scholarly journals Does Loving an Avatar Threaten Real Life Marriage?

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A Kolotkin ◽  
Maggie M Williams ◽  
Casey Lloyd ◽  
Earnest W Hallford
Keyword(s):  
Relationship Satisfaction ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Intimate Relationships ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Committed Relationships ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Study Participants

The purpose of this study was to examine the nature of relationship satisfaction and its predictors for those who simultaneously maintain committed relationships, in both real life (RL) and in an immersive virtual world, with either the same or a different partner. All 236 self-selected study participants were recruited on the virtual, multiplayer, online game and social platform of Second Life (SL), screened to insure that they had a committed relationship with both an avatar and a RL partner, and then asked to respond to an online survey about these relationships, and how satisfying they were. The results showed that (1) virtual committed relationships with a partner other than one’s RL partner were extremely prevalent (81.7%), (2) both males and females were highly satisfied with their virtual intimate relationships, (3) no RL relationship was found to be significantly more satisfying than any SL relationship in any statistical analysis conducted, (4) females tended to define their SL relationships as being significantly more satisfying than their RL relationships, (5) males tended to define their SL and RL relationships as equally satisfying, and (6) that those older in RL tended to be more satisfied with their virtual relationship than those who were younger. These results were interpreted in terms of their implications for culture, RL relationships and RL marriage.

scholarly journals Digital Guqin Museum from a Virtual World to the Real World : Conception and design of an ongoing cultural sim

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuen-git Chow
Keyword(s):  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Mixed Reality ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Musical Instrument ◽  
Good Match ◽  
Chinese Music ◽  
Place Holder ◽  
Informal Settings

This paper provides an overview of the Digital Guqin Museum built in Second Life that provides the user an opportunity to experience and interact with different facets of Chinese culture. The user will find examples of Guquin culture, considered by some to be a place holder for Chinese culture , such as the guqin, a rarely seen musical instrument sometimes confused with the guzheng, a more common popular instrument. Users can see the making of a guqin instrument and listen to guqin music being played, which represents both Chinese music, and more specifically, the guqin music genre - an elegant and quiet music – that might be considered a good match for a virtual world. The Digital Guqin Museam enables participants to play guqin music both in-world and via mixed-reality session, such as the recreation of an online “yaji” – elegant gatherings . This paper questions which groups of Guqin players would be interested and which group would not, and what types of uses might be most engaging . The Digital Guqin Museum in Second Life enables meetings possible only in a virtual world. Real life people could meet in virtual places, visit cities, venues as an end in itself. DGM has been shown to professional guqin players, in informal settings and at a specialists conference.

Griefing in a Virtual Community

2009 ◽  
Vol 217 (4) ◽  
pp. 214-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain Coyne ◽  
Thomas Chesney ◽  
Brian Logan ◽  
Neil Madden
Keyword(s):  
Second Life ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Cyber Bullying ◽  
Shared Responsibility ◽  
Negative Behavior ◽  
Traditional Bullying ◽  
The Impact

Building on the research of Chesney, Coyne, Logan, and Madden (2009), this paper examines griefing within the virtual online community of Second Life via an online survey of 86 residents (46% men). Results suggested that griefing was deemed to be an unacceptable, persistent negative behavior which disrupted enjoyment of the environment and which was experienced by 95% of the sample, with 38% classified as frequent victims and 20% classified as perpetrators. No differences emerged in rates between gender (real life and second life), age, and time as a resident in Second Life. A number of self, player- and game-influenced motivations were judged to promote griefing, with respondents overall split on the impact of griefing when compared to traditional bullying. Further, respondents felt that a shared responsibility to control griefing was needed with individuals, residents as a community, and Second Life developers all playing a part. Discussion of the findings in relation to cyber-bullying in general is presented.

The Added Value of 3D World in Professional, Educational, and Individual Dynamics

2017 ◽  
pp. 275-297
Author(s):  
Ivonne Citarella
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Economic Opportunities ◽  
Fantasy World

The author focused her studies on the series of professional competences which have grown within virtual worlds, and which have been made possible thanks to two main peculiarities: the highly intuitive software and playfulness gaming. The research allowed to classify the various professions born within the Second Life virtual world, these have allowed also to become a viable economic opportunities in real life. In parallel with the observations on the dimension of “work” within Second Life, the author gave also attention to the relational and educational dynamics. The author decided to enact her sociological and didactical experiment in the occasion of the event Salerno in Fantasy, a yearly convention dedicated to the Fantasy world.

The Effects of Second Life on the Motivation of EFL Student Teachers

2019 ◽  
pp. 86-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Galip Kartal ◽  
Cem Balçıkanlı
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Free Environment

This study aimed at investigating the effects of using a virtual world, Second Life (SL), on the motivation of Turkish EFL student teachers. First, a 10-week real-life task syllabus was designed and conducted in SL. Focus-group interviews were utilized to enhance the quality of the tasks. Then, the effects of SL on motivation were tracked via qualitative research tools, namely semi-structured interviews, weekly evaluation forms, and observations. The findings showed that SL was effective in increasing motivation of the participating student teachers. The characteristics of the virtual world that were reported to have an effect on motivation were as follows: natural environment, realistic places, anxiety-free environment, excitement, and visual support. This chapter provides possibilities for those who are interested in employing virtual world technologies in foreign/second language teaching and learning and finally describes an investigation into the role of the virtual world in relation to affordances such technologies present across the globe.

scholarly journals 3D Interactions between Virtual Worlds and Real Life in an E-Learning Community

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Lucke ◽  
Raphael Zender
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Real World ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Learning Platform ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Learning Scenarios

Virtual worlds became an appealing and fascinating component of today's internet. In particular, the number of educational providers that see a potential for E-Learning in such new platforms increases. Unfortunately, most of the environments and processes implemented up to now do not exceed a virtual modelling of real-world scenarios. In particular, this paper shows that Second Life can be more than just another learning platform. A flexible and bidirectional link between the reality and the virtual world enables synchronous and seamless interaction between users and devices across both worlds. The primary advantages of this interconnection are a spatial extension of face-to-face and online learning scenarios and a closer relationship between virtual learners and the real world.

scholarly journals Virtual social environments as a tool for psychological assessment: Dynamics of interaction with a virtual spouse

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix D. Schönbrodt ◽  
Jens B. Asendorpf
Keyword(s):  
Relationship Satisfaction ◽  
Real World ◽  
Psychological Assessment ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Process Analysis ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
The Real ◽  
Interaction Quality

Computer games are advocated as a promising tool bridging the gap between the controllability of a lab experiment and the mundane realism of a field experiment. At the same time, many authors stress the importance of observing real behavior instead of asking participants about possible or intended behaviors. In this article we introduce an online virtual social environment, which is inhabited by autonomous agents including the virtual spouse of the participant. Participants can freely explore the virtual world and interact with any other inhabitant, allowing the expression of spontaneous and unprompted behavior. We investigated the usefulness of this game for the assessment of interactions with a virtual spouse and their relations to intimacy and autonomy motivation as well as relationship satisfaction with the real life partner. Both the intimacy motive and the satisfaction with the real world relationship showed significant correlations with aggregated in-game behavior, which shows that some sort of transference between the real world and the virtual world took place. In addition, a process analysis of interaction quality revealed that relationship satisfaction and intimacy motive had different effects on the initial status and the time Course of the interaction quality. Implications for psychological assessment using virtual social environments are discussed.

scholarly journals Knee-High Boots and Six-Pack Abs: Autoethnographic Reflections on Gender and Technology in Second Life

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Delia Dumitrica ◽  
Georgia Gaden
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Gender And Technology ◽  
The Social ◽  
Performance Of Gender ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Visual Element ◽  
Situated Perspective

In this paper, we explore the experience and performance of gender online in Second Life, currently one of the most popular virtual world platforms. Based on two collaborative autoethnographic projects, we propose that gender has to be explored at the intersection between our own situated perspective and the vision embedded in the social and technical infrastructure of the virtual world. For us, the visual element of a 3D world further frames the representation and performance of gender, while technical skill becomes a crucial factor in constructing our ability to play with this performance. As we recollect and interrogate our own experiences in SL, we argue that the relation between gender and virtual worlds is a complex and multifaceted one, proposing our positioned account of experiencing this relation. It is critical, we suggest, that studies of mediated experience in virtual worlds take into account the position of the researcher in ‘real’ life (IRL) as well as the dominant discourses of the environment they are immersed in. In this we must also be critical, of ourselves, our assumptions, as well as the environment itself.

scholarly journals Use of an online virtual environment in psychiatric problem-based learning

2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 391-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Rampling ◽  
Aileen O'Brien ◽  
Keelyjo Hindhaugh ◽  
Luke Woodham ◽  
Sheetal Kavia
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Interactive Technology ◽  
Psychiatric Training ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
Psychiatric Education ◽  
Educational Value ◽  
Further Development

Aims and methodTo create a simulated patient with psychosis for psychiatric training within the online virtual environment of Second Life. After design and delivery of the scenario, medical students were asked to complete it and provide feedback.ResultsA total of 24 students tried the scenario and gave feedback via an online survey. The project had been offered to 150 students so the take up was low. The feedback was predominantly negative with 53 critical responses to 32 positive ones. The consensus was that the scenario was cumbersome, did not imitate real life and was of little educational value. Multimedia representations of psychotic symptoms were more positively received and there may be scope for further development.Clinical implicationsInteractive technology has a role in psychiatric education but we would not recommend the use of scenarios that rely predominantly on verbal communication within Second Life.

WHY PEOPLE JOIN VIRTUAL WORLDS OF COMPUTER GAMES? QUALITATIVE RESEARCH AMONGST POLISH USERS

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Hofman-Kohlmeyer
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Target Market ◽  
The World ◽  
Game Environment ◽  
Game Developers ◽  
Depth Interviews

Introduction: When virtual worlds (e.g. Second Life or World of Warcraft) became immensely popular, with millions of active users around the world, real life companies started to utilize them for business purposes, such as testing new products or organizing various events. However, the activities of companies can only be successful if a sufficient number of players are engaged in virtual worlds. Objectives: The present paper is aimed to investigate individual players’ motives for joining virtual worlds of computer games. Methods: The author carried out 22 in-depth interviews amongst polish players (20 were finally accepted) of three virtual worlds: The Sims, Second Life and Euro Track Simulator 2. Interviews were carried out from August 21, 2018 to December 5, 2018. Results: Respondents most frequently mentioned consecutively: curiosity (caused by TV series, TV programme, newspaper or advertisement), interact with others, interest in the topic of a game, enjoyment from playing, opportunity to see or do things unattainable in real life, exploring the virtual world, spending free time. With reference to the gratification paradigm, individual motivations were divided into: experiential (16 motives), functional (6 motives), social (3 motives). From the perspective of marketing managers, understanding the motivations of players allows them to describe the target market of their promotional activities inside the game environment. For game developers, it can help attract new and maintain current users.

scholarly journals Virtual Identity

1969 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Yumansky
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Online Forums ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Virtual Identity ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
Online Identities

This paper will explore the realm of virtual identity within the context of the online virtual world, Second Life. The creation of virtual identities involves the complex process of constructing an online self-presentation. With the prevalence of online forums and virtual reality, ordinary people are crafting identities online and digressing from their actual identities in real life. In order to explain this phenomenon, I draw on narrative theory's conceptualization of character in order to understand how people craft online identities.

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