Synthetic worlds, synthetic strategies: attaining creativity in the metaverse

This text will attempt to delineate the underlying theoretical premises and the definition of the output of an immersive learning approach pertaining to the visual arts to be implemented in online, three dimensional synthetic worlds. Deviating from the prevalent practice of the replication of physical art studio teaching strategies within a virtual environment, the author proposes instead to apply the fundamental tenets of Roy Ascott’s “Groundcourse”, in combination with recent educational approaches such as “Transformative Learning” and “Constructionism”. In an amalgamation of these educational approaches with findings drawn from the fields of Metanomics, Ludology, Cyberpsychology and Presence Studies, as well as an examination of creative practices manifest in the metaverse today, the formulation of a learning strategy for creative enablement unique to online, three dimensional synthetic worlds; one which will focus upon “Play” as well as Role Play, virtual Assemblage and the visual identity of the avatar within the pursuits, is being proposed in this chapter

Avatar actors

In this text I wish to discuss, as well as illustrate through pictorial examples, how the Live Visuals of three dimensional online virtual worlds may be leading us into participatory and collaborative Play states during which we appear to become the creators as well as the actors of what may also be described as our own real-time cinematic output. One of the most compelling of these stages may be three dimensional, online virtual worlds in which avatars create and enact their own tales and conceptions, effectively bringing forth live, participatory cinema through Play

Domain Adaptation on Graphs by Learning Graph Topologies: Theoretical Analysis and an Algorithm

Traditional machine learning algorithms assume that the training and test data have the same distribution, while this assumption does not necessarily hold in real applications. Domain adaptation methods take into account the deviations in the data distribution. In this work, we study the problem of domain adaptation on graphs. We consider a source graph and a target graph constructed with samples drawn from data manifolds. We study the problem of estimating the unknown class labels on the target graph using the label information on the source graph and the similarity between the two graphs. We particularly focus on a setting where the target label function is learnt such that its spectrum is similar to that of the source label function. We first propose a theoretical analysis of domain adaptation on graphs and present performance bounds that characterize the target classification error in terms of the properties of the graphs and the data manifolds. We show that the classification performance improves as the topologies of the graphs get more balanced, i.e., as the numbers of neighbors of different graph nodes become more proportionate, and weak edges with small weights are avoided. Our results also suggest that graph edges between too distant data samples should be avoided for good generalization performance. We then propose a graph domain adaptation algorithm inspired by our theoretical findings, which estimates the label functions while learning the source and target graph topologies at the same time. The joint graph learning and label estimation problem is formulated through an objective function relying on our performance bounds, which is minimized with an alternating optimization scheme. Experiments on synthetic and real data sets suggest that the proposed method outperforms baseline approaches

Further dimensions: text, typography and play in the metaverse

In this text I wish to delve into the creation of textual content as well as its visualization through typographic design mechanisms inside three dimensional virtual worlds, which are known as the metaverse. I am particularly focused upon the way in which such virtually three dimensional environments may place the usage of text within a context that stands in contradiction to its traditional one by creating an unexpected novel purpose which takes a marked departure from the intrinsic attribute with which text has inherently been associated – namely the attribute of readability. In such environments readability, or indeed even legibility, may often be displaced through the usage of text and typography as a playful device, as artifacts which may manifest in puzzle-like configurations, or as visual structures the contents of which are meant to be understood through means other than straightforward reading; thus bringing about states of heightened engagement, wonder and ‘play’ through their manipulation or indeed simply by being immersed within the spaces which are brought about through their very agency. I also wish to expand upon this subject by talking about my own experiments with this material and will conclude by positing that further virtual dimensions can be instrumental in eliciting exciting alternative usages of text and typography which bring to the fore the allographic properties of text as an artistic/creative expressive media that may well bear further scrutiny and exploration

Symbol, costume, compass: "synthetic apparel" for transcultural experiences

Virtual design concerns itself with artifacts which are purchased and consumed solely within the online, participatory virtual worlds in which they are created: Edward Castranova estimates the revenue generated by current virtual economies, which are based upon the trade of such virtual artifacts to be in the ballpark of several billions of US Dollars per annum. Of further interest is the fact that despite the severe recessions which their physical counterparts have undergone in recent times, virtual economies seem to show a steady upward trend of growth. Although the present state of health of virtual economies is of significance when examining the relevance of virtual design, what is also of interest is an exploration of virtual artifacts as a means for establishing cultural bridges. These bridges may manifest themselves not only between virtual worlds and the real world, but also between diverse cultures within the physical world itself. The virtual design object is freed from many of the constraints of its physical counterpart as far as functionality, utility and ergonomics are concerned. Virtual objects are utilized for fantastical, playful activity inside virtual worlds and as such it would be appropriate to examine their ultimate function as the messengers of novel amalgamated ways of being; and indeed as pathways between cultures and cultural identities

Bisociative ludos: the wondrous tales of eupalinos ugajin and naxos loon

This text proposes to examine the virtual lives and creative activities of two metaverse avatars, Eupalinos Ugajin and Naxos Loon, by examining the correlations between their acts of creation and the notion of ‘play’. These will be examined against the backgrounds of Arthur Koestler’s book “The Act of Creation” and Johan Huizinga’s “Home Ludens”; involving a scrutiny on how these may apply to a strand of art making involving three dimensionally embodied avatars, which can be observed in online virtual worlds today

Body parts

In this project, the artist wishes to examine corporeality in the virtual realm, through the usage of the (non)-physical body of the avatar. An art installation created in the virtual world of Second Life®, which is meant to be accessed with site specific avatars, will provide the creative platform whereby this investigation is undertaken. Thus, “body parts” seeks to challenge the residents of virtual environments into connecting with the virtual manifestations, i.e., avatars of others in an emotionally expressive/intimate manner

Syncretia: a virtual geography for narrative playfulness

This paper examines the strategies and theories involved in the creation of a virtual habitat; the island Syncretia located in the virtual world of Second Life®. The island is comprised of a series of narrative/play installations, which can also be considered as "artistic environments". Syncretia should be seen as an endeavor for providing a context for play, storytelling and metaphor; involving an examination of virtual geographies, cyberpsychology/Presence studies, ludology and their relationship to objets trouvé or ready-made art/architectural objects which have been utilized to a substantial degree in the structuring of the visual/narrative language of Syncretia

Thought/ visual processing: ctrl + x, y, z, v

With this text I wish to revisit a long-standing preoccupation of mine which addresses the extent to which the digital medium may have brought about a paradigm shift in creative process; one which has been effectuated through a conversion of the creative medium itself - from atoms to bits. As a visual practitioner, what is particularly significant to my inquiry is that this change in medium is deemed to have brought about a change in language that affects the very nature of autographic work which comes into being as visual output: Following Goodman’s definitions of allographic and autographic output (1976), McCullough (1996) asserts that visual artworks may now be considered to be allographic productions since they presently share the same attributes of notationally based allographic work, which has traditionally manifested only as music or as literary output. The result is a work environment which wide opens the doors to unprecedented levels of non-linear process and experimentation whilst engaged in the visually creative act