Reusable, Interactive, Multilingual Online Avatars

This paper details a system for delivering reusable, interactive multilingual avatars in online children’s games. The development of these avatars is based on the concept of an intelligent media object that can be repurposed across different productions. The system is both language and character independent, allowing content to be reused in a variety of contexts and locales. In the current implementation, the user is provided with an interactive animated robot character that can be dressed with a range of body parts chosen by the user in real-time. The robot character reacts to each selection of a new part in a different manner, relative to simple narrative constructs that define a number of scripted responses. Once configured, the robot character subsequently appears as a help avatar throughout the rest of the game. At time of writing, the system is currently in beta testing on the My Tiny Planets website to fully assess its effectiveness

My InfoBuddy: Guided Tours Through Information Literacy With Online Avatars

Online tutorials, elearning classrooms and educational websites are quickly taking the place of classroom instruction in academic settings. This is especially true for libraries and librarians who have been at the forefront of developing instructional materials for the virtual world. This brief presentation will outline the work done at the University of Arizona to develop a semester-long online information literacy course, focusing on the use on animated avatars to guide the students through the course materials. I will explore the efficacy (and pitfalls!) of using online avatars, discuss animation tools available to librarians and examine students\u27 responses

Historical Costume Simulation

The aim of this study is to produce accurate reproductions of digital clothing from historical sources and to investigate the implications of developing it for online museum exhibits. In order to achieve this, the study is going through several stages. Firstly, the theoretical background of the main issues will be established through the review of various published papers on 3D apparel CAD, drape and digital curation. Next, using a 3D apparel CAD system, this study attempts the realistic visualization of the costumes based on the establishment of a valid simulation reference. This paper reports the pilot exercise carried out to scope the requirements for going forward

Liberate your avatar; the revolution will be social networked

This paper brings together the practice-based creative research of artists Charlotte Gould and Paul Sermon, culminating in a collaborative interactive installation that investigates new forms of social and political narrative in multi-user virtual environments. The authors' artistic projects deal with the ironies and stereotypes that are found within Second Life in particular. Paul Sermon’s current creative practice looks specifically at the concepts of presence and performance within Second Life and 'first life', and attempts to bridge these two spaces through mixed reality techniques and interfaces. Charlotte Gould’s Ludic Second Life Narrative radically questions the way that users embody themselves in on-line virtual environments and identifies a counter-aesthetic that challenges the conventions of digital realism and consumerism. These research activities and outcomes come together within a collaborative site-specific public installation entitled Urban Intersections for ISEA09, focusing on contested virtual spaces that mirror the social and political history of Belfast. The authors' current collaborative practice critically investigates social, cultural and creative interactions in Second Life. Through these practice-based experiments the authors' argue that an enhanced social and cultural discourse within multi-user virtual environments will inevitably lead to growth, cohesion and public empowerment, and like all social networking platforms, contribute to greater social and political change in first life

Web Science emerges

The relentless rise in Web pages and links is creating emergent properties, from social networks to virtual identity theft, that are transforming society. A new discipline, Web Science, aims to discover how Web traits arise and how they can be harnessed or held in check to benefit society. Important advances are beginning to be made; more work can solve major issues such as securing privacy and conveying trust