Zugl.: Kassel, Univ., Diss., 2007

Zugl.: Kassel, Universiẗat, Diss., 2007. / Download lizenzpflichtig.

This study aims to present the characteristics and functions of Bourdieu’s forms of capital;economic, cultural, social and symbolic capital in large online social games genre called Massive multiplayer online roleplaying games (MMORPG). This is done in order to determine if these are reproduced in an online society consisting of thousands of players, which of the forms of capital are of outmost importance and how the accumulation of these affect the players lives using qualitative methods. Results show that the forms of capital in-game carry similar characteristics to the accumulation of such in the real world but are not transferable to the real world to the same extent. Which of the forms of capital was most of importance than others was not evident from the results, however, the empirical material shows of an interrelationship between the accumulation of capital between the dimensions; real world and game world.

This study aims to investigate motives behind certain design choices of a player in an MMORPG game when creating their online avatar. The game used for the study is Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (Square Enix, 2013). To achieve this, we have interviewed two Free Companys (group of people playing together) and asked them a set of questions to find out similarities and differences among casual to semi hardcore players. For example one thing we noticed when asked the question if they have created their character based on their own visual traits the interviewed denied any similarities at first but when they thought harder about it they agreed that subconsciously there were traits that were similar even if it just comes down to hair color. Playing as the opposite sex is also a common theme when creating your character.

In 2009 five avatar-themed films were released, one of which became the highest grossing film to date, signaling that in addition to their popularity in videogames and virtual worlds, avatars are culturally salient figures which demand scholarly attention. Avatars, virtual environments, and user behavior have evolved significantly since virtual reality captured public and academic attention at the close of the twentieth century, and this dissertation is an attempt to theorize the avatar in contemporary digital culture. By interlacing new media philosophy and analyses of cinematic texts I situate the avatar at the nexus between digital images and interactive bodies, with implications for both cinema and virtual environments. Avatarial interfaces position users in an embodiment of connections which in some ways evokes the cyborg body, but the avatar as a theoretical figure places greater stress on the relation between human embodiment and (digital) images, as well as suggesting a move from cyborg fragmentation toward an avatarial gestalt. Avatars are also fruitful bodies for thinking through agency and gender in contemporary society, and engaging the lost `body' of the picture as film has been supplanted by digital imagery. In this regard, virtuality, as a conceptual state pertaining to images, embodiment, technology, and philosophy, serves as the connective theoretical tissue linking bodies and images. Ultimately, in this dissertation I employ the avatar in an exploration of the ways in which we are already virtual, and how we have become avatarial in our own skin.

xii, 188 p. This file has been removed at the author's request. A print copy of this title is available from the UO Libraries, under the call number: SCIENCE GV1469.34.S52 H63 2007 / As digital entertainment becomes more advanced, the medium of the video game has gained a broader audience. Today, more women are spending their leisure time enjoying video games. This research focuses on serious (or ‘hardcore’) women who play games traditionally believed to appeal primarily to males. Interviews and observation were used to explore their experience as gamers and as members of women-only communities. Results showed that these women are choosing the experience of playing shooter games because it is interactive, social, and enjoyable, not to be resistive. This study also analyzes the role of these women gamers within game culture, considers how they are being perceived, and identifies the ways the gaming community and games industry has responded to these women. Textual and discourse analysis was used to study social constructions of gender. This analysis showed that the ways women are framed by game culture and in the media limits their potential to be regarded as skilled gamers and legitimate contributors. / Adviser: Dr. H Leslie Steeves

Submitted by Pós-Com Pós-Com (pos-com@ufba.br) on 2015-04-17T15:26:30Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Felippe Calazans Thomaz - Dissertação.pdf: 2489244 bytes, checksum: e35283fd2aab6c0970e20de53f033f90 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Vania Magalhaes (magal@ufba.br) on 2017-09-25T11:05:21Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Felippe Calazans Thomaz - Dissertação.pdf: 2489244 bytes, checksum: e35283fd2aab6c0970e20de53f033f90 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-25T11:05:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Felippe Calazans Thomaz - Dissertação.pdf: 2489244 bytes, checksum: e35283fd2aab6c0970e20de53f033f90 (MD5) / CNPQ / Examinamos, na presente dissertação, os processos de construção identitária e autoapresentação em ambientes simulados online de caráter lúdico. A partir do jogo World of Warcraft, são apresentados e discutidos certos elementos intervenientes no processo de assumir um avatar enquanto extensão de si, realizando atividades que, em sua maioria, reforçam as dinâmicas preestabelecidas do meio – MMORPG, ou RPG de participação online massiva. A escolha do objeto se vale pela posição privilegiada que o mesmo ocupa dentre os jogos da mesma categoria, o que nos permite apontar com maior propriedade que “as flexões do ser”, em função da incorporação de dispositivos digitais, refletem traços do “espírito do tempo” que presenciamos. A partir de uma postura interdisciplinar, o método adotado se aproxima da Filosofia – sobretudo da fenomenologia – e da Psicologia social, relacionando tais campos à Comunicação e aos Gamestudies. Deste modo, refletir sobre o que é compreendido enquanto “presença”, “experiência”, “percepção” e “imersão” nos permite perceber as camadas sociais inerentes à categoria de jogo em questão como peculiares formas de interação humana. A partir de um “mundo virtual”, examinamos o que constitui o corpo e o meio, propondo que ambos são construções visuais-funcionais, estreitamente ligados aos aspectos competitivos e estéticos do jogo. Assim, a discussão sustentada torna possível pensar as chamadas “flexões do ser” enquanto movimentos do jogador ao avatar e, noutra via e em certa medida, do avatar ao jogador.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / The SASL project at the University of the Western Cape is in the process of developing a machine translation system that can translate fully-fledged phrases between South African Sign Language (SASL) and English in real-time.To visualise sign language,the system aims to make use of a 3D humanoid avatar created by van Wyk. Moemedi used this avatar to create an animation system that visualises a small set of simple Phrases from very simple SignWriting notation input. This research aims to achieve an animation system that can render full sign language sentences given complex SignWriting notation glyphs with multiple sections. The specific focus of the research is achieving animations that are accurate representations of the SignWriting input in terms of the five fundamental parameters of sign language, namely, hand motion, location, orientation and shape, as well as non-manual features such as facial expressions. An experiment Was carried out to determine the accuracy of the proposed system on a set of 20 SASL phrases annotated with SignWriting notation. It was found that the proposed system is highly accurate, achieving an average accuracy of 81.6%.

Cette étude exploratoire examine comment l’exploration identitaire entre en jeu dans l’utilisation d’un avatar et dans la participation aux activités d’apprentissage collaboratif dans un monde virtuel. Nous inspirant de l’ethnographie virtuelle, nous avons participé à douze activités collaboratives et nous avons ensuite interrogé treize utilisateurs du monde virtuel Second Life qui y collaborent pour apprendre. Les participants ont démontré une volonté ou un désintérêt à collaborer avec les autres utilisateurs dans Second Life non principalement pas selon le sexe, l’ethnicité ou le degré d’anthropomorphisme de leurs avatars comme l’indique la littérature, mais plutôt selon leur niveau d’expertise. Cette étude suggère que le travail identitaire des utilisateurs peut exercer une grande influence sur leurs collaborations et que le travail identitaire est capable d’aider les utilisateurs à renforcer, à repenser et à améliorer leurs identités et pratiques professionnelles sur les plans virtuels et non virtuels.

Yes / Obesity is a global public health concern. Interventions rely predominantly on managing dietary intake and increasing physical activity; however, sustained adherence to behavioral regimens is often poor. The lack of sustained motivation, self-efficacy, and poor adherence to behavioral regimens are recognized barriers to successful weight loss. Avatar-based interventions achieve better patient outcomes in the management of chronic conditions by promoting more active engagement. Virtual representations of self can affect real-world behavior, acting as a catalyst for sustained weight loss behavior. We evaluated whether a personalized avatar, offered as an adjunct to an established weight loss program, can increase participant motivation, sustain engagement, optimize service delivery, and improve participant health outcomes. A feasibility randomized design was used to determine the case for future development and evaluation of avatar-based technology in a randomized controlled trial. Participants were recruited from general practitioner referrals to a 12-week National Health Service weight improvement program. The main outcome measure was weight loss. Secondary outcome measures were quality-of-life and self-efficacy. Quantitative data were subjected to descriptive statistical tests and exploratory comparison between intervention and control arms. Feasibility and acceptability were assessed through interviews and analyzed using framework approach. Health Research Authority ethics approval was granted. Overall, 10 men (n=7, 70% for routine care and avatar and n=3, 30% for routine care) and 33 women (n=23, 70% for intervention and n=10, 30% for routine care) were recruited. Participants' initial mean weight was greater in the intervention arm than in the routine care arm (126.3 kg vs 122.9 kg); pattern of weight loss was similar across both arms of the study in T0 to T1 period but accelerated in T1 to T2 period for intervention participants, suggesting that access to the self-resembling avatar may promote greater engagement with weight loss initiatives in the short-to-medium term. Mean change in participants' weight from T0 to T2 was 4.5 kg (95% CI 2.7-6.3) in the routine care arm and 5.3 kg (95% CI 3.9-6.8) in the intervention arm. Quality-of-life and self-efficacy measures demonstrated greater improvement in the intervention arm at both T1 (105.5 for routine care arm and 99.7 for intervention arm) and T2 (100.1 for routine care arm and 81.2 for intervention arm). Overall, 13 participants (n=11, 85% women and n=2, 15% men) and two health care professionals were interviewed about their experience of using the avatar program. Participants found using the personalized avatar acceptable, and feedback reiterated that seeing a future self helped to reinforce motivation to change behavior. This feasibility study demonstrated that avatar-based technology may successfully promote engagement and motivation in weight loss programs, enabling participants to achieve greater weight loss gains and build self-confidence. ISRCTN Registry 17953876; https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN17953876. / This study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (Research for Patient Benefit program [project reference PB-PG-1215-20016]).