abstract: Black Rock City is a temporary city existing for one week in the harsh desert of northern Nevada. It plays host to the Burning Man festival with over 300 large-scale art installations and is considered to be the largest interactive art festival in the world. Besides the main burn, smaller local regional events have developed. These regional events encompass many of the same tenets as Burning Man including the presentation of large-scale art. Burn2 is the regional event held on the virtual world, Second Life. In 2013, both events used the theme of Cargo Cult as a stepping off point for the artists. Through the lens of spectacle, I used art criticism as a way to gain understanding of the artworks. Art criticism is a means of interpreting and appreciating artwork and is often used in the art classroom. Edmund Feldman's method promotes a deeper understanding of art and consists of four steps: description, formal analysis, interpretation and judgment. Using Feldman's method, I analyzed three artworks from the 2013 Burning Man festival and three works from Burn2. From interviews, photographs, and personal observations I analyzed the artworks. I used external analysis to compare the literature on similar festivals and the artworks with other events held in the real life and virtual world. I found in both events very similar concepts and themes. Artists had specific subject matter in mind when designing their installations. Artists used the theme as a stepping off point for rationalizing their content. Art made to be displayed at Burning Man was expensive; funding was a concern for all the artists. Burn2 artists were free from funding concerns even though there were expenses to making art in Second Life. Emerging themes were use of building materials and color, use of electronics and computer technology, art installations in festivals, spectacle, collaboration, and interactivity. Further implications included teaching about the engineering of structures, critical thinking about festival themes and the individual art installations, visual culture, and art making with these emerging art forms. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Curriculum and Instruction 2014

Orientador: Afonso Antonio Machado / Banca: Daniel Presoto / Banca: Eloisa Hilsdorf Rocha Gimenez / Banca: Marcos Alencar Abaide Balbinotti / Banca: Vera Regina Toledo Camargo / Resumo: Atualmente, não há como negar a entrada maciça das tecnologias em nossas vidas. Tecnologias essas, que muitas vezes acabam por alterar e redefinir nossas vidas e relações para com o mundo e/ou com outras pessoas. Pensando nisso, realizamos uma pesquisa que teve como objetivos centrais: identificar os principais motivos apontados por usuários do jogo Second Life® (SL) para participar do mesmo e compreender as possíveis influências da utilização desse jogo sobre a vida real (RL) desses participantes. Para que pudéssemos atender aos objetivos propostos, optamos pelo emprego de um estudo etnográfico, de cunho qualitativo no mundo virtual através da observação participante. O estudo foi realizado entre os meses de julho e agosto de 2012 e contou com a investigação de 10 (dez) avatares, sendo 5 (cinco) representados por corpos femininos e 5 (cinco) masculinos, residentes no jogo SL. Como instrumentos, utilizamos uma entrevista semi estruturada por meio do chatbox do jogo, além do registro fotográfico de todos os participantes, obtidos por meio de um recurso disponível dentro do próprio ambiente. A pesquisa também foi aprovada pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa em Seres Humanos do Instituto de Biociências da UNESP, campus de Rio Claro e obedeceu todos os padrões éticos exigidos pela Resolução 196/96 do Conselho Nacional de Saúde. Na análise e interpretação dos dados empregamos 2 (duas) diferentes técnicas: (1) Análise de conteúdo, que foi utilizada na interpretação das falas consideradas importantes das entrevistas semi estruturadas e também na compilação dos dados das entrevistas na forma de quadros. Esta técnica também nos permitiu melhor compreensão e posterior categorização dos dados pelo sistema de ―milha‖, ou seja, durante a trajetória de análise, que resultou no encontro de 3 (três) diferentes... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: There is currently no way to deny the massive influx of technology in our lives. These technologies often end up changing and redefining our lives and relationships with the world and/or with other people. Considering this, we conducted a study with the aim to identify the principal motives cited by Second Life® (SL) users about why they participate in the game and to understand how playing this game influences their real life (RL). In order to meet the proposed objectives, we chose to conduct a qualitative ethnographic study carried out in the virtual world through participant observation. The study was carried out in July and August 2012 and investigated 10 (ten) resident avatars of SL, 5 (five) represented by female bodies and 5 (five) represented by male bodies. Research instruments included a semi-structured interview conducted in the SL chatbox and a photographic record of all study participants obtained through a resource available within the environment itself. The research was also approved by the Ethics Committee on Human Research of the Institute of Biosciences of UNESP, Rio Claro and obeyed all ethical standards required by Resolution 196/96 of the National Health Council. We employed 2 (two) different techniques to analyze and interpret data: (1) Content analysis, used to interpret important speech samples drawn from the semi-structured interviews and to compile interview data in tables. This technique also allowed us to better understand and subsequently categorize data by "mile" system, i.e., during the course of analysis, resulting in the identification of the following 3 (three) different categories: Category I: Principal motives for participating in the game of SL; Category II: Dynamics adopted by SL users; and Category III: Influences of game use on the RL of these users; (2) Image analysis, used to interpret collected... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Information technology is rapidly changing and companies are amending to the inevitable changes. Recently, the traditional Internet has started to evolve into a 3D Internet, thereby challenging companies into becoming more active in virtual worlds in order to keep up with the latest technology. In this thesis, the virtual world environment is highlighted from a v-business perspective to emphasize on potential opportunities and problems businesses face when entering virtual worlds. Moreover, the future outlook for v-business in virtual worlds is discussed, based on interviews with companies that are active in virtual worlds jointly with observed phenomenon identified in the literature study. Since Second Life is one of the largest and most recognized virtual worlds up to present, having a resemblance with the real world, this virtual world has been selected to pose as an example in this thesis. Taking this into consideration, the aim of this research is to answer the following research questions: * What kind of value has v-business added to companies operating in virtual worlds and what kind of impact has it had? * What kind of complexities and restrictions have companies experienced with v-business in virtual worlds, and why have these occurred? * What does the future look like for v-business in virtual worlds considering opportunities and problems related to such a business approach? Consequently, the purpose of this thesis is to examine the future outlook for v-business in virtual worlds, by investigating what opportunities and problems companies face in such a virtual setting, along with their predictions about its future development. Based on these findings an outline of the prospects of v-business will be developed. Given that the area of this particular study is not yet broad in terms of research, the research has been conducted through an inductive approach using a qualitative method. Seven companies have been interviewed for this research and a majority of the company respondents have been interviewed through real-time communication using Skype. The outcome of this research implies that there is great potential for v-business in virtual worlds, hence adding additional value to companies’ positioning on a yet unique environment. A number of possibilities have been identified where communication was identified as a major opportunity. In contrast, there are also current problems where technical restraints and comprehension problems were especially emphasized. However, in spite of some problems, companies report that they are in general very positive about the future outlook for v-business in virtual worlds, which is one of the reasons as to why we conclude that there is definitely a future awaiting for doing business in virtual worlds.

The purpose of this article is to inform researchers and developers of cross-media solutions about the risks of exposing too much information about their users when they integrate social networks such as Facebook into their products. Lately online games and virtual worlds has started looking more and more towards Facebook and twitter as potential ways to increase their presence among users. This article will look at the negative aspects of doing this to help avoid doing mistakes that affects users negatively. This article will also look at some of the consequences of personal information getting in the wrong hands. Even though the majority of internet users are unaffected by their personal information being shared, it's important to think about the few people that do get in trouble from it.

The use of computers has grown immensely in the last decades and the possibility to teach through them has grown as well. Various computer applications, games and forums have been created as tools of teaching and learning. This research project contains a summary of various works created within the E-learning area and their results. The virtual world Second Life is tested and some of the research in the literature review will be visited and examined. The research focuses on the feasibility to create scenarios for nursing students to practice patient care and handling, in addition to collaborative qualities that online virtual worlds offer. The conclusion taken from this research is that the possibilities far outweigh the limitations and that learning through virtual worlds should be further explored and developed.

[pt] TREG é um jogo para o treinamento em Engenharia de Requisitos, especificamente na técnica de Workshops. Foi criado no Second Life, usando suas possibilidades de modelagem 3D e programação. Este trabalho apresenta uma experiência de exploração num processo de prototipação e técnicas para o desenvolvimento do jogo. O ciclo de desenvolvimento do TREG utiliza o processo de prototipação baseado no livro Effective Prototyping for Software Makers, que descreve um processo iterativo que foi customizado para a criação do jogo educacional neste mundo virtual. Branching Stories é um género de simulações que dá uma visão geral de todos os caminhos possíveis do jogador no TREG. A técnica de Cenários é utilizada para a especificação das simulações modeladas no gráfico de Branching Stories. O desenho do TREG utiliza especificações feitas usando a técnica de Cenários para a modelagem de diferentes perspectivas de software. As maquinas de Estados modelam o comportamento dinâmico dos elementos de software, o diagrama de classes representa os objetos criados no Second Life e o diagrama de comunicação mostra as relações e a passagem de mensagens entre os objetos. Além disso, este trabalho apresenta os resultados dos testes de usabilidade e as dificuldades apresentadas pelos participantes para a utilização desta ferramenta. / [en] TREG is a game for training in Requirements Engineering, specifically in the Workshops technique. It was created in Second Life using its building and scripting possibilities. This works presents an exploration in the use of a prototyping process and techniques for developing the game. The prototyping process of the book Effective Prototyping for Software Makers is an iterative process which was customized for the development of the game in this virtual world. Branching Stories is a simulation genre that gives an overview of all the possible paths the player can take in TREG. Scenario is a Requirements Engineering technique used for the specification of the simulations modeled in the Branching Stories graph. The design of TREG used the Scenarios specifications for modeling the software perspectives. The state machine diagrams shows the dynamic behavior of the TREG objects, a class diagram represents the objects created in Second Life and the communication diagrams shows the relationships and the flow of messages between objects. This work also shows the results of the evaluation made and the difficulties presented by the participants whereas TREG was used. / [es] TREG es un juego para el entrenamiento en Ingeniería de Requisitos específicamente en la técnica de Workshops. Fue creado en Second Life, usando las posibilidades de modelamiento 3D y programación en este ambiente. Este trabajo presenta una experiencia de exploración en un proceso de prototipación y técnicas para desarrollar el juego. El ciclo de desarrollo de TREG utiliza el proceso de prototipación basado en el libro Effective Prototyping for Software Makers, este es un proceso iterativo que fue personalizado para la creación del juego educacional en este mundo virtual. Branching Stories es un género de simulaciones que da una visión global de todos los caminos posibles del jugador en TREG. La técnica de Escenarios es usada para la especificación de las simulaciones modeladas en el grafo de Branching Stories. El diseno de TREG utiliza las especificaciones realizadas con la técnica de escenarios para modelar diversas perspectivas del software. Las Maquinas de Estados modelan el comportamiento dinámico de los elementos del software, el diagrama de clases representa los objetos creados en Second Life y el diagrama de comunicación muestra las relaciones y paso de mensajes entre los objetos. Además, este trabajo muestra los resultados de la evaluación realizada así como las dificultades presentadas por los participantes al utilizar esta herramienta.

This study qualitatively investigated older adults’ experience of Second Life from a descriptive phenomenological perspective. Second Life is a virtual world found on the Internet and is considered to be a cyber reality that simulates aspects of everyday real life. The participant group comprised of five individuals, between the ages of 60 and 79 years of age, who have been participating in Second Life for longer than six months. All of the participants reside in the United States and all of the participants have a tertiary education. The research revealed three essential themes to older individuals’ experience of Second Life that deals with: (1) Familiarisation with Second Life; (2) Connecting in Second Life; and (3) Second Life as a Place of Recreation. The research indicated that older adults seem to find value in their Second Life participation and tend to be actively involved and contributing members in this virtual world. These findings have implications for developmental theories in psychology that address later stages in life, and the researcher especially considers Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development. Additional implications for adults in the later stages of life and the discipline of psychology are also considered. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Psychology / unrestricted

Several researchers have successfully developed realistic models of real world objects/ phenomena and then have simulated them in the virtual world. In this thesis, we propose the opposite: instantiating virtual world events in the real world. The interactive 3D virtual environment provides a useful, realistic 3D world that resembles objects/phenomena of a real world, but it has limited capability to communicate with the physical environment. We argue that new and intuitive 3D user interfaces, such as 3D virtual environment interfaces, may provide an alternative form of media for communicating with the real environment. We propose a 3D virtual world-based add-on architecture that achieves a synchronized virtual-real communication. In this framework, we explored the possibilities of integrating haptic and real world object interactions with Linden Lab's multiuser online 3D virtual world, Second Life. We enhanced the open source Second Life viewer client in order to facilitate communications between the real and virtual world. Moreover, we analyzed the suitability of such an approach in terms of user perception, intuition and other common parameters. Our experiments suggest that the proposed approach not only demonstrates a more intuitive mode of communication system, but also is appealing and useful to the user. Some of the potential applications of the proposed approach include remote child-care, communication between distant lovers, stress recovery, and home automation.

Prenant appui sur une analyse des œuvres artistiques et littéraires dont Utopie de T. MORE, le Samurai Virtuel de N. STEPHENSON ainsi que Le Corps utopique, suivi de Les hétérotopies de Michel FOUCAULT, la thèse examine trois hypothèses de l’espace territorialisé par les artistes : Le Topos, l’Hétérotopos et l’Utopos. Trois genres d’espaces ont été étudiés : Les MUVEs (Second Life et les Open Sims), les Machinimas et le cinéma (le film Avatar de J. CAMERON).Ces nouveaux espaces artistiques favorisent une communication entre les territoires réels et concrets avec ceux virtuels et actuels se trouvant dans le cyberespace comme le mentionne P. LEVY. Selon lui, les créations et les textes de Fred FOREST ont mis en évidence la notion du cyberterritoire.Ces territoires numériques en émergence sont hétérotopiques et considérés comme des espaces autres, hétérogènes, de transition et de contestation selon FOUCAULT.L’approche des enjeux utopiques de ces espaces numériques et fictionnels instaurés dans le film Avatar de James CAMERON et les Machinimas nous conduit à être attentifs à la problématique du corps envisagé comme avatar, aux espaces virtuels et à la manière dont les artistes appréhendent des îles de Second Life. Il s’agit de dégager les codes des mondes virtuels et de comprendre les enjeux utopiques des espaces virtuels conçus comme un territoire virtuel imaginaire.La thèse analyse l’espace internet, en tant que topos hypermatériel et virtuel, dont les programmes et les interfaces peuvent simuler le réel, le dépasser tout en nous faisant entrer dans un monde rêvé ou bien utopique. / According to an analysis of artistic works and literature, among which are Utopia of T.MORE, Snow Crash of N. STEPHENSON and The utopian body followed by heterotopias of Michel FOUCAULT, the present thesis examines three hypotheses of the space territorialized by artists : the Topos, the Heterotops and the Utopos. Three types of space were studied: the MUVEs (Second Life and the Open Sims), the Machinimas and the cinema (the film Avatar by J. CAMERON).These new artistic spaces support a communication between the real and concrete territories and the virtual and actual ones which are found in the cyberspace as mentioned by P. LEVY. According to him, the creations and texts of Fred FOREST brought out the notion of cyberterritory. These digital and emerging territories are heterotopic and are considered as different spaces, heterogeneous, transitional and of contestation, according to FOUCAULT. The approach of utopic challenges relative to these digital and fictional spaces, which are found in James CAMERON’s film Avatar and the Machinimas, compels us to be attentive to the question of the body considered as avatar, to the virtual spaces and to the manner with which the artists apprehend the Second Life isles. This aims at extricating the codes of the virtual worlds and understanding the utopic challenges of the virtual spaces which are conceived as an imaginary virtual territory. The thesis analyzes the space in the internet, as an hypermaterial and virtual topos of which the programs and the interfaces can simulate the real, go past everything, leading us to a world of dreams or to a rather utopic world.

Identification record PELANT, Josef. Griefing in Online Games. Prague, 2017. 86 p. Thesis (Mgr.). Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Arts, Institute of Information Studies and Librarianship, 2001. Thesis lead Vít Šisler. Abstract The goal of this thesis is to find out the frequency of griefing (harassment or intentional provocation of other players) among the players of the most popular genres of online games, and to determine the typical characteristics of griefers, based on following factors: age, gender, preferency of the game genres, and motivational factors of competition, socialization, and teamplay. The goal has been achieved through questionaire survey with the use of quantitative method. Among the most important findings belong that men are substantially more frequently griefers compared to women, griefers are more focused on competition than other respondents, approximately half of the surveyed players have commited griefing, and almost every player has been a victim of a griefer. It has also been found that griefers are more likely to identify themselves as victims of griefing, compared to the rest of players. Keywords griefing, griefer, game studies, online games, second life, world of warcraft