the household spending using two instrumental variables. The stability of results was checked by applying the Lasso-Gaussian regularization method in the selection of the statistically significant variables. Positive relationships were found between household spending on security goods and services and (i) the fear of insecurity at the household level, (ii) the neighbors’ spending on security, and (iii) the registered criminality, but no evidence was found on the relationship between the role of police on household spending on security goods and services.

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