Virtual World Research Articles

Me, us and IT

The adoption and pedagogical use of technologies such as virtual worlds to support teaching and learning, and research in higher education involves a complex interplay of technical, organisational and personal factors. In this paper, eighteen educators and researchers provide an overview of how they perceive a virtual world can be used in education from the perspective of themselves as individuals ‘me’, their educational organisations and as members of the Australian and New Zealand Virtual Worlds Working Group (VWWG) community of practice ‘us’, as well as the complex technology that underpins this learning environment ‘IT’. Drawing on Linstone’s (1981, 1984) Technical, Organisational and Personal (TOP) multiple perspective concept as the framework for analysis, the authors discuss their perspectives of how the personal, organisational and technical aspects of teaching through the use of virtual worlds have impacted on their teaching and research in higher education. The potential of employing the TOP framework to inform future research into the use of technologies such as virtual worlds in teaching and learning is explored.

Visualising mixed reality simulation for multiple users

Blended reality seeks to encourage co-presence in the classroom, blending student experience across virtual and physical worlds. In a similar way, Mixed Reality, a continuum between virtual and real environments, is now allowing learners to work in both the physical and the digital world simultaneously, especially when combined with an immersive headset experience. This experience provides innovative new experiences for learning, but faces the challenge that most of these experiences are single user, leaving others outside the new environment. The question therefore becomes, how can a mixed reality simulation be experienced by multiple users, and how can we present that simulation effectively to users to create a true blended reality environment? This paper proposes a study that uses existing screen production research into the user and spectator to produce a mixed reality simulation suitable for multiple users. A research method using Design Based Research is also presented to assess the usability of the approach.

From "online brains" to "online lives": understanding the individualized impacts of Internet use across psychological, cognitive and social dimensions.

In response to the mass adoption and extensive usage of Internet-enabled devices across the world, a major review published in this journal in 2019 examined the impact of Internet on human cognition, discussing the concepts and ideas behind the "online brain". Since then, the online world has become further entwined with the fabric of society, and the extent to which we use such technologies has continued to grow. Furthermore, the research evidence on the ways in which Internet usage affects the human mind has advanced considerably. In this paper, we sought to draw upon the latest data from large-scale epidemiological studies and systematic reviews, along with randomized controlled trials and qualitative research recently emerging on this topic, in order to now provide a multi-dimensional overview of the impacts of Internet usage across psychological, cognitive and societal outcomes. Within this, we detail the empirical evidence on how effects differ according to various factors such as age, gender, and usage types. We also draw from new research examining more experiential aspects of individuals' online lives, to understand how the specifics of their interactions with the Internet, and the impact on their lifestyle, determine the benefits or drawbacks of online time. Additionally, we explore how the nascent but intriguing areas of culturomics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality are changing our understanding of how the Internet can interact with brain and behavior. Overall, the importance of taking an individualized and multi-dimensional approach to how the Internet affects mental health, cognition and social functioning is clear. Furthermore, we emphasize the need for guidelines, policies and initiatives around Internet usage to make full use of the evidence available from neuroscientific, behavioral and societal levels of research presented herein.

At the Heart of the Mothercrystal: Final Fantasy XIV’s Approach to Localization and Lore as a Virtual Contact Zone

<p>Virtual worlds by nature of their persistence and ability to have multiple simultaneous users in the same space can act as contact zones, defined by Mary Louse Pratt as a "social space where disparate cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in highly asymmetrical relations of domination and subordination," (1991, p. 34). One affordance of virtual worlds in constructing the contact zone is the ability for the developer to use localization to bridge language gaps between a user and the virtual world and, to some extent, between players who have a shared understanding of the virtual world. This understanding extends to the properties of objects and locations and any narrative lore or background in the world. However, localization can be a double-edged sword, with choices in translation and localization leading to confusion among virtual world users and conflict between users and developers. </p><p>Language impacts two aspects of the virtual contact zone. For one, players communicate using languages they are proficient in, using whatever affordances are available in the interface and paratextual platforms, such as the official forums and social mediaplatforms like Reddit and Tumblr. For another, the world itself is awash in language. That text manifests itself in gameplay elements from user abilities and item names to more narrative elements such as character names, dialogue, and written story and worldbuilding elements. These textual and narrative components, called "lore," are essential in contextualizing virtual spaces. Lore helps build the virtual world beyond the actual mechanics and interactions within a virtual space. Lore gives users a sense of not just place but of geography, not just time, but of history, and not just context for players but their place within the story of the virtual world. Lore offers players motivation for playing in addition to traditional gameplay motivators such as exploration, achieving, socializing, and defeating enemies or other players (Yee, 2006; Bartle, 1996) to interact with the world. </p><p>This paper focuses on the case of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (FFXIV), an MMORPG initially released in 2013, its production, approaches to localization,and how it contributes to building a "virtual contact zone." In looking at specific instances where controversies in translation and localization led to confusion and conflict among the participants and developers of the game, this case study illustrates the role of localization in games beyond translation and acculturation. Localization not only serves as the linguistic bridge among members of the contact zone but, in the case of online games where world-building and narrative are important aspects for immersion and play, creates shared experiences and understandings of that virtual world among all members of the virtual contact zone.</p>

How the Metaverse can add new layers of hospitality services: a perspective of senior industry practitioners

Purpose Although virtual worlds, such as the Metaverse, can disrupt the hospitality sector, few empirical investigations have critically evaluated the scope and scale of this disruption from an industry perspective. This study aims to rectify this knowledge gap by exploring the opportunities and challenges of the Metaverse as seen by hospitality professionals. Design/methodology/approach This is a Delphi study conducted with UK-based senior hospitality industry practitioners experienced in designing and implementing digital innovations within their organisations. Findings The Metaverse is most likely to be adopted by hospitality organisations willing and able to take risks, such as large and/or chain-affiliated enterprises. The Metaverse will not replace traditional hospitality services but supplement and enhance them with new layers of service. The main applications are in the context of events and experiences. The Metaverse will also provide the “try before you buy” option, revealing the opportunities to design digital twins of physical businesses. Young and technology-savvy individuals are most likely to first adopt the Metaverse. The key challenges of the adoption are attributed to the technological unpreparedness of hospitality organisations; market immaturity; inflated customer expectations; a skills gap among hospitality employees; and regulatory issues. These challenges require the engagement of various stakeholders to create an operational and monitoring framework for hospitality organisations to embrace the Metaverse. Practical implications This study highlights how the Metaverse can disrupt the hospitality industry at the level of strategic planning and business operations. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first empirical investigations of the potential of the Metaverse from the viewpoint of hospitality industry practitioners.

An evaluation of intelligent and immersive digital applications in eliciting cognitive states in humans through the utilization of Emotiv Insight

The amalgamation of Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) results in the development of many promising applications that are helpful for society in many aspects. This research was done to study the effect of immersive and non-immersive applications on user's psychological parameters. In this paper, an intelligent, interactive, and immersive digital application was designed, and the various psychological parameters of users while using the application were analyzed through the brain computer interactive device, Emotiv. The impact of these robust and immersive applications on the emotions of human beings was analyzed. According to the observations, the stress and relaxation levels are getting minimally affected, whereas the engagement levels are high for an immersive application rather than a non-immersive application. Hence, it can be concluded that immersive applications put users “in” the application environment and provide a near-realistic experience by blurring the line between the real and virtual worlds. Deeper immersion results from the increased sensation of presence, which in turn is helpful in increasing motivation and emotional investment.•This paper demonstrates the implementation of the A* algorithm within the Unity 3D Game Engine to develop an intelligent digital application, fostering interactivity and depth.•This paper explores the integration of VR technology to transform the digital application into an immersive and interactive experience, enhancing user engagement and realism.•This paper investigates the utilization of the Emotiv Insight device to analyze cognitive parameters within both non-immersive AI-based and immersive AI & VR-based applications, providing insights into user experiences.

Excessive left anterior hippocampal and caudate activation in schizophrenia underlie cognitive underperformance in a virtual navigation task

We used a virtual navigation paradigm in a city environment to assess neuroanatomical correlates of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD). We studied a total of N = 36 subjects: 18 with SSD and 18 matched unaffected controls. Participants completed 10 rapid, single-trial navigation tasks within the virtual city while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). All trials tested ability to find different targets seen earlier, during the passive viewing of a path around different city blocks. SSD patients had difficulty finding previously-encountered targets, were less likely to find novel shortcuts to targets, and more likely to attempt retracing of the path observed during passive viewing. Based on a priori region-of-interest analyses, SSD participants had hyperactivation of the left hippocampus when passively viewing turns, hyperactivation of the left caudate when finding targets, and hypoactivation of a focal area of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex when targets were initially shown during passive viewing. We propose that these brain-behaviour relations may bias or reinforce stimulus-response navigation approaches in SSD and underlie impaired performance when allocentric spatial memory is required, such as when forming efficient shortcuts. This pattern may extend to more general cognitive impairments in SSD that could be used to design remediation strategies.

FUTURE OF E-COMMERCE IN INDIA 2024

FUTURE OF E-COMMERCE IN INDIA 2024

The role of digital technologies and Human-Computer Interaction for the future of education

Abstract Over the last 50 years education has been transformed by digital technologies. Many efforts have been made to create and apply “digital” teaching and learning methods, tools and platforms. The last 25 years of computer-based education can be characterized by the availability of digital information sources and the implementation and operation of digital learning management platforms based on the Internet. The question about further meaningful and effective progress in the next decades is openly discussed. Many expect strong influences and changes from artificial intelligence systems that generate contextualized information from various sources. Some see interactive virtual worlds expanding and partially replacing the physical world. Many believe in the further development of learning management and communication platforms. Others do not expect much valuable change at all due to the slow pace of complex educational systems with recent studies even showing a decline in the quality of educational outcomes during the last five years as a result of even too much digitalization in education. This paper discusses these positions with an emphasis on the roles of humans and computers and their interfaces, i.e. Human-Computer Interaction, for future learning and teaching with rapidly changing information technologies in the next 25 and 50 years.

Feasibility of teaching and assessing medical students in the metaverse: design and features for its learning efficiency

The metaverse is known as the hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, connected, universal and immersive virtual world that can be accessed via immersive technology devices. One approach to this concept can be achieved through the use of multi-user immersive virtual reality applications.Immersive virtual reality (IVR), which uses gadgets that allow the user to visualize and interact in an enveloping way, is a very attractive technology for teaching purposes. There are many references in the scientific literature about its use for this purpose, including encouraging results in the field of medicine. However, there have not been enough studies assessing how much this type of technology really contributes to learning medicine.This work investigates the feasibility of using the metaverse as an educational tool in medicine. We propose a multi-user immersive virtual reality application for implementing a scene of the metaverse in which medical students are taught. Our work considers that in order to ensure this type of technology is useful in the education of medical students, the technology itself (multi-user IVR) must be designed and implemented for a medical student profile. They usually spend too much time for adapting themselves to use and manage this kind of technology when they are exposed to it for learning. The technology should not be a barrier to acquiring, or disseminating the academic contents themselves. It should act as a catalyst that enhances the speed and capacity for learning medical educational topics. Thus, we present design and user experience specifications that we implemented in an anatomical dissection room in the metaverse, and with which we conducted experiments with 114 sixth-grade medical students. Our results indicate that, based on the design and user experience characteristics that we propose in this paper, the metaverse can indeed serve as a useful and effective educational resource whose technological complexity is no barrier to medical teaching.

Social interactions generate complex selection patterns in virtual worlds.

Understanding the influence of social interactions on individual fitness is key to improving our predictions of phenotypic evolution. However, we often overlook the different components of selection regimes arising from interactions among organisms, including social, correlational, and indirect selection. This is due to the challenging sampling efforts required in natural populations to measure phenotypes expressed during interactions and individual fitness. Furthermore, behaviours are crucial in mediating social interactions, yet few studies have explicitly quantified these selection components on behavioural traits. In this study, we capitalize on an online multiplayer videogame as a source of extensive data recording direct social interactions among prey, where prey collaborate to escape a predator in realistic ecological settings. We estimate natural and social selection and their contribution to total selection on behavioural traits mediating competition, cooperation, and predator-prey interactions. Behaviours of other prey in a group impact an individual's survival, and thus are under social selection. Depending on whether selection pressures on behaviours are synergistic or conflicting, social interactions enhance or mitigate the strength of natural selection, although natural selection remains the main driving force. Indirect selection through correlations among traits also contributed to the total selection. Thus, failing to account for the effects of social interactions and indirect selection would lead to a misestimation of the total selection acting on traits. Dissecting the contribution of each component to the total selection differential allowed us to investigate the causal mechanisms relating behaviour to fitness and quantify the importance of the behaviours of conspecifics as agents of selection. Our study emphasizes that social interactions generate complex selective regimes even in a relatively simple ecological environment.

Tracking and co-location of global point clouds for large-area indoor environments

Extended reality (XR) experiences are on the verge of becoming widely adopted in diverse application domains. An essential part of the technology is accurate tracking and localization of the headset to create an immersive experience. A subset of the applications require perfect co-location between the real and the virtual world, where virtual objects are aligned with real-world counterparts. Current headsets support co-location for small areas, but suffer from drift when scaling up to larger ones such as buildings or factories. This paper proposes tools and solutions for this challenge by splitting up the simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) into separate mapping and localization stages. In the pre-processing stage, a feature map is built for the entire tracking area. A global optimizer is applied to correct the deformations caused by drift, guided by a sparse set of ground truth markers in the point cloud of a laser scan. Optionally, further refinement is applied by matching features between the ground truth keyframe images and their rendered-out SLAM estimates of the point cloud. In the second, real-time stage, the rectified feature map is used to perform localization and sensor fusion between the global tracking and the headset. The results show that the approach achieves robust co-location between the virtual and the real 3D environment for large and complex tracking environments.

Context-Aware System for Information Flow Management in Factories of the Future

The trends of the 21st century are challenging the traditional production process due to the reduction in the life cycle of products and the demand for more complex products in greater quantities. Industry 4.0 (I4.0) was introduced in 2011 and it is recognized as the fourth industrial revolution, with the aim of improving manufacturing processes and increasing the competitiveness of industry. I4.0 uses technological concepts such as Cyber-Physical Systems, Internet of Things and Cloud Computing to create services, reduce costs and increase productivity. In addition, concepts such as Smart Factories are emerging, which use context awareness to assist people and optimize tasks based on data from the physical and virtual world. This article explores and applies the capabilities of context-aware applications in industry, with a focus on production lines. In specific, this paper proposes a context-aware application based on a microservices approach, intended for integration into a context-aware information system, with specific application in the area of manufacturing. The manuscript presents a detailed architecture for structuring the application, explaining components, functions and contributions. The discussion covers development technologies, integration and communication between the application and other services, as well as experimental findings, which demonstrate the applicability and advantages of the proposed solution.

Theorising Girls Room Graff: Networking Affirmation to Counter Misogyny

Abstract The harmful impact of misogyny on women as we take part in public life is not a new problem. And despite its early promise as a space open to all, the online world has not tempered misogynistic responses to women having opinions. What is easier to see in online interaction is the ‘networking’ of misogyny— hostile commentators ‘piling on’ and coordinating harassment. I explore the need for solutions by surveying contemporary feminist analyses of online misogyny, and considering whether the ‘mobbing’ theorised in bullying literature might be useful in understanding ‘pile on’ behaviours. My case study, a 2013 Tumblr site called Girls Room Graff, archives graffiti taken from women’s public bathrooms in bars and restaurants, thereby serving a purpose subversive of networked misogyny: it piles on validation and affirmation to empower the reader. I argue this is one way of doing politics of care from a feminist peace studies standpoint.

Online Criticism of Parents After Child Accidents: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis

Online Criticism of Parents After Child Accidents: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis

A Paperless and 3D Workflow for Documenting Excavations at Insula I.14, Pompeii, Italy

ABSTRACT In the summer of 2022, Tulane University, in collaboration with archaeologists from other institutions, began excavations at the site of Pompeii. The archaeological work was focused on Insula 14 of Region 1, located in the southeastern sector of the site. To overcome the challenges of recording a complex urban excavation, and of working with a collaborative team, we designed and implemented a unique workflow that combines paperless and 3D data-capture methods through the use of GIS technologies. The final product of our documentation workflow was a robust and easy-to-use online geodatabase where archaeologists can revisit, explore, visualize, and analyze each excavated context using virtual tools. We present our workflow for digitally documenting observational and spatial data in the field, and how we made these data available to project archaeologists during and after the field season. First, we describe the development of digital forms in ESRI's Survey123. Then, we explain our procedures for 3D documentation through SfM photogrammetric methods and discuss how we integrated the data and transformed it into an accessible format by using interactive dashboards and online 3D web scenes. Finally, we discuss the components of our workflow that are broadly applicable and that can easily be adapted to other projects.

AI concierge in the customer journey: what is it and how can it add value to the customer?

PurposeAn AI concierge is a technologically advanced, intelligent and personalized assistant that is designated to an individual customer, proactively taking care of that customer’s needs throughout the service journey. This article envisions the idea of AI concierges and discusses how to leverage AI concierges in the customer journey.Design/methodology/approachThis article takes a conceptual approach and draws insights from literature in service management, marketing, psychology, human-computer interaction and ethics.FindingsThis article delineates the fundamental forms of AI concierges: dialog interface (no embodiment), virtual avatar (embodiment in the virtual world), holographic projection (projection in the physical world) and tangible service robot (embodiment in the physical world). Key attributes of AI concierges are the ability to exhibit semantic understanding of auditory and visual inputs, maintain an emotional connection with the customer, demonstrate proactivity in refining the customer’s experience and ensure omnipresence through continuous availability in various forms to attend to service throughout the customer journey. Furthermore, the article explores the multifaceted roles that AI concierges can play across the pre-encounter, encounter and post-encounter stages of the customer journey and explores the opportunities and challenges associated with AI concierges.Practical implicationsThis paper provides insights for professionals in hospitality, retail, travel, and healthcare on leveraging AI concierges to enhance the customer experience. By broadening AI concierge services, organizations can deliver personalized assistance and refined services across the entire customer journey.Originality/valueThis article is the first to introduce the concept of the AI concierge. It offers a novel perspective by defining AI concierges’ fundamental forms, key attributes and exploring their diverse roles in the customer journey. Additionally, it lays out a research agenda aimed at further advancing this domain.

All-Printed Finger-Inspired Tactile Sensor Array for Microscale Texture Detection and 3D Reconstruction.

Electronic skins are expected to replicate a human-like tactile sense, which significantly detects surface information, including geometry, material, and temperature. Although most texture features can be sensed in the horizontal direction, the lack of effective approaches for detecting vertical properties limits the development of artificial skin based on tactile sensors. In this study, an all-printed finger-inspired tactile sensor array is developed to realize the 3D detection and reconstruction of microscale structures. A beam structure with a suspended multilayer membrane is proposed, and a tactile sensor array of 12 units arranged in a dual-column layout is developed. This architecture enables the tactile sensor array to obtain comprehensive geometric information of micro-textures, including 3D morphology and clearance characteristics, and optimizes the 3D reconstruction patterns by self-calibration. Moreover, an innovative screen-printing technology incorporating multilayer printing and sacrificial-layer techniques is adopted to print the entire device. In additon, a Braille recognition system utilizing this tactile sensor array is developed to interpret Shakespeare's quotes printed in Grade 2 Braille. The abovementioned demonstrations reveal an attractive future vision for endowing bioinspired robots with the unique capability of touching and feeling the microscale real world and reconstructing it in the cyber world.

Virtuelle Metamorphosen - Zur Subversion der Selbstoptimierung in Kevin Kuhns Roman Hikikomori

AbstractKevin Kuhn’s novel Hikikomori is a postmodern Entwicklungsroman. In this essay, I read the novel as a subversion of the neoliberal paradigm, which manifests itself in an omnipresence of self-optimisation options, that the protagonist Till is constantly encouraged to take advantage of. By withdrawing into his room and creating a collaborative online world, Till rejects the cult of individuality modelled by his plastic surgeon father and his interior designer mother. Rather than going on a scheduled journey of self-enhancement around the world, I will argue that it is his virtual journey that attempts self-realisation. However, this rejection of a Weltanschauung based on economic principles comes at the price of exclusion from the analogue world, which bears many parallels with one of the most famous 20th century German language novellas: Franz Kafka’s Die Verwandlung.

The Role of Voice in Virtual Reality Interactive Narratives

Providing enough information to allow the VR player to self-identify is an important factor in their immersion into a virtual world. The sensory information being provided to the player’s eyes and ears through the headset must support the suspension of disbelief and telepresence into the virtual world. Given sound’s easily realized potential for diegetic ambiguity and its influence on presence as immersion, the aim of this paper is to explore the role of disembodied voice in VR interactive narratives and its effect on presence through self-identification. We start by analyzing the shift of focalization in the film Saving Private Ryan, the trans-diegetic narration in the game StarCraft II, and the address of the player in the game Call of Duty. We then contribute with close readings of two VR productions, The Last Goodbye and The Book of Distance, in terms of the use of second-person voice and interactivity as well as an analysis of the resulting levels of self-identification. A further contribution is a Twine interactive narrative that demonstrates some of the key concepts discussed in the paper. We conclude that future empirical work should explore the impact of second-person voice and interaction on the resultant self-identification and immersion.