scholarly journals The P.R.O.S.E. (Psychological Research on Synthetic Environments) Project: Conducting In-World Psychological Research on 3D Virtual Worlds

1970 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Real World ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Web Based ◽  
The Real ◽  
3D Virtual Worlds ◽  
Core Questions

The P.R.O.S.E. (Psychological Research on Synthetic Environments) Project was established to investigate the psychology of 3D virtual worlds. Under the auspices of the project, a systematic program of in-world behavioral research is being conducted that addresses three core questions related to the psychology of 3D immersive environments: What are the characteristics of active participants in virtual worlds? Do the principles of psychology that operate in the real world also apply to the virtual world? Do experiences in the virtual world have the capacity to influence behavior and subjective experience in the real world? The current paper describes a series of studies that examine each of these questions and outlines future directions for the project. If projections for a highly populated, ubiquitously accessible (web-based), and seamlessly integrated (interoperable) network of virtual worlds are borne out, a new realm of psychological reality and interaction will have been created that will be increasingly important for behavioral scientists to investigate and understand.

The Third Culture

2017 ◽  
pp. 318-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsiao-Cheng (Sandrine) Han
Keyword(s):  
Visual Culture ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Real World ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Third Culture ◽  
The Real ◽  
Main Research ◽  
The Third ◽  
Culture Education

The purpose of this research is to improve the understanding of how users of online virtual worlds learn and/or relearn ‘culture' through the use of visual components. The goal of this research is to understand if culturally and historically authentic imagery is necessary for users to understand the virtual world; how virtual world residents form and reform their virtual culture; and whether the visual culture in the virtual world is imported from the real world, colonized by any dominate culture, or assimilated into a new culture. The main research question is: Is the authenticity of cultural imagery important to virtual world residents? This research investigates whether visual culture awareness can help students develop a better understanding of visual culture in the real world, and whether this awareness can help educators construct better curricula and pedagogy for visual culture education.

Virtual World Professionals and the Interloper Effect in 3D Virtual Worlds

2011 ◽  
pp. 321-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria McArthur
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Real World ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
Specific Mechanism ◽  
3D Virtual Worlds ◽  
Or Organization ◽  
A Company

In this chapter we discuss virtual world professionals: real world employees deployed in virtual worlds for the purpose of representing a company or organization there. We investigate the notions of belonging and community in 3D virtual worlds, and identify the ways in which “belonging” and “not belonging” are constructed and perceived, especially in relation to so-called employee avatars. We explore the dimension of social stigma in virtual worlds and discuss the utility of the separate categories of outsiders and interlopers for inhabitant characterization. Our motivation for doing so is to determine the degree to which corporate presence can be mediated through the specific mechanism of employee avatar appearance. In considering the possibility that some employee avatars may be perceived as interlopers, we propose three methods for investigating the effect of their presence in virtual worlds, called the “interloper effect.”

Functionalization and the Real Virtual

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Ulrich Gehmann ◽  
Martin Reiche
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Real World ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
The Real ◽  
Ongoing Process ◽  
Step Model ◽  
The Creation

In this article the authors are going to explore a tendency in virtual world design towards the creation of non-functionalized virtual worlds, i.e. worlds which only exist to exist without resembling any function in their design. They are going to show how this tendency is grounded in the ongoing process of formatization in the real world by introducing a 4-step model of de-functionalization and show which chances exist for these non-functional virtual worlds to affect the real world through the mental world conception of the user.

Research on the Migration of Children’s Experience from the Virtual World to the Real World

2011 ◽  
Vol 271-273 ◽  
pp. 1842-1845
Author(s):  
Jin Yan Hu ◽  
Hong Yu Feng ◽  
Jian Heng Lu ◽  
Yuan Yuan Li ◽  
Yan Cui Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Real World ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
The Real ◽  
Traditional Research

For children, learning and life in virtual worlds are related to the real world. In the traditional research on education, we have considered how to make the experience of children in the real world migrate into the learning in virtual world. But there are little people discussing whether the experience of children in the virtual world will turn to migrate to the real world.

Consumer trust in 3D virtual worlds and its impact on real world purchase intention

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Peng ◽  
Dan Ke
Keyword(s):  
Social Presence ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Real World ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Purchase Intention ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Online Trust ◽  
3D Virtual Worlds ◽  
Virtual Prototypes ◽  
3D Virtual World

Purpose – This paper examines the three-dimensional (3D)virtual world users’ perceptions of authenticity and trustworthiness in the virtual prototypes and users’ potential purchase behavior in the real-world settings. The 3D virtual worlds provide a new platform that exhibits virtual prototypes as a promotion channel for new products of real-world and online service, where users can communicate “face to face” via their representative avatars. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted an experiment in Second Life and collected data in a post-study questionnaire to test our proposed conceptual model. Structural equation modeling was the main methodology. Findings – The research results showed that 3D virtual world users obtained a high sense of telepresence and social presence. The sense of telepresence positively leads to users’ perceptions of online trust in the virtual prototypes and thus increases their intention to purchase real-world objects; the users’ sense of social presence positively associates to their perceptions of authenticity and online trust and, therefore, their purchase intention. Research limitations/implications – In survey research, the common method variance is a problem. A more robust way is to use objective measures. Practical implications – A new channel was proposed for businesses to enhance their online strategies that will increase their business value. Social implications – 3D virtual world is also a cutting-edge platform for remote education, public information service, etc. Originality/value – This paper initially contributes to the literature that interprets underlying factors in 3D virtual worlds associated to purchase intention in real-world objects. We demonstrated the advantages, i.e. the communication efficacy and vivid virtual design in the 3D user-generated environment.

scholarly journals On the Relationship between My Avatar and Myself

1970 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul R Messinger ◽  
Xin Ge ◽  
Eleni Stroulia ◽  
Kelly Lyons ◽  
Kristen Smirnov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Real World ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
The Real ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Relationship

What is the relationship between avatars and the people they represent in terms of appearance and behavior? In this paper, we hypothesize that people (balancing motives of self-verification and self-enhancement) customize the image of their avatars to bear similarity to their real selves, but with moderate enhancements. We also hypothesize that virtual-world behavior (due to deindividuation in computer-mediated communication environments) is less restrained by normal inhibitions than real-world behavior. Lastly, we hypothesize that people with more attractive avatars than their real selves will be somewhat more confident and extraverted in virtual worlds than they are in the real world. We examine these issues using data collected from Second Life residents using an in-world intercept method that involved recruiting respondents’ avatars from a representative sample of locations. Our quantitative data indicate that, on average, people report making their avatars similar to themselves, but somewhat more attractive. And, compared to real-world behavior, respondents indicate that their virtual-world behavior is more outgoing and risk-taking and less thoughtful/more superficial. Finally, people with avatars more attractive than their real selves state that they are more outgoing, extraverted, risk-taking, and loud than their real selves (particularly if they reported being relatively low on these traits in the real world). Qualitative data from open-ended questions corroborate our hypotheses.

Learning Assignments in Virtual Worlds

2010 ◽  
pp. 54-77
Author(s):  
Tanja Adamus ◽  
Nadine Ojstersek ◽  
Axel Nattland ◽  
Michael Kerres
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Real World ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Additional Benefit ◽  
Learning Objectives ◽  
Complex Learning ◽  
The Real ◽  
Technical Solutions

The chapter describes different possibilities for the design of learning assignments in virtual worlds with a special emphasis on Second Life. For this purpose, it relates to didactical requirements to obtain criteria for constructing learning assignments for different contexts and conditions. A difference has to be made between distinct forms of simple and complex learning assignments, which have to be solved in the virtual worlds, but serve for the attainment of learning objectives either from the real or the virtual world. Furthermore, it is possible to reach learning objectives concerning the virtual world by means of the real world. It becomes obvious, that the bounds between virtual worlds and the real world are blurring. The decision, whether learning assignments should be edited in virtual worlds, depends on to what extent an additional benefit compared with other (technical) solutions, can emerge in these contexts. For these purposes a closer consideration of virtual worlds‘ specific features becomes relevant.

Virtual Market Economies and the Business of Virtual Worlds

2011 ◽  
pp. 160-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Hwang
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Real World ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Market Economies ◽  
The Real ◽  
Business Impact ◽  
The Impact

Virtual worlds have long been a gleam in the visionary’s eye: the essential concept of a virtual world may have originated with Pliny (Biocca & Levy, 1995). Much has been written about the impact of virtual worlds, both socially and economically, on their users. This chapter offers an overview of the economies of virtual worlds and the business impact of managing them. Against logic, virtual economies are closer to true market economies than any real world economy. They are also rapidly growing in size and value. With increasing attention from real world governments and tax authorities, virtual economies are stimulating changes in the business of virtual worlds. Virtual world operators have an opportunity to, through their responses, either preserve their investments and their businesses by ensuring a secure role for the market economies they have created, or face serious threats to their business as the real world interferes with virtual fun.

scholarly journals Living in Virtual and Real Worlds: A Didactic Experience

Proceedings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Lasala ◽  
Jara ◽  
Alamán
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Real World ◽  
Student Motivation ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Mixed Reality ◽  
Pilot Experiment ◽  
The Real ◽  
Proposal A ◽  
New Form

During the last decade some technologies have achieved the necessary maturity to allow the widespread emergence of Virtual Worlds; many people are living an alternative life in them. One objective of this paper is to argue that the blending of real and virtual worlds has been happening for centuries, and in fact is the mark of “civilization”. This project presents a proposal to improve student motivation in the classroom, through a new form of recreation of a mixed reality environment. To this end, two applications have been created that work together between the real environment and the virtual environment: these applications are called “Virtual Craft” and “Virtual Touch”. Virtual Craft is related with the real world and Virtual Touch is related with the virtual world. These applications are in constant communication with each other, since both students and teachers carry out actions that influence the real or virtual world. A gamification mechanics was used in the recreated environment, in order to motivate the students to carry out the activities assigned by the teacher. For the evaluation of the proposal, a pilot experiment with Virtual Craft was carried out in a Secondary Educational Center in Valls (Spain).

scholarly journals Second Life: A Hope for Ideal, But Only in Its Imaginary

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Xiaowei Huang
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Real World ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
The Real ◽  
Short Period ◽  
The Relationship

Second Life, one of the most popular of virtual world was invented by Linden Lab Corporation: its philosophical statement is that Second Life is 'a place where you can turn the pictures in your head into a kind of pixelated reality’ (Rymaszewski, 2007, p. iv). Second Life is, for many reasons to be considered in this essay, a representative example of the (offline/real) world. This paper will argue that virtual worlds such as Second Life are an extension of the real world. Two major questions were posed earlier in this essay: ‘Does the virtual world represent the real world?’ and ‘Is it a refuge for its participants from the real world’. We can answer these questions. First of all, the virtual world is an extension of the real world, because it is built from, and continues to make use of, ideas, meanings, identity categories, performances, narratives and values derived from the real world. Secondly, Second Life is clearly not, in the long term, a refuge for its participants from the real world. Second Life can be understood as a virtual place that allows people to have temporary fun; however, it is only for a moment or for a short period, because the relationship between the virtual and the real world is interpenetrated.

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