scholarly journals Virtual Nation Branding: the Swedish Embassy in Second Life

1970 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stina Bengtsson
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Nation Branding ◽  
Mainstream Media

In this article I will present and discuss the Swedish virtual embassy as a new example of nation branding. By exploring the development of the Swedish embassy in Second Life, activities arranged by and involving the virtual embassy as well as the surrounding discourse of international mainstream media and people engaged in the development of Second Life, I will analyse the significance of the virtual environment in this virtual nation-branding project. I argue that the most important achievement of the Swedish virtual embassy was reached through the connection with the virtual environment in the coverage of traditional international mass media and that the key dimension, although not the only one, of the virtual world in branding Sweden was to serve as a fresh and influential brand signifier within the marketing project.

scholarly journals Radiology Seminars with Guest Professors in the Virtual Environment Second Life®: Perception of Learners and Teachers

Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Juan M. Alonso-Martinez ◽  
Shaghayegh Ravaei ◽  
Teodoro Rudolphi-Solero ◽  
Francisco Sendra-Portero
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Travel Time ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Reducing Costs ◽  
The University

Nine professors of radiology from six different cities were invited to give a 1-hour seminar in the virtual world Second Life® to 154 third-year medical students from the University of Málaga. Students and teachers performed a questionnaire about the cognitive load that implies receiving/teaching seminars inside Second Life@ and several characteristics involving the experience. This experience was considered remarkably enriching by teachers and learners and opens new interesting pathways for educational contact between students and teachers from different universities, with the advantages of reducing costs and travel time.

scholarly journals Technical Challenges and Solutions: Creating Virtual Environments for a Health Science Interprofessional Course

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika deJong ◽  
Dave Chodos ◽  
Pawel Kuras ◽  
Patricia Boechler ◽  
Eleni Stroulia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Health Science ◽  
Educational Settings ◽  
Technical Challenges ◽  
Virtual Interactive ◽  
Educational Practitioner

Virtual interactive environments such as Second Life are emerging as innovative tools that can support and enhance learning in various educational domains. However, for the educational practitioner new to these environments, developing educational settings and activities in a virtual environment can appear to be technically complex and beyond their area of expertise. This case study describes some of the technical challenges encountered and the solutions derived during the development of a virtual world for the delivery of a health science interprofessional communications course.

Engagement in the Second Life Virtual World with Students

2010 ◽  
pp. 651-669
Author(s):  
Caroline M L Ho
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Specific Interest ◽  
Participant Engagement ◽  
Linguistic Resources ◽  
Immersive Virtual Environment ◽  
The Subject

This chapter focuses on participant engagement in an immersive virtual environment among a group of Singaporean teenagers in the context of the subject, General Paper, aimed at developing students’ critical thinking and argumentation skills. Investigation based on the functional linguistic resources of ‘Engagement’ (Martin & White, 2005) examined 17-18 year old pre-tertiary students’ engagement with each other in the Second Life virtual world. Of specific interest in this study were the linguistic resources and strategies used by students as they thought, ‘spoke’ and acted on issues from the perspectives of simulated personas. The exchange of perspectives revolved around the theme of euthanasia. Findings highlighted how students engaged with a range of perspectives on issues raised, and the level of assertiveness and moderation in their claims proposed. The examination also showed the extent of participants’ dialogically expansive or contractive stance. The pedagogical implications of the findings are discussed.

scholarly journals Do As We Do, Not As You Think: The Effect of Group Influence on Individual Choices in a Virtual Environment

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Phil Kraemer
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Target Stimulus ◽  
Perceptual Judgment ◽  
Group Influence ◽  
Individual Choices ◽  
World Environment

Second Life (SL) is a virtual world application that enables users to create virtual representations of themselves and interact with other users. SL is increasingly being used to study important psychological questions. The current project sought to replicate within SL Asch’s (1951) classic finding of group influence, in which participants often respond in accordance with choices expressed by other members of a group, regardless of the accuracy of those choices. Participants were given a series of perceptual judgment trials, in which they chose one of three stimulus alternatives that matched the length of a target stimulus. Participants were tested either alone or with three other confederate avatars whose choices were predetermined by the experimenter. On two of the trials, confederate avatars unanimously chose incorrectly before the actual participant made their choice. Results showed that on these trials participants were significantly more likely to choose in accord with the confederate’s choices, relative to participants tested as single avatars. The results generally support earlier research on group influence and extend these findings to a virtual world environment.

scholarly journals Action et langage dans un monde virtuel utilisé à des fins de pratique de la langue | Action and Language in a Virtual World Used for Language Practice

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenjun Tang
Keyword(s):  
Nous Avons ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Language Practice ◽  
Simulated Environment ◽  
3D Virtual Environment ◽  
Target Languages ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Collaboration Project

Cette étude s’inscrit dans un contexte de télécollaboration entre des apprenants d’anglais et de français dans un environnement virtuel en 3D - Second Life. Elle s’intéresse plus particulièrement aux relations entre l’utilisation des langues cibles, les activités proposées et l’environnement simulé. À partir d’une analyse qualitative des interactions entre les participants, nous avons défini six catégories d’interaction langage/environnement dans le but de comprendre l’influence de cet environnement sur les pratiques langagières.This study is part of a tele-collaboration project which links learners of English and French in a 3D virtual environment - Second Life. We are particularly interested in the relationship among the use of target languages, the activities and the simulated environment. According to our observation and recording of the interactions, as well as the interviews with participants, we have defined six categories of interactions based on the special virtual environment in order to understand its influence for the language practice.

scholarly journals A team-based competition for undergraduate medical students to learn radiology within the virtual world Second Life

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teodoro Rudolphi-Solero ◽  
Alberto Jimenez-Zayas ◽  
Rocio Lorenzo-Alvarez ◽  
Dolores Domínguez-Pinos ◽  
Miguel Jose Ruiz-Gomez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Student Perception ◽  
Load Test ◽  
Undergraduate Medical Students ◽  
Exposure Test ◽  
Radiological Anatomy ◽  
Post Exposure ◽  
Course Grades

Abstract Background A multi-user competitive game within the virtual world Second Life for undergraduate radiology learning was adapted for team participation. This study aimed to assess student perception, impact on learning, and eventual correlation of game results with post-exposure tests and course grades. Methods The game consisted of six weekly stages, dedicated to thoracic, abdominal, and musculoskeletal radiological anatomy and semiology. Participants had several days a week to review self-guided radiology educational content and then complete individual multiple-choice tests and solve team tasks to progress through the game's ranking. Additionally, they completed a cognitive load test, a questionnaire about the experience and a post-exposure knowledge test. Results Fifty-two students organised into 13 teams participated in the game and assessed different aspects of the experience with a mean score ≥ 7.8 on a 10-point scale, highlighting the participation of the teacher (9.3 ± 1.1), the educational contents (8.8 ± 1.4) and the usefulness for their education (8.7 ± 1.4). Participants obtained better post-exposure test results (p < 0.007) and better course grades (p < 0.021) than non-participants did. Conclusion A multi-user game adapted to team competition to learn radiology in Second Life was very positively perceived by third-year medical students, who highly valued its content, organisation, and usefulness for their training. Most of the participants agreed that they had collaborated as a team and that playing in competitive environments helps them learn better. The best post-exposure and academic results compared to non-participating students indicate the potential impact of the game on learning.

scholarly journals Low-Asymmetry Interface for Multiuser VR Experiences with Both HMD and Non-HMD Users

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 397
Author(s):  
Qimeng Zhang ◽  
Ji-Su Ban ◽  
Mingyu Kim ◽  
Hae Won Byun ◽  
Chang-Hun Kim
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Mobile Device ◽  
User Satisfaction ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
User Study ◽  
Visual Display ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Head Mounted Display ◽  
And Behavior

We propose a low-asymmetry interface to improve the presence of non-head-mounted-display (non-HMD) users in shared virtual reality (VR) experiences with HMD users. The low-asymmetry interface ensures that the HMD and non-HMD users’ perception of the VR environment is almost similar. That is, the point-of-view asymmetry and behavior asymmetry between HMD and non-HMD users are reduced. Our system comprises a portable mobile device as a visual display to provide a changing PoV for the non-HMD user and a walking simulator as an in-place walking detection sensor to enable the same level of realistic and unrestricted physical-walking-based locomotion for all users. Because this allows non-HMD users to experience the same level of visualization and free movement as HMD users, both of them can engage as the main actors in movement scenarios. Our user study revealed that the low-asymmetry interface enables non-HMD users to feel a presence similar to that of the HMD users when performing equivalent locomotion tasks in a virtual environment. Furthermore, our system can enable one HMD user and multiple non-HMD users to participate together in a virtual world; moreover, our experiments show that the non-HMD user satisfaction increases with the number of non-HMD participants owing to increased presence and enjoyment.

A Transparent and Decentralized Model of Perception and Action for Intelligent Virtual Agents

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (04) ◽  
pp. 1460020 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Anastassakis ◽  
Themis Panayiotopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Representation ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Perception And Action ◽  
Virtual Agents ◽  
Virtual Agent ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Intelligent Virtual Agents ◽  
Decentralized Model ◽  
Over Time

Intelligent virtual agent behaviour is a crucial element of any virtual environment application as it essentially brings the environment to life, introduces believability and realism and enables complex interactions and evolution over time. However, the development of mechanisms for virtual agent perception and action is neither a trivial nor a straight-forward task. In this paper we present a model of perception and action for intelligent virtual agents that meets specific requirements and can as such be systematically implemented, can seamlessly and transparently integrate with knowledge representation and intelligent reasoning mechanisms, is highly independent of virtual world implementation specifics, and enables virtual agent portability and reuse.

Virtual Reality (VR) in Pediatrics: Innovative Perspectives With Special Reference To Clinical Applications and Pediatric Rehabilitation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Bittmann
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Mixed Reality ◽  
Clinical Applications ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Data Glove ◽  
Input Devices ◽  
Head Mounted Displays

Virtual reality (VR) is the term used to describe representation and perception in a computer-generated, virtual environment. The term was coined by author Damien Broderick in his 1982 novel “The Judas Mandala". The term "Mixed Reality" describes the mixing of virtual reality with pure reality. The term "hyper-reality" is also used. Immersion plays a major role here. Immersion describes the embedding of the user in the virtual world. A virtual world is considered plausible if the interaction is logical in itself. This interactivity creates the illusion that what seems to be happening is actually happening. A common problem with VR is "motion sickness." To create a sense of immersion, special output devices are needed to display virtual worlds. Here, "head-mounted displays", CAVE and shutter glasses are mainly used. Input devices are needed for interaction: 3D mouse, data glove, flystick as well as the omnidirectional treadmill, with which walking in virtual space is controlled by real walking movements, play a role here.

"Getting down with Covid, being crowned, under quarantine, or language transformations during a pandemic "

Lyuboslovie ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 276-292
Author(s):  
Desislava Cheshmedzhieva-Stoycheva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Search Engines ◽  
Active Part ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Frequency Of Use ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Mass Media

The focus of the paper is on the neologisms that have occurred in Bulgarian as a result of the pandemic. The corpus of analysis comprises linguistic exchanges collected during some personal conversations of the author with a number of informants as well as occurrences of the encountered neologisms in the social and mainstream media. The neologisms were also compared with the linguistic entries in some reference books and their frequency of use was checked through search engines. One of the main conclusions reached is that despite the fact that some of the analysed neologisms are not part of the official lexicon they are widely used in the social and the mass media, which means they are an active part of everyday life of Bulgarians.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document