Avatars at Work and Play

Avatars at Work and Play PDF Author: Ralph Schroeder
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402038984
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
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

Avatars at Work and Play PDF Author: Ralph Schroeder
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402038984
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 287

Get Book

Book Description
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?

Immersed in Media

Immersed in Media PDF Author: Matthew Lombard
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319101900
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
Highlights key research currently being undertaken within the field of telepresence, providing the most detailed account of the field to date, advancing our understanding of a fundamental property of all media - the illusion of presence; the sense of “being there” inside a virtual environment, with actual or virtual others. This collection has been put together by leading international scholars from America, Europe, and Asia. Together, they describe the state-of-the-art in presence theory, research and technology design for an advanced academic audience. Immersed in Media provides research that can help designers optimize presence for users of advanced media technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, collaborative social media, robotics, and artificial intelligence and lead us to better understand human cognition, emotion and behaviour.

The Psychology of Digital Media at Work

The Psychology of Digital Media at Work PDF Author: Daantje Derks
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 1135106983
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
In many professions daily work life has become unthinkable without the use of a computer with access to the Internet. As technological innovations progress rapidly and new applications of interactional media are invented, organizational behaviour continues to change. The central theme of this book is how new media affect organizational behavior and employee well-being. A variety of topics are considered: applications of new media in both personnel psychology and organizational psychology tools to improve selection and assessment issues arising in the context of training, learning and career development the use of online games for education and recreation the impact of mobile devices on organizational life the implications of new forms of collaboration by means of virtual teams. The research documented in this volume consists of high quality, quantitative studies illustrated by lively practical examples. The combination of science and practice ensures that new insights supported by empirical studies are translated into practical implications. The book will be essential reading for researchers and students in organizational psychology and related disciplines.

The SAGE Handbook of Online Research Methods

The SAGE Handbook of Online Research Methods PDF Author: Nigel G Fielding
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1446206602
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 594

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Book Description
This handbook is the first to provide comprehensive, up-to-the-minute coverage of contemporary and developing Internet and online social research methods, spanning both quantitative and qualitative research applications. The editors have brought together leading names in the field of online research to give a thoroughly up to date, practical coverage, richly illustrated with examples. The chapters cover both methodological and procedural themes, offering readers a sophisticated treatment of the practice and uses of Internet and online research that is grounded in the principles of research methodology. Beginning with an examination of the significance of the Internet as a research medium, the book goes on to cover research design, data capture, online surveys, virtual ethnography, and the internet as an archival resource, and concludes by looking at potential directions for the future of Internet and online research. The SAGE Handbook of Internet and Online Research Methods will be welcomed by anyone interested in the contemporary practice of computer-mediated research and scholarship. Postgraduates, researchers and methodologists from disciplines across the social sciences will find this an invaluable source of reference.

Organizing and Learning Through Gaming and Simulation

Organizing and Learning Through Gaming and Simulation PDF Author:
Publisher: Eburon Uitgeverij B.V.
ISBN: 9059722310
Category : Simulation games in education
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
45 edited articles, originally presented at the 38th edition of the International Simulation and Gaming Association conference 2007.

Informal Learning and Digital Media

Informal Learning and Digital Media PDF Author: Kirsten Drotner
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443817945
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
The book provides an engaging overview of the ways in which digital media impact on current understandings of informal learning, and it offes a range of grounded studies of the changing relations between digital media and informal learning processes with a particular focus on young people. A variety of international scholars examine these processes across a number of sites and settings, from Japan to Finland and the USA, and they discuss their implications for education, ICT and media. The volume is an ideal resource for graduate students as well as for practitioners and policy-makers.

Digital Forensics for Legal Professionals

Digital Forensics for Legal Professionals PDF Author: Larry Daniel
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 159749643X
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
Section 1: What is Digital Forensics? Chapter 1. Digital Evidence is Everywhere Chapter 2. Overview of Digital Forensics Chapter 3. Digital Forensics -- The Sub-Disciplines Chapter 4. The Foundations of Digital Forensics -- Best Practices Chapter 5. Overview of Digital Forensics Tools Chapter 6. Digital Forensics at Work in the Legal System Section 2: Experts Chapter 7. Why Do I Need an Expert? Chapter 8. The Difference between Computer Experts and Digital Forensic Experts Chapter 9. Selecting a Digital Forensics Expert Chapter 10. What to Expect from an Expert Chapter 11. Approaches by Different Types of Examiners Chapter 12. Spotting a Problem Expert Chapter 13. Qualifying an Expert in Court Sections 3: Motions and Discovery Chapter 14. Overview of Digital Evidence Discovery Chapter 15. Discovery of Digital Evidence in Criminal Cases Chapter 16. Discovery of Digital Evidence in Civil Cases Chapter 17. Discovery of Computers and Storage Media Chapter 18. Discovery of Video Evidence Ch ...

The Avatar Faculty

The Avatar Faculty PDF Author: Jeffrey G. Snodgrass
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520384369
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
The Avatar Faculty creatively examines the parallels between spiritual and digital activities to explore the roles that symbolic second selves—avatars—can play in our lives. The use of avatars can allow for what anthropologists call ecstasy, from the Greek ekstasis, meaning "standing outside oneself." The archaic techniques of promoting spiritual ecstasy, which remain central to religious healing traditions around the world, now also have contemporary analogues in virtual worlds found on the internet. In this innovative book, Jeffrey G. Snodgrass argues that avatars allow for the ecstatic projection of consciousness into alternate realities, potentially providing both the spiritually possessed and gamers access to superior secondary identities with elevated social standing. Even if only temporary, self-transformations of these kinds can help reduce psychosocial stress and positively improve health and well-being.

Synthetic Worlds

Synthetic Worlds PDF Author: Andreas Hebbel-Seeger
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 146146286X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 415

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Book Description
Synthetic Worlds, Virtual Worlds, and Alternate Realities are all terms used to describe the phenomenon of computer-based, simulated environments in which users inhabit and interact via avatars. The best-known commercial applications are in the form of electronic gaming, and particularly in massively-multiplayer online role-playing games like World of Warcraft or Second Life. Less known, but possibly more important, is the rapid adoption of platforms in education and business, where Serious Games are being used for training purposes, and even Second Life is being used in many situations that formerly required travel. The editors of this book captures the state of research in the field intended to reflect the rapidly growing yet relatively young market in education and business. The general focus is set on the scientific community but integrates the practical applications for businesses, with papers on information systems, business models, and economics. In six parts, international authors – all experts in their field – discuss the current state-of-the-art of virtual worlds/alternate realities and how the field will develop over the next years. Chapters discuss the influences and impacts in and around virtual worlds. Part four is about education, with a focus on learning environments and experiences, pedagogical models, and the effects on the different roles in the educational sector. The book looks at business models and how companies can participate in virtual worlds while receiving a return on investment, and includes cases and scenarios of integration, from design, implementation to application.

Being There Together

Being There Together PDF Author: Ralph Schroeder
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199707782
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
Virtual environments provide places for 'being there together', for avatars to interact with each other in computer-generated spaces. They range from immersive systems in which people have life-size tracked avatar bodies to large-scale spaces such as Second Life where populations of users socialize in persistent virtual worlds. This book draws together research on how people interact in virtual environments: What difference does avatar appearance make? How do avatars collaborate and play together? How do the type of system and the space affect how people engage with each other? How does interaction between avatars differ from face-to-face interaction? What can social scientists learn from experiments and other studies of how people interact in virtual environments? What are the ethical and social issues in doing this research, and in the uses of this technology? And how do virtual environments differ from other communication technologies such as videoconferencing systems and other new media? This book is a state-of-the art survey of research on these topics, and offers a framework for understanding this technology and its future implications.