Being There Together: Social Interaction in Shared Virtual EnvironmentsVirtual 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. |
Contents
3 | |
2 The Varieties of Experiences of Being There Together | 21 |
3 Avatar Bodies and Virtual Spaces | 61 |
4 Collaboration | 95 |
5 Social Life in Online Worlds | 141 |
6 Modalities of Communication | 177 |
7 Research Uses of Multiuser Virtual Environments | 205 |
Other editions - View all
Being There Together:Social Interaction in Shared Virtual Environments ... Ralph Schroeder No preview available - 2010 |
Common terms and phrases
Access Grids Active Worlds activities audio avatar appearance awareness Axelsson Bailenson behavior Boellstorff 2008 building captured Chapter communication computer-generated computer-mediated communication context CVEs desktop systems discussed encounters end-states example experience face-to-face findings focus of attention graphical haptics Heldal high-end immersive systems immersive VEs important interaction in MUVEs Interaction in Shared Internet interpersonal IPT system issues LambdaMOO manipulate mobile phones modalities multiuser MUVE technologies navigation objects offline one’s online games online social online spaces online VWs online worlds participant observation participants person possible presence and copresence problem real-world realistic relation relationships roles Schroeder sense settings Shared Virtual Environments Slater social cues social interaction social networking social spaces Spante Steed talking heads Teleoperators Teleoperators and Virtual text-based tion types user’s users videoconferences videoconferencing videoconferencing systems virtual reality virtual worlds visual voice World of Warcraft