Virtual Reality as a Medium for Social Interaction

Symposium:

• ISEA94: Fifth International Symposium on Electronic Art

• The Invisible Planet: Networked Virtual Reality, Virtual Cities and Culture (Spacecapes)

• Virtual Reality as a Medium for Social Interaction

• Ola Odegard

• Panel Statement

  Panel: The Invisible Planet

  This presentation will describe the possibilities for social interaction between users and computer generated agents in networked Virtual Reality applications.

  In many ways networked virtual worlds can be described as social experiments. Since it is networked, it will be inhabited by persons that have had no previous personal contact, and
  have to learn to interact, and develop conventions for behavior within the virtual worlds. This also puts the awareness on the responsibility of the developers of VR applications, as they as the interpreters of cultural and social codecs. Virtual Reality can also challenge the traditional role of users of different media. First of all the user can walk around in the virtual worlds as a spectator, just watching, like a visitor. On the other hand computer generated agents can be programmed to follow a dramatized sequence. The user can first of all watch this sequence as a linear story, like traditional TV. But the user will also be given the possibility to interact with the agent role, and influence the sequence of actions. The third level is for the user to virtually inhabit the agent role. The user perspective in Virtual Reality is based on the work related to  Virtual Polis Version 2.0 and a reconstruction of an ancient viking settlement, Virtual Viking Village Version 1.0, both of which were premiered at the conference Virtual Reality Oslo 1994.

Category:

• Panel