Three activities in virtual worlds

Mark Childsmarkchilds.orgApril 5th 2013

Not only good for ...

• Simulation and roleplay• Design / creation / exhibition• Exploration and immersion• Creating a feeling of copresence at a distance• Reification of concepts such as identity

...but possibly best medium for learning these

Roleplaying Disaster Management Communication

Disaster Management Communication

• Developed with Yung-Fang Chen and El Parker in Coventry University, UK

• Conversion of a table-top exercise. Students take on roles of agencies after a natural disaster.

• One students in pair travels from office-to-office in SL and negotiate on behalf of their agencies. Other stays at base.

Interface

Interface

• Instructions were given via notecards distributed inworld

• Students had to discuss with team members and with other agencies

• Predominant feedback was that the screen contained too many windows. Made navigation and seeing other participants difficult.

Avatars

Avatars

• Participants varied in extent to which they modified their avatars.

• Participants did not identify with avatars. They were characters as a means for interaction.

• Varied in degree to which “funny” avatars were a hindrance or helpful.

• Difficult to identify roles of others in game.• “in the computer, there is no extra talking.”

Design of world

Design of world

• Didn’t experience it as particularly realistic• Wanted more emotional resonance so it felt

tense, time dependent, e.g. actual refugees, collapsed buildings etc.

• Engagement not through design of world, but through motivation to try out things they had learnt

• A “fake real world”

Conclusions

• Experienced presence, copresence etc., though need to take into account motivation as contributory factor.

• SL effective at supporting roleplay, because it distances from physical.

• Allow learners to personalise avatars, but assign uniforms.

• Though not realistic, still more realistic than a table-top exercise.

• “Didn’t learn anything”, but ...

Thinking outside the box

The learning goals

• BA Media and Communication at Newman College• Module on Media Futures

– critical understanding of theoretical perspectives on developments in new media, interactivity and virtual experience

– understanding of theoretical responses to virtual worlds and computer games

– themes future design of virtual and gaming worlds, imagination, identity, narratology and ludology

• Journal entries related to module themes• Assessed on two entries related to one theme• Guest lecture in support of theme of identity

Presentation and discussion

• Focused on literature on identity, appearance, performance of identity and concepts such as true self, possible selves etc.

• Learners given tasks of interpreting appearance of avatars. 1st run, from images on slide; in 2nd session analysing Crusty Sorbet (Rich’s avatar).

Students’ interaction

• Few participate– “y isnt anyone contributing today ? the room seems quiet”

• Most responses – “i have not thought about me really”– “i just made my avatar from the clothes given from there”– “do we have to make our avatar look like somebody?”

• Do make judgments but these are not reflected upon– “simply because it’s nice”

Activity

• Students are asked to build an “identity cube” and volunteers can then discuss what this means.

• Based on the story cubes invented by Carina Girvan at TCD (SL: Sleepy Littlething).

• Previously given instruction on creating cubes.• Upload 5 images to add to the cube’s faces.

Results of the activity

• Most completed the task; 1 or 2 struggled• Not all volunteered to talk through the cubes;

those that did effectively explored their identities.• Talked about politics, the importance of their art

to them, what draws them to particular TV, games, etc.

• Creating the cubes gave the abstraction of “identity” a solidity which provided a basis for exploration. Wenger: Reification or “thingness”

Students’ responses

• “I normally probably wouldn't present all of these things together to someone.”

• “This was interesting.”• “Truthfully i havnt really thought of my

identity a whole lot... this discussion really started making me think on that though”

• “I'm thankful I had this lesson after 2 doubles.. I had alot of fun during it”

Conclusions

• Discussion is important in raising issues and ideas, even though participation is limited.

• Activity energises students and gives a springboard for their ideas.

• Can lead to distraction, discussion of abstractions still limited, but raises awareness of themes.

• Next time will shorten discussion period.• Also suggest cube building instructions printed

out for referral during activity.

Extract / Insert

Installation and performance

• Installation at Herbert Gallery in Coventry, October/November, 2012

• Three artists; Stelarc, Ian Upton, Joff Chafer who work in design, performance, acting in virtual worlds and particularly mixed reality.

• To launch installation, one hour performance by Stelarc.

Extract Insert is both a sensory and aesthetic experience but it's also a technically interesting one as well … meshing. There’s also, further to that, a speculation on that meshing; that perhaps what's important is not real life or Second Life but perhaps a third life where eventually autonomous and intelligent avatars might want to access a surrogate body and perform with it in the real world. So then there won't be this kind of master-slave set up where you're sitting at a computer physically controlling your avatar in Second Life, but rather equally an avatar might want to access your body and operate with it in the real world.

Three videos

• Initial performance• View of installation from SL side• View of installation from RL side