Using GASP for Collaborative Interaction within 3D Virtual Worlds

International audienceIn this paper, we present Gasp, a General Animation and Simulation Platform, whose purpose is to animate autonomous or userdriven agents, and we explain how it can be used for Collaborative Virtual Reality. First, we explain its architecture, based on the notion of simulation objects (or agents) associated with a calculation part (the behavior). Then we describe how it is possible to distribute eciently our agents upon a network in order to share the amount of calculation between several computers. Finally, as the visualisation of a simulation is also a simulation object, we show that our architecture allows us to distribute several visualisations upon a network to share a 3D interactive simulation between several users

Being together in classrooms at the interface of the physical and virtual: implications for collaboration in on/off-screen sites

This article contributes to thinking about collaboration in classroom/virtual environments by considering how children (aged 10-11) engage in the process of ‘being together’ at the interface of the physical and virtual. It argues that, if educators are to develop effective pedagogies that capitalise on opportunities for collaborative and participatory learning, there is a need for nuanced accounts of the ways that children and young people relate to one another across on/off-screen sites and for new ways of conceptualising their interactions. Using a four-part story based on an illustrative episode from a longitudinal classroom-based study, the article explores how a focus on what Schatzki terms a ‘practice meshwork’ can highlight how relationships are shaped by and shape diverse practices. In particular it explores how embodied relations with things in classrooms mediate ways of ‘being together’ around classroom/virtual environments It suggests that different timespaces are consequently evoked as children play together on and around screens in class. Drawing on these ideas, the article advances five propositions about ‘being that arise from seeing relationships as entangled with multiple practices. It ends by arguing that, in planning for and researching collaboration, it is important to acknowledge how these five dimensions interface

"They’re Just Tixel Pits, Man": Disputing the 'Reality' of Virtual Reality Pornography through the Story Completion Method

Pornography is a substantial part of humans' everyday interaction with computers, yet to date the topic has been underconsidered by HCI. Here, we examine some of the common cultural ideals non-experts constructed of a 'new' pornographic experience - Virtual Reality (VR) Porn - through use of the 'Story Completion Method'. Forty five participants completed a story stem about a male character who was about to have his "very first virtual reality porn experience". Through our analysis, we demonstrate a narrative of a 'perfect', idealised sexual experience, as well as one which emphasised the imagined 'precarious' and dangerous consequences around this technology use. We indicate how the stories reproduced ideals around heteronormativity and hegemonic masculinity, suggesting an agenda of 'Designing for Eroticism' as a tactic which could avoid such problematic discourses. We also suggest the opportunities and challenges presented through use of the 'Story Completion Method'

Collaborative game development with indigenous communities; A theoretical model for ethnocultural empathy

This thesis studies how collaboratively designed games can be used as a means to empathically share cultural perspectives and emotions between unrelated communities. The paper also discusses some of the diversity issues present within the video game industry, especially those dealing with Indigenous cultural content, and to promote the “world games” movement of inclusive game production. The project began with an examination of various concepts that make up the current psychological theory of empathy. Academic findings on cultural empathy were specifically explored, and Wang et. al’s (2003) theory of ethnocultural empathy was examined. A literature review continued with further examination of the methods for empathic game design and production. The literature also considered how specific game elements and practices of intercultural sensitivity function within collaborative game design and development, leading to a more in-depth study of co-development with Indigenous communities. From this, two theoretical models were developed and proposed. The Ethnocultural Empathy Analysis model looked specifically at methods for e-empathic game design, and the Intercultural Sensitivity model presented reflective questions for Indigenous co-development. These models were then applied to three game project case studies. Two of the studies examined the commercial games, Never Alone and Mulaka. The third study, the Sámi Game Jam, included a personal reflection of my first-hand experience in an Indigenous co-development setting. Finally, the results of this thesis proposed ways that games, as a unique, interactive medium, can be successfully used to both address, and even eliminate, much of the cultural disconnection and ignorance present in today’s world

UTILIZING SCRIBBLENAUTS TO INCREASE READING COMPREHENSION AND IMPROVE LITERACY SKILLS OF THIRD GRADE STUDENTS

The LEA’s problem of practice upon which this research was focused on improving academic achievement in the areas of reading comprehension, fluency and other literacy skills. In particular, the LEA is very concerned about third grade reading scores in the light of North Carolina legislation that implements a reading proficiency test to be taken by all third grade students. The focus of this research was to use "Scribblenauts Unlimited," a commercial-off-the-shelf video game to bolster the reading skills of third grade students in an elementary school located in a rural school district in eastern North Carolina. The research design of this action research study utilized pre - and post- assessment to measure the effectiveness of students’ involvement with “Scribblenauts Unlimited.� The intervention time-line consisted of sixteen weeks of intervention during which two sections of students alternated the roles of intervention and control groups at the eight-week mark. The intervention was implemented for one hour per week during student computer laboratory times. The one-hour per week exposure was divided into two thirty-minute sessions, one on each of two days each week. The quantitative data consisted of participant’s scores on the Reading 3D assessment. The qualitative data was gathered by means of video observations of selected small groups of students and, snapshot insights into individual participants’ learning experiences by means of experience sampling methodology. During each intervention time, a video camera was set up in the computer laboratory and focused on a small group of four or five participants. One or two of the members of the group on which the video camera was focused were invited to “think aloud� through excerpts of the edited videos. The aim was to capture the participants’ learning experience in their own words at what they seem to be key points of their learning trajectory. At the end of each eight-week intervention session, a survey designed to measure the extent to which participants experienced flow was administered to the participants in the intervention