Embodiments, avatars, clones and agents for multi-user, multi-sensory virtual worlds

Benford, Steve; Bowers, John; Fahlén, Lennart E.; Greenhalgh, Chris; Snowdon, Dave

doi:10.1007/s005300050045

Cited by 51 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Early research on ''Collaborative Virtual Environments,'' or CVEs (Benford et al, 1994(Benford et al, , 1997Bowers et al, 1996;Hindmarsh et al, 1998Hindmarsh et al, , 2001) examined a new kind of three-dimensional social space with new systems of social interaction. CVEs were designed primarily for work and involved multiple users (up to 64 according to Robinson et al, 2001), crude avatars dubbed ''blockies,'' and voice communication.…”

Section: Collaborative Virtual Environments: Blockies Are Growing Upmentioning

confidence: 98%

Doing Virtually Nothing: Awareness and Accountability in Massively Multiplayer Online Worlds

Moore

Ducheneaut

Nickell

2006

Comput Supported Coop Work

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To date the most popular and sophisticated types of virtual worlds can be found in the area of video gaming, especially in the genre of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG). Game developers have made great strides in achieving game worlds that look and feel increasingly realistic. However, despite these achievements in the visual realism of virtual game worlds, they are much less sophisticated when it comes to modeling face-toface interaction. In face-to-face, ordinary social activities are ''accountable,'' that is, people use a variety of kinds of observational information about what others are doing in order to make sense of others' actions and to tightly coordinate their own actions with others. Such information includes: (1) the real-time unfolding of turns-at-talk; (2) the observability of embodied activities; and (3) the direction of eye gaze for the purpose of gesturing. But despite the fact that today's games provide virtual bodies, or ''avatars,'' for players to control, these avatars display much less information about players' current state than real bodies do. In this paper, we discuss the impact of the lack of each type of information on players' ability to tightly coordinate their activities and offer guidelines for improving coordination and, ultimately, the players' social experience.

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Section: Collaborative Virtual Environments: Blockies Are Growing Upmentioning

confidence: 98%

Doing Virtually Nothing: Awareness and Accountability in Massively Multiplayer Online Worlds

Moore

Ducheneaut

Nickell

2006

Comput Supported Coop Work

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“…As discussed above, gesture and facial expressions play an important role in human inl;eraction. Benford et al [52] state that "the inhabitants of collaborative virtual environments (and other kinds of collaborative systems) ought to be visible to themselves and to others through a process of direct and sufficiently rich embodiment". Simply, individuated, gesturing embodiments combined with good information channels (visual and auditory) enable us to know who's who, where they are and what they're doing.…”

Section: Cves and Collaborative Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Collaborative virtual environments: An introductory review of issues and systems

1998

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A Collaborative Virtual Environment or CVE is a distributed, virtual reaEity that is designed to support collaborative activities, As such, CVEs provide a potentiaIly infinite, graphically malised digital landscape within which multiple users can interact with each other and with simple or complex data representations. CVEs are increasingly being used to support collaborative work between geographically separated and between collocated collaborators. CVEs vary in the sophistication of the data and embodiment representations employed and in the level of interactivity supported. It is clear that systems which are intended to support collaborative activities should be designed with explicit consideration of the tasks to be achieved and the intended users' social and cognitive characteristics. In this paper, we detail a number Qf existing systems and appfications, but first discuss the nature of collaborative and cooperative work activities and consider the place of virtual reality systems in supporting such coTlaborative work. Following this, we discuss some future research directions.

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“…Unlike what happens in web environments, MUVE participants know who is in their surroundings and what is being done (Benford et al, 1997;Greeberg et al, 1996). Social learning technologies can also be integrated into MUVEs to support learners, for instance, to aid them in finding appropriate content or connecting with the right people (Vassileva, 2008).…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Collaborative learning in multi-user virtual environments

Ibáñez

Rueda

Maroto

et al. 2013

Journal of Network and Computer Applications

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Keywords: 3D virtual w orlds; Collaborative learning techniques a nd platforms; Collaborative w orkflows a nd a pplications C ollaborative workspaces a nd applications Abstract: Multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) have captured the attention and interest of educators as remote collaborative learning environments due to their immersion, interaction and communication capabilities. However, productive learning interactions cannot be considered a given and careful consideration of the design of learning activities and organizational support must be provided to foster collaboration. In this paper, a model to support collaborative learning in MUVEs is presented. This model enables the scaffolding of learning workflows and organizes collaborative learning activities by regulating interactions. Software architecture is developed to support the model, and to deploy and enact collaborative learning modules. A user-centered design has been followed to identify successful strategies for modeling collaborative learning activities in a case study. The results show how interactions with elements of 3D virtual worlds can enforce collaboration in MUVEs.

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Embodiments, avatars, clones and agents for multi-user, multi-sensory virtual worlds

Cited by 51 publications

References 15 publications

Doing Virtually Nothing: Awareness and Accountability in Massively Multiplayer Online Worlds

Doing Virtually Nothing: Awareness and Accountability in Massively Multiplayer Online Worlds

Collaborative virtual environments: An introductory review of issues and systems

Collaborative learning in multi-user virtual environments

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