Avatars at work and play : collaboration and interaction in shared virtual environments / edited by Ralph Schroeder and Ann-Sofie Axelsson.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Schroeder, Ralph.

Axelsson, Ann-Sofie

Engineering Book Fund.

Series:

Computer supported cooperative work ; v. 34.

Computer supported cooperative work ; v. 34

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Avatars (Virtual reality).

Shared virtual environments.

Virtual work teams.

Human-computer interaction.

Video games.

Internet games.

Physical Description:

xv, 277 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Dordrecht, the Netherlands : Springer, [2006]

Summary:

Avatars at Work and Play brings together contributions from leading social scientists and computer scientists who have conducted research on virtual environments used for collaboration and online gaming. They present a well-rounded and state-of-the-art overview of current applications of multi-user virtual environments, ranging from highly immersive virtual reality systems to internet-based virtual environments on personal computers. The volume is a follow-up to a previous essay collection, 'The Social Life of Avatars', which explored general issues in this field. This collection goes further, examining uses of shared virtual environments in practical settings such as scientific collaboration, distributed meetings, building models together, and others. It also covers online gaming in virtual environments, which has attracted hundreds of thousands of users and presents an opportunity for studying a myriad of social issues. Covering both 'work' and 'play', the volume brings together issues common to the two areas, including: What kind of avatar appearance is suitable for different kinds of interaction? How best to foster collaboration and promote usable shared virtual spaces? What kinds of activities work well in different types of virtual environments and systems? Avatars at Work and Play will be required reading for computer scientists and social scientists who are researching and developing virtual worlds. It will be useful on courses in New Media and human-computer interaction.

Contents:

Work and play in shared virtual environments : overlapping themes and intersecting research agendas / Ralph Schroeder and Ann-Sofie Axelsson

Transformed social interaction : exploring the digital plasticity of avatars / Jeremy N. Bailenson and Andrew C. Beall

Selective fidelity : investigating priorities for the creation of expressive avatars / Maia Garau

Analysis and visualization of social diffusion patterns in three-dimensional virtual worlds / Shashikant Penumarthy and Katy Bèorner

Collaborative virtual environments for scientific collaboration : technical and organizational design frameworks / Diane H. Sonnenwald

Analyzing fragments of collaboration in distributed immersive virtual environments / Ilona Heldal ... [et al.]

The impact of display system and embodiment on closely coupled collaboration between remote users / David Roberts, Robin Wolff, and Oliver Otto

The good inequality : supporting group-work in shared virtual environments / Maria Spante, Ann-Sofie Axelsson, and Ralph Schroeder

Consequences of playing violent video games in immersive virtual environments / Susan Persky and Jim Blascovich

The psychology of massively multi-user online role-playing games : motivations, emotional investment, relationships, and problematic usage / Nick Yee

Questing for knowledge

virtual worlds as dynamic processes of social interaction / Mikael Jakobsson

Play and sociability in There : some lessons from online games for collaborative virtual environments / Barry Brown and Marek Bell

Digital dystopia : player control and strategic innovation in The sims online / Francis F. Steen ... [et al.].

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Engineering Book Fund.

ISBN:

1402038836

OCLC:

65202343

Publisher Number:

9781402038839 (HB)

9781402038983 (e-book)