virtual communities

For The Horde! And For Science!

Miriam Lueck — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:06:22 -0700

Description

Jane noted the invitation to the first academic conference held entirely in a virtual world conference, but a recent article in Science follows it up. This particular conference, organized by Bill Bainbridge, started with the hypothesis that virtual worlds are ideal sites for social scientific experimentation, and followed through with an interesting experiment on the population of researchers of virtual worlds themselves.

The article is quite reflexive about the nature of conference interactions as part of building science as a community of practice, as well as the many ways this synergized with the particularities of World of Warcraft as a platform for scientific dialog.

Structure, Tools, and Platforms of Science

Source

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5883/1592c

A step towards commercial virtual worlds - Virtual Walt Disney World Added To Google Earth

Max Marmer — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:35:15 -0700

Description

Big commercial companies will continue to develop increasingly complex virtual environments to sell their products. Looks like Disney is already down that path. This kind of technology won't replace the physical world for a long time but it is a first step.

But some observers are suggesting that, in creating such a detailed online planning tool, Disney may be opening the door to virtual trips that take the place of the real thing. For instance, Andrew Smith of the Dallas Morning News wrote semi-seriously that, with the price of both air fare and gas rising so fast, "I think parents with gullible children should consider 'taking their kids to Disney World' by sitting them down in front of a monitor."

Andrew Frank a research director on the project said, "we're still "quite a ways from substituting a virtual vacation for a physical one."

He added that, while ads might become part of such an immersive online experience, companies will "have to make sure the experience doesn't end up feeling totally commercialized." Nevertheless, Frank said, 3-D may become an even more ubiquitous part of any real-estate-based promotion than it is now.

Computer & Information Science

Source

http://www.toptechnews.com/news/Virtual-Disney-World-in-Google-Earth/story.xhtml?story_id=012001D14AAO

Routine Virtual Meetings in Second Life

Jean-Claude Bradley — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:57:51 -0700

Description

Kate Sellar from the American Chemical Society's Helium blog writes (1,2)

Mark your calenders!

Join us in the presentation area of ACS Island as sci-fi author, microbiology professor and ACS Resident Scientist Joan L. Slonczewski (Andra Renard in SL), discusses concepts of science and hard-core science fiction. Joan is the author of several science fiction novels including A Door Into Ocean. One of her short stories, Microbe, can be accessed for free online.

Prior to Joan’s talk, I will be on Second Nature to hear Prof. Mark Brake and Rev. Neil Hook of Glamorgan University give their talk, How Science Drive Fiction and Fiction Drives Science. This talk is taking place one hour before at 9 am SLT. See Joanna Scott’s blog for more details.

There exists a group of scientists and people interested in science who transit seamlessly from meetings in the real world to those in virtual worlds.

What makes this a clear signal is that, although still only a very small proportion of scientists are involved, the groups have reached critical numbers to routinely support meetings such as these.(3) The purpose of these meetings is to share information about science topics, not demonstrate the capabilities of Second Life.

Just like with the world wide web, early adopters explored Second Life for the novelty. The next wave of people followed when there was usable content. I think that for the purposes of many types of meetings and poster sessions, Second Life is currently among the better tools, compared with telephone conference calls or chat rooms. The "avatar effect" of personalizing virtual interactions is real for many people.

There are still obstacles to the widespread adoption of the technology. Computers with inadequate video cards still are a main cause of a poor first experience with Second Life. However, most standard laptops purchased in the past 2 years are adequate.

Future of chemistry

Source

1) http://acsisland.wordpress.com/2008/04/25/science-and-science-fiction-talk-428-10-am-slt/
2) Disclosure: I was involved with work on ACS island
3) http://network.nature.com/blogs/user/joannascott

Studying Human Behavior in Cyberspace

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:10:30 -0700

Description

Cyber-ethnography, defined as the study of online interaction, will pioneer new methods and theories as more and more human activites are conducted in cyberspace.

Anthropologists have traditionally conducted fieldwork by living in distant cultures, conducting interviews, and observing participants. As people conduct more and more activities online and leave digital tracks (pictures, blogs, emails, and such), anthropologists have begun to study human behaviour in cyberspace. Cyber-ethnographers participate in and observe blogs, Web sites, and chat rooms. They analyse how people form social networks or groups online and establish cultural identity. Visual anthropologists, media and cultural studies scholars, ludologists, and science and technology scholars are among those who are building cyberethnography. See http://www.cas.usf.edu/anthropology/cma/CMAnthropologists.htm>http://www.cas.usf.edu/anthropology/cma/CMAnthropologists.htm for an example of the wide range of emerging cyberanthropologists.

Cyber-ethnography is part of the move to reconceptualize the traditional notion of 'the field'. In cyberspace, the boundaries of the observed field are both virtual and embedded in place, discursive and geographical. New methods for understanding the nature of virtual experiences and environments will explode as the variety and frequency of cyber-experiences grow."

This will be enabled by:

Increase in number of Internet users globally.
Increase in the average time spent online across the globe and the subsequent formation of virtual communities

Early indicators include:

Estimate as of May 2005 by Nielsen/NetRatings that there are 455 million inhabitants of the 'digital universe' who spend roughly 26.5 hours per month of their time at home connected to the Internet
Employment of cyber-ethnographic techniques by anthropologists at elite universities that have cultural/social anthropology programs such as University of Michigan and Harvard University
Recent research by anthropologists analyzing culture and power through blogs
Establishment at Cambridge University of a program that looks at the social implications of technology (broadband and nanotechnology)

What to watch:

Cyber-ethnography becomes increasingly accepted as an anthropological specialisation at universities worldwide.

virtual communities

For The Horde! And For Science!

Description

Source

A step towards commercial virtual worlds - Virtual Walt Disney World Added To Google Earth

Description

Source

Routine Virtual Meetings in Second Life

Description

Source

Studying Human Behavior in Cyberspace

Description

Signals