Virtual Place Research Articles

Virtual place during quarantine – a curious case of VRChat

During the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic many governments imposed forced lockdowns and implemented social distancing measures. At the same time there was also a large increase in gaming sales, which was particularly pronounced in the Virtual Reality (VR) sector of the market. We hypothesize that this is no coincidence since VR immersion and the capability of inducing embodiment and a feeling of presence can mitigate the loss of contact with outside world. VR has social and spatial potential to provide space and place for human interactions in time when physical contracts are restricted. To investigate this, we analyse reviews of VRChat (a social VR game) posted on the Steam platform, both before and during the pandemic. Among several themes that were identified, we found indications that spatiality plays an important role in the players’ experience. Users describe virtual worlds of the game using emotional language that suggest bonding and presence of place attachment. In the reviews made during the pandemic there is a strong theme of safety associated with virtual places of VRChat – a replacement of physical space that is no longer accessible or is perceived as unsafe. At least for some users, VRChat has provided a sympathetic and comfortable environment during the pandemic to act as a surrogate for social interaction during social distancing and isolation. Future interviews with users are needed to extend and validate this preliminary research.

Network Education and Blended Learning: Cyber University concept and Higher Education post COVID-19 Pandemic

Educational processes, over the past few years, are changing due to the various changes that society has been going through, driven by the insertion of the internet in daily life. The present study presents an essay on the perspectives for Higher Education from the pedagogical practices developed during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Concepts such as Network Education and Hybrid Education bring to light the reflection on the physical and virtual place of the university, involving economic issues that would make higher education courses cheaper in a virtual modality. Based on an exploratory research, outlined in a bibliographic way, the validity of the thesis about a paradigm shift for Higher Education, built under a hybrid model, was investigated. It is concluded that experiencing the university, from a social point of view, is very relevant, in addition to the accumulation of knowledge without articulation with everyday life, and that Hybrid Teaching is a methodological alternative in the establishment of the Network Education process, effective from Active Methodologies.

Tourism, migration, and the exodus to virtual worlds: Place attachment in massively multiplayer online gamers.

Place attachment to both physical and virtual places was investigated in an online survey of massively multiplayer online gamers. Participants (N=740) completed a place attachment inventory once for the place in the physical world which they considered home, and once for a place in a virtual world they felt attached to. In addition, measures of personality, gaming motivation, life satisfaction, attachment style, and identification with online avatars were taken. Results suggested that place identity, place uniqueness, and place social bonding were higher for physical places than for virtual places, but that place affect was higher for virtual places. A small number of participants (N=55, 7%) identified virtual ‘homes’, which participants felt were more special and which they identified more strongly with than other virtual places, and that were as unique and associated with an equal sense of belonging to physical homes. Results are interpreted through the lens of migration theory, and recommendations made for future research into digital domiciles and migration.

Key Opportunities for the COVID-19 Response to Create a Path to Sustainable Telemedicine Services

Key Opportunities for the COVID-19 Response to Create a Path to Sustainable Telemedicine Services

Encrypted monument: The birth of crypto place on the blockchain

In this paper, we coin the term “crypto place” to describe an emerging type of virtual place on the blockchain. Using an encrypted monument that was built to memorialize Dr. Wenliang Li, one of the whistleblowers of China’s coronavirus outbreak, we extensively investigate three definitive dimensions of crypto place in terms of decentralized location, immutable locales and transaction-based sense of place. We then reflect upon the complicated social implications of blockchain technology much beyond purely serving as an alternative cryptocurrency, and further examine how place information is stored, disseminated, and incentivized on blockchain. Through this paper, we investigate the relevance of blockchain to geography studies and discuss how it may enrich the concept of place in today’s data-intensive and decentralized world.

On the possible phenomenological autonomy of virtual realities

ABSTRACT In the following article, I examine Martin Heidegger’s philosophy of dwelling with a view to its importance for the concept of ‘place’. It is my interest to show how a phenomenological concept of place can elucidate the phenomenology of virtual reality. I begin by contextualising the investigation through a presentation of Jeff Malpas’ concept of the non-autonomy of the virtual, and argue for a clearer understanding of the notion of causal non-autonomy. Furthermore, I argue that the autonomy or lack thereof of virtual reality should not lead to the conclusion that virtual reality cannot be experienced and examined as a self-standing entity; that in order to properly understand virtual reality, we cannot limit ourselves to the reductionistic view presented by Malpas, but must account also for the phenomenology of experiencing virtuality – and under such a phenomenological consideration, the distinctions made between non-virtual and virtual reality are made more diffuse. I then argue that we can plausibly accept that places may exist in virtual reality, despite current technological and practical limitations. In addition, I go on to consider some possible metaphysical differences between virtual and non-virtual places.

Memory of virtual experiences: Role of immersion, emotion and sense of presence

Virtual Reality (VR) is increasingly being used as a tool to assess or train memory. Factors specific to VR, like immersion and sense of presence, are known to modulate episodic memory of virtual environment (VE). However, the impacts of their interaction have received less attention. The present study was designed to investigate this question. Moreover, it has been shown that episodic memory is influenced by emotion. We therefore also investigated the effect of emotion on memory of VE and its interaction with immersion and sense of presence. Immersion was manipulated using two types of device (Head-mounted Display or Computer Screen) and varying the 3D model quality (High or Low). Emotion was manipulated by presenting negative, positive and neutral stimuli in VE. 108 young adults, forming four experimental groups, took part in this experiment. Sense of presence and emotional experience in different virtual places were assessed using questionnaires, and memory of the stimuli viewed in these places, determined using a free recall task, was also assessed. Results showed that, unlike emotion, immersion had no direct impact on memory. However, an emotional enhancement of memory was found only in the HMD condition. In addition, sense of presence was greater in the HMD condition, but the link between sense of presence and memory performance was weak. Crucially, emotion and device type, but not image quality, increased the sense of presence. Implications of these findings for the elaboration of virtual experiences and the limitations of this study are discussed.

Designing Palembang's Typical Culinary Information Systems Based on Website and Social Media

Information technology has opened up digital economic opportunities in Indonesia. A number of applications of information technology are the internet, websites and social media. The internet has become a medium of data and information traffic with very large capacities and very high speeds. Website can be used as virtual places for various purposes. Social media can be used as an online social media. Small and medium businesses are one of the pillars of national economic growth. But with the existing limitations, the small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) actors/officers are still constrained by the promotion of their products. All the facilities and advances in information technology need to be packaged in such a way that they can be utilized by SMEs in running their business. This research will design a Palembang culinary information system website. The method used is web engineering which consists of 5 (five) phases: communication, planning, modeling, construction, and dissemination. The results of this study are in the form of web prototype Palembang's culinary information system that can provide information about Palembang's culinary products for social media-based SMEs.

Interlimb Responses to Perturbations of Bilateral Movements are Asymmetric

Previous research has revealed rapid feedback mediated responses in one arm to mechanical perturbations applied to the other arm during shared bimanual tasks. We now ask whether these interlimb responses are expressed symmetrically. We tested this question in a virtual reality environment: a cursor representing each hand was used to ‘pick up’ each end of a virtual bar and place it into a target trough. Near the onset of occasional, unpredictable trials, one arm was perturbed. Regardless of which arm was perturbed, ipsilateral responses were significant during the perturbation. However, responses in the arm contralateral to the perturbation were asymmetric. While the non-dominant arm showed a significant kinematic response to correct the bar orientation when the dominant arm was mechanically perturbed, the dominant arm did not respond when the non-dominant arm was perturbed. We also saw an asymmetric response in early EMG activity, in which only the non-dominant anterior deltoid showed a significant reflex response within 100 milliseconds of perturbation onset in response to dominant arm. This response was consistent with correcting the bar position, but not with correcting its orientation. We conclude that responses to perturbations during bilateral movements are expressed asymmetrically, such that non-dominant arm responses to perturbations to the dominant arm are stronger than dominant arm responses to non-dominant arm perturbations.

Māori Gender Non-conforming Identity: Analysing the ‘Takatāpui’ Discourse

AbstractThis study aims to investigate the process of reconstruction of Māori postcolonial cultural identity in the twenty-first century which also passes through the reclamation and redefinition of ‘takatāpui’ notion. ‘Takatāpui’ is an umbrella term that nowadays indicates all the Māori with non-conformingwairua(spiritualities, gender identities), sexualities and sex characteristics. It is a culturally specific word which represents a form of intersectionality by identifying people as both Māori and queer.As a consequence of the increasing spread of the Internet, which has become a virtual place to construe identity and to promote the dissemination of ideas, a Multimodal Discourse Analysis is conducted on a corpus comprising 10 audiovisual texts fully retrieved from the web and exclusively produced by Māori takatāpui activists and/or containing Māori takatāpui activists’ self-narratives or claims.The corpus is analysed by applying a MMDA (Multimodal Discourse Analysis) framework based on Kress and van Leeuwen’s social semiotic framework (2006). The analysis is conducted also by taking into account Blommaert’s linguistic and ethnographic framework (2014).The findings of the analysis show the different strategies through which Māori identities are construed and conveyed reinforcing what the Māori scholar, Tuhiwai Smith (1999. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Dunedin: Zed Books Limited, 28), calls “a very powerful need to give testimony to and restore a spirit, to bring back into existence a world fragmenting and dying”.

Social Media Fake Profile Detection Technique Based on Attribute Estimation and Content Analysis Method

Social media is a virtual place where every age group members are available. Members are using this platform to share knowledge and information. But some of them are misuse and abuse the services of social media. In order to perform malicious activities the users and BOTs are creating fake profile, these profiles are used for spreading the unsolicited and malicious contents. Therefore the proposed work is motivated to study about the social media platform and it’s security and privacy challenges. In this context, the recent year’s progress in the domain of social media is explored, and the literature is collected and categorized according to the area of work. Among them concepts of profile attribute evaluation and the content analysis based techniques are most promising. Therefore by using the concept of both the kinds of technique a new model is tried to design and their functional aspects are discussed. In near future the proposed working model is implemented and their performance is demonstrated.

Social Media Fake Profile Detection Technique Based on Attribute Estimation and Content Analysis Method

Social media is a virtual place where every age group members are available. Members are using this platform to share knowledge and information. But some of them are misuse and abuse the services of social media. In order to perform malicious activities the users and BOTs are creating fake profile, these profiles are used for spreading the unsolicited and malicious contents. Therefore the proposed work is motivated to study about the social media platform and it’s security and privacy challenges. In this context, the recent year’s progress in the domain of social media is explored, and the literature is collected and categorized according to the area of work. Among them concepts of profile attribute evaluation and the content analysis based techniques are most promising. Therefore by using the concept of both the kinds of technique a new model is tried to design and their functional aspects are discussed. In near future the proposed working model is implemented and their performance is demonstrated.

An Empirical Study on Spatial Presence in Immersive Geo-Environments

Research on immersive virtual reality (VR) indicates that VR technologies facilitate understanding through the formation of spatial presence, which is the user’s feeling of “being there” in a virtual place. These findings make VR a highly interesting tool for geographic information science and the visualization of geospatial phenomena. However, immersion and presence are often studied under laboratory conditions, while research on virtual representations of real-world environments is still rare. This paper aims to reduce this gap empirically through a user study on spatial presence in immersive geo-environments. A total of 60 subjects entered a VR replica of a coral reef in the Mexican Caribbean built upon WorldView2 imagery. After testing within- and between-subject performance under both VR headset- and desktop-based visualization conditions, all users completed the IPQ self-report questionnaire to evaluate the sense of presence experienced. The results indicate a strong effect of immersion, leading to statistically significant higher levels of spatial presence in immersive geo-environments.

Sexological Aspects Related to Tinder Use: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature.

Tinder is the most popular and used meeting application for dating. However, its impact on sexual behavior and sexual health has not yet been thoroughly investigated. To review the current empirical knowledge on the sexual health and sexual behavior effects related to Tinder use. A literature review was conducted based on empirical studies published in the last 5years. A computerized search was performed to identify all relevant studies in PubMed and Google Scholar. The following search terms were used:"Tinder"AND"Sexuality"OR"Tinder"AND"Sexual Behavior"OR"Tinder"AND"Sexual Dysfunctions"OR"Tinder"AND"Sexual Health."34 articles fully satisfied the established criteria. We found sociosexuality, that is, sexual activities outside a committed relationship, to be the main predictor for casual sex in the Tinder users. The sexual aims appeared gender-influenced: men used Tinder mostly for casual sex compared with women. With respect to other dating apps, it has been also found that the Tinder use is less related to the risk of sexually transmitted infections. However, specific personality traits related to dark personality (ie, the association of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) were more frequently reported among male Tinder users. Existing literature concerning Tinder use shows the advantages and disadvantages of this dating technology. Casual sex might be a risk for sexual health, but Tinder users have also been committed to romantic relationships. Moreover, some pathological aspects of personality characterize some Tinder users. From an evolutionary perspective, sociosexuality partially explains the reasons of the Tinder user's interest for casual sex. Finally, this review highlights the need of further studies on Tinder as a new, pivotal virtual place to promote sex education and sexual health. Ciocca G, Robilotta A, Fontanesi L, etal. Sexological Aspects Related to Tinder Use: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature. Sex Med Rev 2020;8:367-378.

Social-Media based DSM for Strategic Decision Making: Corruption Case

Social-media is a communication media based on internet technology. It is a big virtual place where data and information could be practically mined. Furthermore, the data and information are able to be operated in research purposes. One of them, they could be mined to generate decision parameters. This study operated social media to dig all clues in topic corruption. They then generated to become decision parameters that are ready to be involved in to the model. Decision support model (DSM) was constructed scientifically based on two main methods; fuzzy logic and mathematical model. They were functioned respectively to eliminate a bias characteristic of parameters value and calculate the quality of corruption handling and propose the most objective strategic decision to solve the problem, particularly in Indonesia. The model was able to simulate the decision alternative measurement and propose the best decision of several strategic decision alternatives.

Communication, Cyberculture and Cinema: Baudrillard and Matrix: "the limit point between two worlds"

Nowadays, we live in the so-called Network Society (Castells, 2003), a reality in which presence is no longer limited to physical places and begins to happen especially in virtual places. The online environment has come to emerge what is known as Cyberculture, a characteristic phenomenon of cyberspace and in which the pre-existing culture extends and renews itself and recreates itself. In this paper, we seek to explore the question of identity and the doubts that hang in the head of the human being about what is considered real or not, making use of the film The Matrix (1999), of the Wachowski brothers, where we will retrieve excerpts from the film and with which it can be connected with Simulacra and Simulation (1981).

Consumer Perception Towards Social Media Usage by Using Multidimensional Scaling

Social networking websites (SNWs) have turned into a well known virtual gathering place enabling clients to deliberately post individual data, send and get message, remain associated online with their disconnected companions and new online companions, or offer photographs, recordings, bookmarks, web journals, private messages and join gatherings. Individuals are investing adequate measure of energy in social networking websites, for example, YouTube, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, Hi5 and so forth., and this high use has likewise gotten changes the manner in which individuals act. These social networking websites display an assortment of highlights for their clients to encourage socialization.

Research on Collaborative Distance English Teaching System Based on Mobile Cloud Computing

Aiming at the problems of low success rate and poor robustness of traditional distance English teaching system, this paper proposes a new collaborative distance English teaching system based on mobile cloud computing. The hardware of the system adopts USB-to-JTAG device to download files and adopts reverse principle to upload English teaching resources. The four-wire signal is purified and denoised by phase-locked loop. When the system fails, reset circuit is used to deal with it in time. The system software adopts the structure of the Yangtze River basin, establishes the virtual teaching place and video voice teaching method, and realises the remote synchronous teaching. The experimental results show that the success rate and robustness of distance cooperative English teaching system based on mobile cloud computing are 98.2% and 94.5%, which are significantly higher than traditional methods. This method has good reliability and is more suitable for English teaching system.

Improvement of diagnostic accuracy of Parkinson's disease on I-123-ioflupane single photon emission computed tomography (123I FP-CIT SPECT) using new Japanese normal database.

I-123-ioflupane single photon emission computed tomography (FP-CIT-SPECT) has been used to assess dopamine transporter (DAT) loss in Parkinson's disease. The specific binding ratio (SBR), a quantitative parameter of DAT density in the striatum, may be affected by differences in age, sex, and SPECT system. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of FP-CIT-SPECT using the Japanese normal database (NDB) in the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. To standardize the quantitative outcome measures of DAT density obtained with different SPECT systems, striatal phantoms filled with striatal to background materials at ratios between 8:1 and 1:1 were measured using a gamma camera (ECAM) in our institute. Consecutive fifty patients (23 men and 27 women; age range, 40-86 years) with suspected PD undergoing FP-CIT SPECT brain imaging during the period from April to October 2016 were enrolled in this retrospective study. Their final diagnoses were PD in 28 patients and PD in 22 patients. SBRs of the patients were calculated using either new (Japanese database with different age and sex; NEWver) or old (non-Japanese database not specifying age and sex; OLDver) version software (AZE Virtual Place Hayabusa [DaTView], AZE, Ltd. Tokyo, Japan). The McNemar test was used to compare the diagnostic accuracy between old and new versions. Based on the phantom study, the calibrated SBR could be calculated by Y=1.25×Measured SBR+0.78. The sensitivities for OLDver and NEWver were 100% and 93%, respectively (p=0.5), and the specificities were 55% and 100% (p=0.002). The diagnostic accuracy of NEWver (96%) was better than that of OLDver (80%, p<0.001). FP-CIT-SPECT using the Japanese NDB improved the diagnostic accuracy of PD by improving specificity.

#FollowMe: An investigation into the relationship between social media behaviors and online harassment among adolescents

Social media is a relatively new global phenomenon. Virtual places provide criminogenic motivators like financial gain, access to suitable targets, and massive amounts of information all under one virtual roof. Additionally, social media sites host large amounts of people in one space, generating significant opportunities for victimization. Despite the Internet’s theoretical relevance to understanding victimization, scholarly research into the effects of social media activity in victimization is scarce. Using data from the Pew Research Center, I investigated the relationship between Facebook use and online harassment among adolescents between 13 and 17 years of age. The results showed that an adolescent’s behavior on Facebook contributed to the likelihood of experiencing online harassment. Additionally, parental monitoring of their adolescent’s Facebook activity did not have a significant moderating effect on adolescents’ risk of online harassment. This research contributed to the literature by identifying specific behaviors in adolescents that increase their risk of online harassment.