Serious Virtual Worlds©

Researchers Guide:

• News

  • IBM eyes move into Second Life ‘v-business’ http://64.207.135.221/stories/2006/10/24/ibm-eyes-move-into-second-life-v-business/

  • Wiring up an open source Learning Management System to an exploding 3D virtual environment.http://www.sloodle.com

  • Dutch bank ABN sets up branch in Second Life  http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2006/12/01/dutch-bank-abn-sets-up-branch-in-second-life/

  • NASA in SecondLife: Plans for a Synthetic World in 2007

  • Prof gets funding for virtual Shakespeare world http://64.207.135.221/stories/2006/10/18/prof-gets-funding-for-virtual-shakespeare-world/
     

• Academic Research & Events

  • Books, Theses, Papers, Articles and Courses on Avatars and Virtual Worlds
  •  Upcoming (2006-2007) and recent events

  • Synthetic Worlds as Petri Dishes http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2006/06/synthetic_world.htm

  •  Upcoming (2006-2007) and recent events

  • Synthetic Worlds as Petri Dishes http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2006/06/synthetic_world.htm

  • Synthetic Worlds as Petri Dishes http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2006/06/synthetic_world.htm

  • Ph.D thesis focusing on virtual worlds Jennifer Jamieson Bortle, Games People Play: Identity and Relationships in an Online Role-Playing Games. 

  • More Ph.D theses:
    • Torill Elvira Mortensen, Pleasures of the Player; Flow and control in online games (about MUDs, but close enough, I think)
    • Constance A. Steinkuehler, Cognition and Learning in Massively Multiplayer Online Games: A Critical Approach
       

• Economic, Business & Legal

  • Virtual Worlds Collide With Real Laws http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=196602466

  • IP rights in Second Life  - http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1813106,00.html

  • Concept: Virtual Worlds For Economic Development  http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2006/11/concept_virtual.html

  • State of Play The State of Play: Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds. 

  • Virtual Trademarks -  http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2006/07/virtual_tradema.html
     

• Virtual Worlds - Corporate and Industrial

  • Using virtual worlds for corporate training - We present virtual training worlds that are relatively low-cost distributed collaborative learning environments suitable for corporate training. A virtual training world allows a facilitator, experts and trainees communicating and acting in the virtual environment for practicing skills during collaborative problem solving. Using these environments is beneficial to both trainees and corporations. The design of a leadership training course is discussed in details

  • Pedagogical agent called Steve -- the Soar Training Expert for Virtual Environments.Steve's role is to teach students how to perform procedural tasks, such as operating or repairing complex devices. http://www.isi.edu/isd/VET/steve-demo.html

• Virtual Worlds - Defence and Emergency Response

  • Massive Multiplayer Online Gaming: A Research Framework for Military Training and Education  http://www.adlnet.gov/downloads/189.cfm
  • NPSNET Research Group creates large scale virtual environments for the US Navy and Department of Defense.
  • Air Force Institute of Technology's Graduate School of Engineering Virtual Environments, 3D Medical Imaging, and Computer Graphics Laboratory
     
  
   

• Statistics

  • Mmogchart.com is dedicated to research in tracking the growth of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs).  http://www.mmogchart.com/
     
• Groups Studying Virtual Worlds

• • Electronic Frontier Foundation your rights in avatar cyberspace!
  • Human Interface Technology Lab and the Virtual Worlds Consortium