This is the first of two presentations conducted back-to-back at the Institute for Learning Innovation at the University of Leicester on 5th April 2013. The second part is at https://www.slideshare.net/Mark_Childs/space-embodiment-identity/ There is a video of me talking using these slides at https://vimeo.com/68847832

1. Three activities in virtual worlds
Mark Childs
markchilds.org
April 5th 2013

2. Not only good for ...
• Simulation and roleplay
• Design / creation / exhibition
• Exploration and immersion
• Creating a feeling of copresence at a distance
• Reification of concepts such as identity
...but possibly best medium for learning these

3. Roleplaying Disaster
Management Communication

4. Disaster Management Communication
• Developed with Yung-Fang Chen and El Parker
in Coventry University, UK
• Conversion of a table-top exercise. Students
take on roles of agencies after a natural
disaster.
• One students in pair travels from office-to-
office in SL and negotiate on behalf of their
agencies. Other stays at base.

6. Interface

7. Interface
• Instructions were given via notecards
distributed inworld
• Students had to discuss with team members
and with other agencies
• Predominant feedback was that the screen
contained too many windows. Made
navigation and seeing other participants
difficult.

8. Avatars

9. Avatars
• Participants varied in extent to which they
modified their avatars.
• Participants did not identify with avatars. They
were characters as a means for interaction.
• Varied in degree to which “funny” avatars
were a hindrance or helpful.
• Difficult to identify roles of others in game.
• “in the computer, there is no extra talking.”

10. Design of world

11. Design of world
• Didn’t experience it as particularly realistic
• Wanted more emotional resonance so it felt
tense, time dependent, e.g. actual
refugees, collapsed buildings etc.
• Engagement not through design of world, but
through motivation to try out things they had
learnt
• A “fake real world”

12. Conclusions
• Experienced presence, copresence etc., though
need to take into account motivation as
contributory factor.
• SL effective at supporting roleplay, because it
distances from physical.
• Allow learners to personalise avatars, but assign
uniforms.
• Though not realistic, still more realistic than a
table-top exercise.
• “Didn’t learn anything”, but ...

13. Thinking outside the box

14. The learning goals
• BA Media and Communication at Newman College
• Module on Media Futures
– critical understanding of theoretical perspectives on
developments in new media, interactivity and virtual
experience
– understanding of theoretical responses to virtual worlds
and computer games
– themes future design of virtual and gaming worlds,
imagination, identity, narratology and ludology
• Journal entries related to module themes
• Assessed on two entries related to one theme
• Guest lecture in support of theme of identity

17. Presentation and discussion
• Focused on literature on
identity, appearance, performance of identity
and concepts such as true self, possible selves
etc.• Learners given tasks of
interpreting appearance of
avatars. 1st run, from images on
slide; in 2nd session analysing
Crusty Sorbet (Rich’s avatar).

19. Students’ interaction
• Few participate
– “y isnt anyone contributing today ? the room seems
quiet”
• Most responses
– “i have not thought about me really”
– “i just made my avatar from the clothes given from
there”
– “do we have to make our avatar look like somebody?”
• Do make judgments but these are not reflected
upon
– “simply because it’s nice”

20. Activity
• Students are asked to build an “identity cube”
and volunteers can then discuss what this
means.
• Based on the story cubes invented by Carina
Girvan at TCD (SL: Sleepy Littlething).
• Previously given instruction on creating cubes.
• Upload 5 images to add to the cube’s faces.

28. Results of the activity
• Most completed the task; 1 or 2 struggled
• Not all volunteered to talk through the cubes;
those that did effectively explored their
identities.
• Talked about politics, the importance of their art
to them, what draws them to particular
TV, games, etc.
• Creating the cubes gave the abstraction of
“identity” a solidity which provided a basis for
exploration. Wenger: Reification or “thingness”

29. Students’ responses
• “I normally probably wouldn't present all of
these things together to someone.”
• “This was interesting.”
• “Truthfully i havnt really thought of my
identity a whole lot... this discussion really
started making me think on that though”
• “I'm thankful I had this lesson after 2 doubles..
I had alot of fun during it”

32. Conclusions
• Discussion is important in raising issues and
ideas, even though participation is limited.
• Activity energises students and gives a
springboard for their ideas.
• Can lead to distraction, discussion of abstractions
still limited, but raises awareness of themes.
• Next time will shorten discussion period.
• Also suggest cube building instructions printed
out for referral during activity.

33. Extract / Insert

34. Installation and performance
• Installation at Herbert Gallery in
Coventry, October/November, 2012
• Three artists; Stelarc, Ian Upton, Joff Chafer
who work in design, performance, acting in
virtual worlds and particularly mixed reality.
• To launch installation, one hour performance
by Stelarc.

35. Extract Insert is both a sensory and aesthetic
experience but it's also a technically interesting one as
well … meshing. There’s also, further to that, a
speculation on that meshing; that perhaps what's
important is not real life or Second Life but perhaps a
third life where eventually autonomous and intelligent
avatars might want to access a surrogate body and
perform with it in the real world. So then there won't be
this kind of master-slave set up where you're sitting at a
computer physically controlling your avatar in Second
Life, but rather equally an avatar might want to access
your body and operate with it in the real world.

36. Three videos
• Initial performance
• View of installation from SL side
• View of installation from RL side