|
|
|
|
ACCD Virtual WorldThe 3D web browser by ActiveWorlds software (www.activeworlds.com) provided a test bed for experiments from 1997-2001. Student teams built virtual environments, modified avatars, and hosted international events that tested their creations. Teams investigated the basic principles of interactive design, searching for what makes online digital media different from other media. Several publications and SIGGRAPH presentations emerged from the discoveries. A Computer Graphics World (January 2001, see Research page) article summarizes the discoveries, including: non-gravitational space, design tailored to specific chat topics, ritualized play among visitors, and the importance of timing, moderator cues, and social flow.
CyberForumA series of online public events that were held inside 3D avatar
worlds and hosted by the Virtual Worlds team. Beginning in January 2000, these avatar discussions went
online every couple weeks each term. Speakers included Dr. Katherine Hayles, Dr. Carol Gigliotti, Brenda Laurel, Dr. Lev Manovich, Dr. Peter
Lunenfeld, and Dr. William J. Mitchell, Dean of MIT School of
Architecture. William Mitchell's one-word review of our 3-D world was:
"WOW!" These events in "desktop virtual reality" were captured in chat
logs and snapshots. Adobe Atmosphere GalleryThe limits of ActiveWorlds led the team to explore the beta version of Adobe's 3D browser Atmosphere. Only a couple events were actually mounted in Atmosphere but many worlds and avatars were created by students learning to build in cyberspace. Here is a gallery of those worlds, all created in the class Virtual Worlds Design.
Avatar Dance CollaborationAn unusual collaboration between UCLA, Art Center, SCI-Arc, and an international group of researchers occurred in 2000. The Virtual Worlds team experimented with avatars as real-time embodiments that can intersect with physical spaces. This notion of "avatecture" or the projection of avatars into architecture began a collaboration with PUSH architect and SCI-Arc professor Christophe Cornubert. The collaboration created a finalist entry for the design competition of the Danish Hotel Pro Forma. The building with avatar alcoves first sprang from experiments inside the UCLA Visualization Portal in 2000. Using the Portal as a giant projection screen, the Virtual Worlds team joined Cornubert in dancing with 3D avatars and engaging them in games of virtual kung fu. Remote researchers in Scandinavia and Europe were able to beam down in avatar and interact with physical bodies in Los Angeles.
Deep Cyberspace"Deep Cyberspace" consisted of two 8-week seminars done completely online, one in Fall 1997 and one in Fall 1998. Much of the seminar work was done inside the 3D Internet. Students met frequently, shared reading assignments, held moderated discussions, and maintained a message-board dialogue. Strong bonds were created across continents. Below is a capture of a website done by two students in Sweden and the USA as they created web pages for recalling the seminar work.
Avatar DiplomacyAvatar diplomacy is a complex proposal developed after 9/11/01. The proposal developed with the help of the International Initiatives Task Force (directed by Erica Clark, Senior Vice President of International Initiatives) at Art Center. The proposal creates a playful software interface between youth in conflict cultures. Because of the complexity of the proposal, the initiative has not yet found a team to implement it although many of the necessary pieces are in place. The link below describes the history and plan for avatar diplomacy.
|
||
 | |||
