Social Virtual Worlds- A Next Level Human Interaction Social Computing Presentation 1 Junaid Alam Arish Joyo Imran Allawala Anum Mazhar

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Introduction- Virtual Worlds “A virtual world is a genre of online community that often takes the form of a computer-based simulated environment, through which users can interact with one another and use and create objects.” 3

Social Virtual Worlds Social virtual worlds (SVWs) are persistent, immersive 3D environments where the users are represented as avatars. In contrast to games, SVWs have no narrative goals. The focus of SVWs is on social interaction and entertainment. entertainment. 4

Richer Social Interaction A study at Stanford has shown that our brain responds in the exact same way, at the exact same levels, when an avatar smiles at you as when someone smiles at you in the offline world. A study at Stanford has shown that our brain responds in the exact same way, at the exact same levels, when an avatar smiles at you as when someone smiles at you in the offline world. And there have been numerous studies And there have been numerous studies in the past that says body language in the past that says body language and facial expressions communicate and facial expressions communicate much more then the actual words. much more then the actual words. 5

Describing Virtual Worlds Virtual worlds are intended for its users to inhabit and interact, and the term today has become largely synonymous with interactive 3D virtual environments, where the users take the form of avatars visible to others graphically. These avatars are usually depicted as textual, two-dimensional, or three-dimensional graphical representations, although other forms are possible. 6

- Virtual World Example A free client program called the Viewer enables its users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars. Residents can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another, or travel throughout the world. Second Life is for people aged 16 and over. Avatars may take any form users choose (human, animal, vegetable, mineral, or a combination thereof) or residents may choose to resemble themselves as they are in real life. Avatars can communicate via local chat, group chat, global instant messaging and voice. Chatting is used for localized public conversations between two or more avatars, and is visible to any avatar within a given distance Second Life has an internal currency, the Linden dollar (L$). L$ can be used to buy, sell, rent or trade land or goods and services with other users (Virtual goods). 7

Simulation Of Real Life Rules Such modeled worlds may appear similar to the real world or instead depict fantasy worlds. The model world may simulate rules based on the real world or some hybrid fantasy world. Example rules are: – gravity, – topography, – locomotion, – real-time actions, and – communication 8

The Concept As virtual world is a fairly vague and inclusive term, the above can generally be divided along a spectrum ranging from: – massively multiplayer online role-playing games or MMORPGs are one type of virtual world with objectives and goals for users to achieve via game play. Notable examples include “World of Warcraft,” “EverQuest II” and “Audition.” – massively multiplayer online real-life games or MMORLGs. In these worlds, there are seldom explicit game goals or points. Instead, users focus on chatting, mingling, and decorating their homes and avatars. Examples include “Second Life” and “Habbo Hotel”. 9

Virtual Economies A virtual economy is the emergent property of the interaction between participants in a virtual world. While the designers have a great deal of control over the economy by the encoded mechanics of trade, it is nonetheless the actions of players that define the economic conditions of a virtual world. 10

The Transition 11

Game Space & Virtual Worlds Game space is a three-dimensional computer simulation that integrates elements of game into a persistent online massively multiplayer environment. Online games and online game spaces can be separated into two categories, those that are persistent and those that are not persistent. 12

Virtual Worlds- Key Attributes 13

The Distinction The concept of a virtual worlds can be distinguished from the concept of game space by the absence of the characteristics of a “game.” To state the distinction in another way: “ Games can exist in virtual worlds, but virtual worlds are not game spaces” 14

Important Attributes- SVW’s The important three key components are: 1. “synchronous” indicates that shared activities necessitate synchronous or real-time communication. 2. “persistent,” indicates that a “virtual world cannot be paused” or does not shutdown when the user exits. 3. the “avatar” is any digital representation (graphical or textual), beyond a simple label or name, that has agency (an ability to perform actions) and is controlled by a human agent in real time. 15

Virtual World/Game Space Continuum VW: Virtual World SNS: Social Network Spaces NPS: Non Persistent Spaces 16

Macro Typologies Virtual Worlds: Second Life- Linden Labs Habbo Hotel Game-VW hybrid: World Of Warcrafts Chat-VW Hybrid: Club-Cooee VW- NPS Hybrid: Q-Waq VW-SNS Hybrid: Wee-Worlds 17

Virtual Worlds- Statistics The Walt Disney Co. recently paid $350 million for “Club Penguin,” a virtual world for kids. The most popular virtual world in the United States is “World of Warcraft,” which debuted in 2004 and now has more than 2 million U.S. players and 10 million worldwide. Approximately 8.2 million kids in the United States, or roughly 24 percent of 3- to 17-year-olds online, log onto a virtual world each month. By 2011, an estimated 53 percent of U.S. children and teens online will visit virtual worlds. $2,183 million = total social gaming revenue estimated for the US in 2012 vs $726 million in 2009 = 200 % growth in 3 years 18

Statistics- Contd. Barbie World alone hit 3 million members within 60 days of launching, and a short 9 months later are at over 10 million. MTV and Nick.com have both committed $100 million to virtual worlds in million monthly users on Farmville (Zynga) worldwide, it’s the biggest social game, AND bigger than Twitter! Last year, Americans (and yes, this figure only deals with purchases by Americans) spent $1.6 billion in fake stuff (virtual goods). Gartner Research estimates that by 2011, 80% of Internet users and major companies will have avatars, or digital replicas of themselves, for online work and play. 1 in 8 Americans between 12-64, reported being a regular virtual world user. 19

Why Virtual Worlds? 20

Virtual Worlds- Value Chain 21

A Comparison 22

Virtual Worlds Provides.. 23 Richer Social Interactions Social communities are built on the quality of the social interactions being exchanged. Virtual worlds offer a larger variety of higher quality social interactions. Avatars can make facial expressions, or change their body language. You can buy someone a new piece of clothing, or item for their virtual room as a gift. Avatars can dance with each other, hold hands, and even play games. Bottom line is that virtual worlds are offering forms of interactions and expressions that enrich the social experience.

Better Self Expression and Personalization: Take one look at high school teen’s Facebook page and you will quickly see that a large part of social communities about self expression and personalization. But virtual worlds offer the opportunity for much better personalization through their avatar, virtual room, expressions, etc. Dressing up your avatar to express your personal style is much more compelling then dropping a glitter text badge or a slide show widget on your MySpace profile. 24

25 Real World Interactions Are Better Resembled: Virtual worlds are starting to take on qualities that closely resemble to how we interact offline. They also give us the opportunity to interact and portray ourselves in a way which we would like to, but are unable to in the real world. This makes the online social experience more engaging, and ultimately of higher quality.

26 MetaVerse Tour- Video

27 References Wikipedia- Virtual Worlds Virtual Worlds and Social Media A Parks Associates White Paper October 2008 Journal of Technology Research Virtual worlds and social networking: reaching the Millennia's Raymond Papp The University of Tampa Virtual Worlds Research: Consumer Behavior in Virtual Worlds” November 2008 Demographics of Virtual Worlds By Jeremiah Spence, Department of Radio, TV & Film, University of Texas at Austin.

28 Thank You