PREVIEW-Psych Project Website Launched

Problem-based Learning in Virtual Interactive Educational Worlds for Psychology (PREVIEW-Psych)

Simon Bignell from the University of Derby is project leading a new JISC-funded £38,000 research project called PREVIEW-Psych. The project is a collaboration between University of Derby, Aston University, Coventry University and The Higher Education Academy Psychology Network.

We are transferring problem-based learning techniques and technologies from the PREVIEW project for the Psychology subject group. The project is developing Psychology scenarios and ‘intelligent avatar’ technology within the virtual world Second Life.

More information is available at the project website http://previewpsych.org We will be running a free to attend 'Upskilling day' at University of Derby in March 09 where we will provide training in the use of problem-based learning techniques within virtual worlds for the Psychology subject group. We will also be providing a mentoring scheme to around six institutions from Psychology and related subjects for more intense tutoring, coaching and seminars to enable practitioners to develop their own Second Life teaching and learning initiatives.

If you are working in teaching and learning in the Psychology subject group and would like to attend the Upskilling day or would like to find out more about the mentoring scheme please email Simon Bignell (University of Derby) at s.bignell@derby.ac.uk or contact his avatar Milton Broome in Second Life.

Open University host Virtual World Conference - ReLIVE08

Researching Learning in Virtual Environments - ReLIVE08

With researchers and practitioners attending from around the globe, this excellent opportunity for networking promises an interesting, stimulating and exciting 2 days. The conference will begin with a reception on the evening of the 19th November, and the first full day will see the opening keynote from Edward Castronova and a varied programme of paper presentations, symposia and workshops with presenters from around the world.


The conference gala reception and dinner will be supported by a variety of entertainment including a digital caricaturist, live music and the internationally renowned Terry Waite CBE as our after dinner speaker. The second day begins with an invited panel Question Time debate including Edward Castronova, Roo Reynolds, Bill Thompson and Claudia L'Amoreaux, chaired by Ren Reynolds, founder of the Virtual Policy Network. This is followed by more presentations and workshops with a networking lunch. We end the second day on a high with a keynote plenary led by Roo Reynolds. (text taken from the ReLIVE08 website)

The conference cafe is available inworld .

There is also a ReLIVE08 Facebook group.

Check out the conference webpage ReLIVE08

Loebner Prize for artificial intelligence announced

Can machines think? That's the question Alan Turing put to the world and one which scientists and philosophers are still pondering. At the 18th Loebner Prize for artificial intelligence (AI), held at the weekend, Elbot, an artificial intelligence program, convinced three of the 12 human interrogators he was indistinguishable from them.

The modern day Turing test continues to show us just how far away we are from a convincing human AI program. Psychological insights into how thoughts and concepts are represented in the mind are increasingly being used to refine such AI programs.

See the BBC News coverage for the full story.

See the Loebner Prize website for more details of the challenge.

Please Ignore - Test Only

Test video embed video from Xfire.

'Treating cancer' in a virtual world

Kingston University in the UK are using a innovative new 3D method for Radiography. Utilising a 3D virtual environment they are teaching students how to treat cancer patients. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7648170.stm

Hands Free 3D: Second Life Navigation Demo

Check out this video on YouTube. It's the latest hands free
development for virtual worlds. If this technology could be integrated
with some of the 3D projection innovations we've seen coming out from
Italy recently we begin to reach a position of genuine complete
immersion. 3D immersive reality then need only take the next leap to
perfecting stimulatory physical feedback for the psychological
experience to be convincing enough for genuine (interactive/immersive)
experimentation. I'll continue to monitor and report on these ventures
as they impact Psychology.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t52gkAwJq8

Sent from my iPhone.

Top 25 Free Learning Professional Tools

25 Tools

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: learning tools)

'The Avatar' Hollywood movie takes virtual content creation to the next level

Famed Director James Cameron is in the final stages of making his blockbuster 'The Avatar'. The film has used an innovative film production technique called 'Facial Performance Replacement' amongst a host of other cutting edge digital and performance techniques.

The film, due for release in December 2009, explores multiple psychological themes and is set to further publicise the use of virtual worlds.

Check out a full review of the technology behind the film on THR.com here.

Breaking News of Next Generation Virtual World

LivePlace.com are apparently working on 'City Space' an advanced 3D multi-user virtual world. News is circulating that movie quality graphics and ultra usability in this platform will be available soon. A video is currently also circulating that shows an extremely impressive urban virtual world with photo quality graphics. The game is running on OTOY, the 3D engine that renders graphics in the cloud. The technology allows relatively weak computers (or even mobile phones) to display incredibly detailed graphics comparable to those seen in Hollywood movies.

See the clip:


Although some bloggers are claiming this footage is fake (i.e., not rendered in real time) the video is convincing. If this footage is real and we can expect to see this quality graphics then the implications for psychological immersion are profound. How long before we reach totality and the physical world is augmented by ultra realistic 3D virtual environments?

The video and some of the above text were clipped from: www.techcrunch.com

The human body is obsolete

I've been interested in the futurist performance art of Stelarc (born. Stelios Arcadiou) for a while now. He worked at Nottingham Trent University, which is just down the road from Derby University. His performance art opens up questions that, I believe, traditional Science cannot yet approach. In this sense, Art is leading enquiry, which is nothing new of course. However, Stelarc pushes the boundaries as far as we can follow. His work heavily embraces the concept that the human body is obsolete (biologically inadequate), in this way he looks towards a time where biology is replaced with technology, or perhaps that they are in fact the same thing. In his words, "It is time to question whether a bipedal, breathing body with binocular vision and a 1400cc brain is an adequate biological form.".

As complex biological machines Stelarc's performances challenge notions of identity, psyche, decency, physical augmentation, cyberpscyhology, transhumanism and much more. The work is often profoundly disturbing, but I think important as a tool to push forward ways in which we might consider a virtual or technology-enhanced existence. The performances are often linked to hardware merged with his body and controlled from the web. From a third robot hand, a suspension from hooks, a cell-grown ear grafted to his arm or inside the body sculptures, the work is shocking and though provoking. Psychologically these body-technology mash-ups are confusing. Philosophically they are intriguing. How far can we replace the physical body with technology before it no longer can be though of as human?

Thinking machines and technology-enhanced bodies are the realm of the futurist and traditional thinkers are very resistant to these attempts at provoking thought. For psychologists using virtual worlds the opportunity of opening up these conceptual spaces into interactive virtual environments is now with us. A first foray into virtual 3D space often sees newbies play with the physical appearance of their human-like avatars (no one chooses the Furry avatar option anymore!) and experiencing the associated change in thoughts and behaviour that produces. Nevertheless, in the virtual world we have the opportunity to go even further than Stelarc’s performance art and utilise the space experimentally to open up Psychological questions yet unaddressed.

If you’re interested in these ideas I’d urge you to first check out his ‘Movatar’ project, where the possibility of AI-controlled virtual avatars controlling real-life bodies becomes a distinct reality through advance technology. The video below is a good introduction to Stelarc's output. Please note, the video shows scenes of human suspension art and as such might be unsuitable if you have a weak stomach.

The Heron Sanctuary - empowering people in virtual worlds

Here's a good video about just how important the virtual world Second Life can be for people with disabilities. It's a video by avatar Gentle Heron who co-founded the Heron Sanctuary. The Heron Sanctuary is a community of support for all disabled people. Their community offers members information, companionship, a way to make a living and to contribute to the community, and a way to have fun. The sanctuary assists in providing for those specific needs that can best be met in the virtual environment of Second Life.

I recently met Gentle and she told me about some of the work they are doing at the Sanctuary. I think many people can benifit from this type of support including those affected by Autism. Thanks to people such as this virtual worlds are beginning to be realised to their full potential. There's a full blog about the story of the Heron Sanctuary by Widget Whiteberry here.



This clip was was featured at the Health 2.0 conference on Web 2.0 technologies in healthcare on March 3-4 2008 in San Diego. For more information on Health 2.0, please visit Health 2.0.

http://www.health2con.com

SL-Labs in San Francisco Chronicle

SL-Labs recently featured in the San Francisco Chronicle in an article about Second Life healing called, 'Second Life offers healing, therapeutic options for users'. The article outlines various support groups in-world and mentions a variety of people that have contributed group over the years. Autism and Asperger’s are mentioned as well as the work of avatar 'The Sojourner' a multiple stroke survivor who created the "Shockproof Dreams" sim for stroke victims, people with autism and Asperger's syndrome and the people who care for them.

The article is well balanced and offers a glance in to the future of virtual worlds and the way in which they can have value to people real world lives.

Web Article is here: http://tinyurl.com/6oybrd

SL-Labs Video

Click to Play

A video of SL-Labs at University of Derby Psychology in Second Life.

Virtually Where?

This was an excellent presentation given by Andy Powell of the Eduserv Foundation recently. Andy (SL: Art Fossett) asked the question "Are 3-D virtual worlds such as Second Life having an impact on learning?" Eduserv is a UK not-for-profit charity that works to realise the effective use of ICT for learners and researchers. The Eduserv Foundation makes grants to the UK education community and undertakes other activities to support this aim.

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Fellow Blogger blogs on Autism talk

I was recently asked by Mariano DiFabio to give a Second Life lecture on Autism in virtual worlds for his New York-based biopharm neetup group. We had about 20 attendees (avatars) at the lecture at SL-Labs and what was planned as a short talk on the potential of virtual environments for people with Autism lasted over an hour. This talk was given using Second Life's voice capability and worked well. There were a number of important questions raised at the end, especially some that opened up the topic of how skills learned in-world might generalise to real life.
I look forward to following up on many of the new projects I found out about and talking with the new freinds I made at the meeting. Here's a link to Mariano's report on the talk. Avelient BioPharm Blog

Autism and Asperger's in Second Life

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A talk about the potential of virtual worlds for Autism research. Given in Second Life in June 2008.


SlideShare Link

Scientific discourse 2.0

This recent journal article grabbed my attention. It's from Nature.com and is titled "Will your next poster session be in Second Life?" by Huang, Kamel Boulos and Dellavalle in EMBO reports, Vol 9, No. 6. 2008. PDF here.

It looks at expanding technologies of the internet and how they are getting increasingly sophisticated. The trend towards user-oriented content, or web 2.0 has rapidly expanded our ability to communicate and share information with one another over distance and 'supposedly' made us more efficient in the process. The article outlines a number of examples of web 2.0 platforms and includes virtual worlds as one way of providing education.

Stanford Experiments in VR Psychology

I've long been an admirer of Jeremy Bailenson's research at Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab. His team are behind many very interesting projects researching the social psychology of digital human representation. Nick Yee especially has produced some excellent research output. Bailenson's theory of Transformed Social Interaction is providing a great framework from which to explain some of the findings coming from virtual worlds social psychology research. Here is his fast-paced talk from Metaverse U conference 2008.

Forward thinking for augmented realities

Here is an excellent presentation by Mike Liebhold at this 2008 Metaverse U conference that summarises some of the upcoming and existing technology that I think will have significant impact on the way we blend virtual worlds with the real world.



Mike Liebhold provides a glimpse into a near future changed profoundly by augmented reality. This disruptive technology gets us thinking about the impact and challenges we face of the blending of 2D/3D geodata and virtual worlds. Psychologically speaking, dividing the perceived space we navigate across virtual and real worlds may have considerable drain on our ability to differentiate these domains. At some not so distant time in the future will we be able to separate one from the other? How will we come to relate to synthetic lifeforms that navigate this space and will we see digital migration to higher bandwidth virtual/real locations? Mike's talk ponders the challenge of these complex future digital/real environments.

High Resolution Avatars, Objects, and Environments

We have come a long way since Mario. The impact of high-resolution rendered avatars in 3D multi-user virtual worlds is considerable for our sense of real life identity and engagement with synthetic life forms that are increasingly finding their way into our lives. Psychologically our relations with people may be greatly influenced by our virtual interactions with avatars controlled by advance AI or by real people. The significance of these interactions for us is heavily influenced by the sense of immersion or believability in the virtual world. Our sense of immersion in these worlds is critical for the social relationships that develop. High-resolution graphical representations of people are essential to this.

I think this is an important consideration. The implications are profound when we consider certain scenarios, rather than the more common uses of virtual worlds. For example, how would you respond emotionally and socially to an avatar with a photorealistic face of a long dead parent? How would you respond to the site of a photographically and anatomically accurate 3D virtual spouse flirting or arguing with a virtual representation of yourself or another person? The implications are profound for our social identity and future emotional wellbeing. It is inevitable that as graphics processors allow photorealistic avatars to interact with us in virtual worlds in increasingly realistic ways we will react with complex emotional responses. Where are the ethical boundaries to such research and how far will this diss/embodiment take us towards psychological insight?

I will be exploring these issues further from the end of the year. We'll be looking at the psychological impact of photorealistic synthetic avatars and the implications of their use and the attitudes and (social-emotional) attachments that form from them.

The following meeting in Second Life by the people at Media Grid's 'Immersive Education' initiative may be of value if you are interested in the technology behind such questions. (Friday May 9th, 4-5pm EST / 1pm Second Life time)

Further details from http://immersiveeducation.org/events/

Join us in the graphics sphere http://slurl.com/secondlife/research%20center/122/142/651 at Oddfellow Studios to discuss how high resolution graphics will soon transform Immersive Education. Support for high-resolution avatars, objects and environments is a requirement for the next generation (3rd generation) of Immersive Education that is now under development. During this meeting we’ll discuss and see examples of: high resolution avatars; high resolution objects and environments; photo-based modeling technology that enables high resolution avatars to be automatically created from a photograph of your face; current and next generation graphics rendering engines and game engines; open file formats and open art paths that enable “CREATE ONCE, EXPERIENCE EVERYWHERE”.

Children in Virtual Worlds

A one-day London conference will explore the role of children in virtual worlds. The conference run from 10.00am - 5.30pm on Thursday 22nd May 2008 at The University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London.

BBC Children’s and the University of Westminster invite you to the first conference in the UK to draw together producers and researchers working on virtual worlds and immersive gaming environments for children aged 7-11 online.

Keynote speakers include Richard Deverell, Controller, BBC Children's and Dr Adrian Woolard, Head of Innovation, BBC Future Media and Technology. Other speakers include representatives from Club Penguin, Moshi Monsters, Lego Universe, Prof David Gauntlett (University of Westminster), Lizzie Jackson (University of Westminster), Dr Diane Carr (Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media), Marc Goodchild (Head of Interactive and On Demand, BBC Children's), Aleks Krotoski (Guardian Unlimited), Tamara Littleton (eModeration.com) and Paul Massey (K&L Gates). In addition to the panels and presentations there will be demonstrations on virtual worlds and 3D technology.

CNN Interview with Milton Broome - Autism in Virtual Worlds

Milton was recently interviewed in Second Life at SL-Labs by CNN. We spoke in depth about the utility of virtual worlds for helping people with Autism. I'd be interested in feedback from people with Autism and their carers about how they feel Virtual Communities can be of value to them.

The original video is here and the video can be viewed below.



You can also find a related CNN report on an initiative by David Savill (Avatar Dave Sparrow), a person with Autism, on 'Naughty Auties' a space specifically designed for people with Autism in Second Life. The report is here.

Project Spectrum helps people with Autism

New 3D design software called Sketchup has been released by Google and is helping people with Autism to express themselves using 3D drawing tools. Project Spectrum is focusing on bringing this freely downloadable software to the Autistic community. I think that this is another good example of how people with high-functioning Autism and Asperger's Disorder can utilise their capacity for visual representation in a creative and therapeutic way.

Second Life allows the same type of interaction with 3D objects but goes one step further in allowing high levels of social (virtual) interactivity in the same space without the associated disabling (real world) anxiety this necessarily involves for people on the Autistic Spectrum. Combining the consistency and fixed nature of virtual 3D structures that people with ASD crave alongside the changing social relations and interactivity of Second Life, we may be able to provide stimulating social learning spaces for people with Autism. Please see this video for more information on Project Spectrum.

Child-like intelligence created in Second Life

A new artificial intelligence program has been created in Second life that is claimed to have a rudimentary theory of mind and the intelligence of a four-year-old child. The ‘child’ is a product of logic-based artificial intelligence and complex modelling techniques, and operates on what has been said to be the most powerful university-based supercomputing system in the world.

A creation of researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, four-year-old ‘Eddie’ has his own set of beliefs and the ability to reason about his beliefs to draw conclusions in a manner that matches human children his age. This includes a partially-developed "Theory of Mind", which allows him to understand, predict and manipulate the behaviour of other agents and human Second Life residents, with whom researchers expect the technology to be able to one day interact with in the real, physical world.

Please see HERE for the full article at ITNews.com.

Prototype (real) web browser in Second Life

Today I was fortunate to be one of the first people to try out a very early release of a prototype in-world web browser. The tool was announced on the 'Real Life Education in Second Life' group. The latest releases of the SL browser have included a built-in web browser but this has been limited to a single pop up framed window.

This new 'browser' script allows the 'web on prim' technology but with the added advantage of having clickable hyperlinks. Although this function is limited at present, it does appear to work, and it's fast.

The advantages are obvious and, as far as I know, this is the very first instance of this technology in any virtual world. The early prototype has been developed by avatar Kii Lilliehook and is called 'kiibrowser'. Kii has set up a group (html in sl) for those interested in following the development of this long-awaited tool. More updates will follow.

HEA Massively Multi Learner Workshop 2008

The HEA Massively Multi Learner Workshop 2008 to be held on March 18th at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.

There is still time to register for this event and it will be a great place to meet, talk about and experience current practice in virtual world education. If you have an SL avatar let us know, if not we will be running an 'introduction' session to get you started. In any case you should bring a headset with mic, and it will be a great opportunity to bring along interested sceptics who need to see what is really going on.

http://www.inspire.anglia.ac.uk/mml08/

http://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/events/displayevent.php?id=180

Derby Vice-Chancellor signs contract in Second Life

A Memorandum of Understanding contract was recently signed simultaneously in Second Life and real life by the University of Derby and global technology services company EDS. Avatars of Professor John Coyne, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Derby, and Bill Thomas –Executive Vice President of EDS Europe signed the contract in a virtual simulation of the Next-Generation Games Development Suite where our students a taught in Second Life. The deal will serve to develop a stronger partnership between the institutions. The University and EDS chose to sign their new partnership in real life and virtually to signal their joint commitment to pushing the boundaries of new technology.

The memorandum of understanding will provide closer links between the worlds of corporate technology and academia by paving the way for University student placements with EDS, which has a large presence in Derby; further training of 200 EDS project staff in specialist computer skills by University experts; University-based activities for training purposes among senior EDS managers, e.g.: forensic computing and games design at the University’s Kedleston Road main site, or cookery at its Devonshire Campus in Buxton.

Professor Coyne, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Derby, said: “The signing of this memorandum of understanding between the University and EDS, both in reality and in Second Life, is the start of what we hope will be a long and happy association in both worlds. “The experience of simultaneously conducting the University’s business in real life and cyberspace is a first for me. Perhaps this is one way a busy Vice-Chancellor can actually find the time to be in two places at once.”

For more information about the event, visit www.derby.ac.uk/secondlife.

3D Therapy for Asperger's and ADHD

This is an interesting video from an American News Channel about an "...innovative new therapy offered at the Center for Brain Health in Dallas. The news report has dummed-down the real work going on here but have a look at the clip and if you look passed the cheesy reporter's clichés, "...funky computer pastime", it's quite interesting. They're practicing social skills in Second Life by running virtual job interviews for people diagnosed with Asperger's.

I think practicing social interactions is something that thousands of people do everyday in Second Life. The persona we adopt in an interview is just another face we choose to show to the world, if not a highly conformed one. This is probably similar to the way anonymous avatars present to the virtual world, it's just that in virtual worlds avatars are free to bend or violate those social rules and in a formal job interview that's probably a bad thing to do.

As a halfway house this seems like a good idea but the assumption behind the 'therapy' is that the skills will be generalised to real life situations. This is one bugbear with behavioural treatments for Autism. It can take a great deal of time to transfer a skill base from one context to another. Behaviourally speaking I'd view this with suspicion until the researchers/practitioners found evidence of effectiveness in the real world. The lack of reinforcing cues such as spontaneous nods, non-verbal cues and body language that are missing in the virtual world would be the essential parts of communication in a job interview. However, they are using real-time voice and the intervention has got to be a good way of reducing the anxiety of a real role-play interview; it can also be done over the internet. I have an open mind on this type of therapy and look forward to reading their findings. I’ll blog more here once I’ve managed to find out more about this work.

I'm resistant to the idea of attributing the label 'Patients' to anyone diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome but at least here we see what looks like a Second Life intervention with some common sense behind it. I'm still not convinced that they are doing ‘Therapy’, perhaps in a loose sense of the term, or even as they claim, “…training the brain to adapt and respond” over and above what we normally do in everyday life. What is special about this intervention, it would seem to me, is that people with Asperger’s are engaging with virtual relationships and benefiting from them.

The video clip of the news report can be viewed at the link below (2mins) as well as the accompanying web page.

“How 'Second Life' therapy helps Asperger's patients.” Web Page News Report.
“Asperger's patients helped using ‘Second Life’ therapy” Video News Report.

Augmented Reality technology challenges notions of consciousness.

Two boffins from Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a way to seamlessly integrate virtual world avatars and graphics into real life scenes in real time. http://arsecondlife.gvu.gatech.edu/ . ‘Thinkers’, a Second Life group with over 600 members, will be having an in-world discussion event on this work and its consequences at 11.30pm (GMT)/3.30pm (PST) on 22nd January 2008. http://slurl.com/secondlife/SupportforHealing/199/189/29 Check out this video for a sample of where the technology is right now.

Might we utilise this technology to augment our own consciousness some day? We know that perception is created in the brain so how long before we manipulate the sensory input sufficiently to authentically make the cognitive jump into a blended reality? Psychologically speaking this technology has potentially huge implications for social interaction theory and identity theory. Philosophically, if the avatars we socially interact with and form relations with are non-physical need we be physical too? Perhaps this takes us back to the old, “Can a computer be conscious?” debate. If two avatars met and could realistically pass between the virtual/real worlds where are the boundaries? Is this the first step toward eradicating the separation of real life and virtual worlds? If so, what kind of a world is emerging? Many, many thought experiments from this one. Come along to the event, run by avatar Extropia DaSilva of the Thinkers group, for some high level discussion amongst diverse intellects.

Do Avatars Dream of Civil Rights?

MacArthur Series on Philanthropy and Virtual Worlds. The USC Institute for Network Culture and Global Kids present a discussion on Virtual Liberties: Do Avatars Dream of Civil Rights? 12:00p.m. PST on Monday, January 28, 2008.

Please join the USC Institute for Network Culture and Global Kids for the first event in an upcoming series on philanthropy and virtual worlds. The event, "Virtual Liberties: Do Avatars Dream of Civil Rights?" will be held on the USC Annenberg Island http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ilha%20de%20Intercambio/9/22/29 or on the Global Kids estate www.tinyurl.com/2m4dnp on Second Life at 12:00p.m. PST on Monday, January 28, 2008.

Jonathan F. Fanton, President of the MacArthur Foundation, will chair a discussion about the avatar civil liberties. Joining him will be Robin Harper, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development from Linden Lab, and Jack Balkin, professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School. Prior to their remarks, Douglas Thomas, Professor at USC and Director of the Institute for Network Culture, and Barry Joseph, Director of Global Kids' Online Leadership Program, will give updates on and announce a dramatic series of programs as part of MacArthur's year exploring philanthropy in virtual worlds. Thomas and Joseph are MacArthur grantees.