The Call of Higher Duty: How the Economy of Patriotism Extends from Real Civilians to Virtual Soldiers

Anthropology Capstone Final PaperThis project explores how military first-person shooter videogames serve as cultural artifacts grounded within the economy of patriotism. Essentially, the economy of patriotism is the system of exchange in which civilians are attempting to repay patriotic indebtedness that is enabled by perceptions of soldierly sacrifice, that forces conformity to and propagates an idealized patriotic narrative of sacrifice that is at odds with the real experiences of soldiers. Due to their crafted narrative’s mirroring of real civilian perception of soldierly duty, these videogames not only serve as part of these economic exchanges but extend them into virtual worlds. Focusing on the single-player modes within three recent Call of Duty titles, I explore first how these narrative simulations/simulated narratives invoke the sacrificial mythology of soldiers of the civilian public. Secondly, I detail how Call of Duty videogames expand experiences of the economy of patriotism. Ultimately, I bring attention to how these games may contribute to the civilian-military divid

Agents for educational games and simulations

This book consists mainly of revised papers that were presented at the Agents for Educational Games and Simulation (AEGS) workshop held on May 2, 2011, as part of the Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems (AAMAS) conference in Taipei, Taiwan. The 12 full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from various submissions. The papers are organized topical sections on middleware applications, dialogues and learning, adaption and convergence, and agent applications

Mining for meaning: The use of unstructured textual data in information systems research

The objectives of this research are to demonstrate how text was used in (1) developing a theory to examine collaborative interaction in virtual worlds, (2) creating a framework for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of dealing with large text datasets for social network analysis, and (3) approaching an understanding of the role of meaning individuals attribute to their mobile devices

A dramaturgy of intermediality: composing with integrative design

The thesis investigates and develops a compositional system on intermediality in theatre and performance as a dramaturgical practice through integrative design. The position of the visual/sonic media in theatre and performance has been altered by the digitalisation and networking of media technologies, which enables enhanced dynamic variables in the intermedial processes. The emergent intermediality sites are made accessible by developments in media technologies and form part of broader changes towards a mediatised society: a simultaneous shift in cultural contexts, theatre practice and audience perception. The practice-led research is situated within a postdramatic context and develops a system of compositional perspectives and procedures to enhance the knowledge of a dramaturgy on intermediality. The intermediality forms seem to re-situate the actual/virtual relations in theatre and re-construct the processes of theatricalisation in the composition of the stage narrative. The integration of media and performers produces a compositional environment of semiosis, where the theatre becomes a site of narration, and the designed integration in-between medialities emerges as intermediality sites in the performance event. A selection of performances and theatre directors is identified, who each in distinct ways integrate mediating technologies as a core element in their compositional design. These directors and performances constitute a source of reflection on compositional strategies from the perspective of practice, and enable comparative discussions on dramaturgical design and the consistency of intermediality sites. The practice-led research realised a series of prototyping processes situated in performance laboratories in 2004-5. The laboratories staged investigations into the relation between integrative design procedures and parameters for composition of intermediality sites, particularly the relative presence in-between the actual and the virtual, and the relative duration and distance in-between timeness and placeness. The integration of performer activities and media operations into dramaturgical structures were developed as a design process of identifying the mapping and experiencing the landscape through iterative prototyping. The developed compositional concepts and strategies were realised in the prototype performance Still I Know Who I Am, performed October 2006. This final research performance was a full-scale professional production, which explored the developed dramaturgical designs through creative practice. The performance was realised as a public event, and composed of a series of scenes, each presenting a specific composite of the developed integrative design strategies, and generating a particular intermediality site. The research processes in the performance laboratories and the prototype performance developed on characteristics, parameters and procedures of compositional strategies, investigating the viability of a dramaturgy of intermediality through integrative design. The practice undertaken constitutes raw material from which the concepts are drawn and underpins the premises for the theoretical reflections

Diversity and the Virtual Workplace: Performance Identity and Shifting Boundaries of Workplace Engagement

This article explores the meaning of workplace discrimination where reality meets the imaginary world in virtual work settings. Using a more recent development in the realm of virtual work--workplace avatars--the article considers the impact on law of virtual performance identity by workers where appearances can be altered in virtual reality. Current protected-class approaches to antidiscrimination law have not served as the antidote to workplace bias and exclusion. Thus, the article investigates whether avatar technology holds promise for facilitating greater inclusion of marginalized workers in the contemporary workplace. Does this mode of virtual work serve as a platform for diversity or simply create more confusion regarding our fundamental understandings of discrimination? The author\u27s premise is that the mechanics of online identity and the social and behavioral dynamics of virtual engagement produce a new locus for bias to flourish. While the virtual workplace holds some appeal for promoting broader acceptance within organizations, the article claims that avatar-based virtual work environments do not constitute unconditional and neutral spaces. Overall, the article takes an optimistic stance toward immersive environments in the employment context. However, it cautions that avatars create interpersonal dynamics that are just as dangerous to notions of belonging in the contemporary workplace as their physical counterparts. The author posits that the multidimensionality of identity in this context illuminates the limitations of the categorical approach to antidiscrimination law and concludes that the avatar makes the case for intersectionality theory in workplace law

Diversity and the Virtual Workplace: Performance Identity and Shifting Boundaries of Workplace Engagement

This article explores the meaning of workplace discrimination where reality meets the imaginary world in virtual work settings. Using a more recent development in the realm of virtual work--workplace avatars--the article considers the impact on law of virtual performance identity by workers where appearances can be altered in virtual reality. Current protected-class approaches to antidiscrimination law have not served as the antidote to workplace bias and exclusion. Thus, the article investigates whether avatar technology holds promise for facilitating greater inclusion of marginalized workers in the contemporary workplace. Does this mode of virtual work serve as a platform for diversity or simply create more confusion regarding our fundamental understandings of discrimination? The author\u27s premise is that the mechanics of online identity and the social and behavioral dynamics of virtual engagement produce a new locus for bias to flourish. While the virtual workplace holds some appeal for promoting broader acceptance within organizations, the article claims that avatar-based virtual work environments do not constitute unconditional and neutral spaces. Overall, the article takes an optimistic stance toward immersive environments in the employment context. However, it cautions that avatars create interpersonal dynamics that are just as dangerous to notions of belonging in the contemporary workplace as their physical counterparts. The author posits that the multidimensionality of identity in this context illuminates the limitations of the categorical approach to antidiscrimination law and concludes that the avatar makes the case for intersectionality theory in workplace law

Virtual Saviours: Digital games and anti-trafficking awareness-raising

In recent years, digital games have emerged as a new tool in human trafficking awareness-raising. These games reflect a trend towards ‘virtual humanitarianism’, utilising digital technologies to convey narratives of suffering with the aim of raising awareness about humanitarian issues. The creation of these games raises questions about whether new technologies will depict humanitarian problems in new ways, or simply perpetuate problematic stereotypes. This article examines three online games released in the last five years for the purpose of raising awareness about human trafficking. In analysing these games, we argue that the persistent tropes of ideal victims lacking in agency continue to dominate the narrative, with a focus on individualised problems rather than structural causes of human trafficking. However, the differing approaches taken by the games demonstrate the potential for complexity and nuance in storytelling through digital games

Reality guides for life before death

The rise of the digital game industry has brought along a plethora of game design tools and frameworks. They are likely to be named specifically as design frameworks for games because their creators have been positioned themselves on the field of game research due to their personal interest in games or due to the fast rising game business. There appears often not to be a reason why these tools and frameworks could not be used in any other kind of interaction design too. Furthermore, even the definition of a game is elusive. In effort to be able to consider what is a game and what is not, the concept of Reality Guides was developed. A Reality Guide guides the user in their surrounding reality. By its definition it is not necessarily a game, and a game by its definition is not necessarily a Reality Guide, but it is possible for something to be both. Reality Guides can come in the form of paper booklets, human guides, digital applications, or something else. The focus in this thesis is in guides that are mixed reality digital applications. Looking at Reality Guides through several game design frameworks, a new theoretical model was constructed: The GEM Game Experience Model is a result of Grounded Theory based work to find a single underlaying model behind all the existing ones. Two non-game initiatives have been worked on with the guidance of Reality Guide thinking and GEM thinking: Life Before Death aims at producing services that will help people with premature end of life circumstances to make the best possible out of their remaining life. Reality Guides for the end-of-life. Also, in the initiative of creating a community around Digital Theology a project course was organized using gamer community originated Discord as a central Reality Guide for the course participated by students from four continents