Seeking the Entanglement of Immersion and Emergence: Reflections from an Analysis of the State of IS Research on Virtual Worlds

This paper critically reviews the state of virtual world research within the Information Systems field; revealing areas of interest evident in research studies between 2007-2011, the methods employed to conduct such research, the theories/frameworks used to ground VW research, as well as reoccurring memes/concepts. We argue that virtual worlds are best interpreted as both an immersive and emergent co-creative process, ‘performed’ by users’ actions and interactions both with other users and with artifacts such as virtual goods. Nevertheless, our analysis reveals a near neglect of the substantive nature of digital materiality and of the emergent nature of virtual worlds. We conclude that this ‘human-centric’ stance has taken focus away from the unique nature of the virtual world artifact itself, and posit a research agenda that focuses on virtual world objects as well as the immersive and emergent activities of ‘world-builders’ as necessary to advance virtual world research

How Affordances of Immersive Visualization Systems Affect Learning Outcomes through Aesthetic Experience

Virtual reality has received attention as an environment for learning, yet little is known about the effectiveness of bringing the immersive visualization systems into the university classrooms. Building upon prior literature on immersive technology and the theory of affordance, we develop a model investigating how the features afforded by an immersive visualization system escalate users’ engagement, which in turn increases their learning outcomes. We will test the model with undergraduate students who have experienced with an immersive visualization system in the classroom setting. We believe that our work will enrich the existing literature on virtual reality in education and provide insight into the design of immersive representations and the structure of immersive learning paradigm

Collaborative Design Review Sessions In Virtual Reality: Multi-Scale And Multi-User

The use of Virtual Reality (VR) for design reviews in projects is becoming more common in construction. However, the use of VR in these processes has been limited to been used more as a complementary reviewing tool alongside information medias such as 2D drawings and 3D models. Furthermore, immersive VR has been argued to have limitations when it comes to orientation and understanding and reasoning about functional links between physical layouts in a facility. This paper presents a case study of a VR system used during design reviews that support end-users to switch betweendifferent representations and scale i.e., miniature model/bird-eye view, and a 1:1 scale experience of the facility. The data gathered, consisted of recorded observation of the VR based design review process and study what type of discussion and design errors that was found during two VR-workshops connected to a new elementary school. The result shows, that by supporting switching between miniature model and 1:1scale VR experience facilitated spatial orientation and understanding and collaboration across disciplines in the project. The study also show how collaborative immersive VR can be used as an efficient communication-tool during the design process in a real-world project

The Role of Immersive Virtual Reality in Individual Learning

New technologies create opportunities to improve education and, in this way, the individual learning. Due to their certain characteristics, such as immersion (i.e. the total engagement to a specific activity while other attentional demands are ignored), immersive Virtual Reality (VR) systems have the potential to increase the individual learning performance. Modern VR-head mounted displays (e.g. Oculus Rift) and provided controllers allow a new kind of interaction within a virtual environment. Against this background, the construct cognitive absorption (CA) within a learning context emerged. CA consists of five sub- constructs: temporal dissociation, curiosity, enjoyment, control, and immersion. Both, learning and CA, have already been brought together but not within a context of immersive VR. Hence, this study examines learning and its conditions within an immersive VR context by a Grounded Theory approach with 21 qualitative interviews. Implications for theory and design are derived

Towards the 3D Web with Open Simulator

Continuing advances and reduced costs in computational power, graphics processors and network bandwidth have led to 3D immersive multi-user virtual worlds becoming increasingly accessible while offering an improved and engaging Quality of Experience. At the same time the functionality of the World Wide Web continues to expand alongside the computing infrastructure it runs on and pages can now routinely accommodate many forms of interactive multimedia components as standard features - streaming video for example. Inevitably there is an emerging expectation that the Web will expand further to incorporate immersive 3D environments. This is exciting because humans are well adapted to operating in 3D environments and it is challenging because existing software and skill sets are focused around competencies in 2D Web applications. Open Simulator (OpenSim) is a freely available open source tool-kit that empowers users to create and deploy their own 3D environments in the same way that anyone can create and deploy a Web site. Its characteristics can be seen as a set of references as to how the 3D Web could be instantiated. This paper describes experiments carried out with OpenSim to better understand network and system issues, and presents experience in using OpenSim to develop and deliver applications for education and cultural heritage. Evaluation is based upon observations of these applications in use and measurements of systems both in the lab and in the wild.Postprin

Multi-user virtual environments for physical education and sport training

For effective learning and training, virtual environments may provide lifelike opportunities, and researchers are actively investigating their potential for educational purposes. Minimal research attention has been paid to the integration of multi-user virtual environments (MUVE) technology for teaching and practicing real sports. In this chapter, the authors reviewed the justifications, possibilities, challenges, and future directions of using MUVE systems. The authors addressed issues such as informal learning, design, engagement, collaboration, learning style, learning evaluation, motivation, and gender, followed by the identification of required elements for successful implementations. In the second part, the authors talked about exergames, the necessity of evaluation, and examples on exploring the behavior of players during playing. Finally, insights on the application of sports exergames in teaching, practicing, and encouraging real sports were discussed

Designing a novel virtual collaborative environment to support collaboration in design review meetings

Project review meetings are part of the project management process and are organised to assess progress and resolve any design conflicts to avoid delays in construction. One of the key challenges during a project review meeting is to bring the stakeholders together and use this time effectively to address design issues as quickly as possible. At present, current technology solutions based on BIM or CAD are information-centric and do not allow project teams to collectively explore the design from a range of perspectives and brainstorm ideas when design conflicts are encountered. This paper presents a system architecture that can be used to support multi-functional team collaboration more effectively during such design review meetings. The proposed architecture illustrates how information-centric BIM or CAD systems can be made human- and team-centric to enhance team communication and problem solving. An implementation of the proposed system architecture has been tested for its utility, likability and usefulness during design review meetings. The evaluation results suggest that the collaboration platform has the potential to enhance collaboration among multi-functional teams