Product Description: Who are we in simulated worlds? Will experiencing worlds that are not 'actual' change our ways of structuring thought? Can virtual worlds open up new possibilities to philosophize? Virtual Worlds as Philosophical Tools tries to answer these questions from a perspective that combines philosophy of technology with videogame design...read more

Product Description: Although virtual worlds continue to grow in popularity, a substantial amount of research is needed to determine best practices in virtual spaces. The artistic community is one field where virtual worlds can be utilized to the greatest effect...read more

Product Description: "Taylor is the Marshall McLuhan or the Neil Postman of our new digital economy, the lonely voice raising urgent questions we need to answer together . . . If "The People's Platform" doesn't spark the conversation about the kind of democracy and culture we deserve, then we'll deserve the one we get...read more

Product Description: Proteus, the mythical sea god who could alter his appearance at will, embodies one of the promises of online games: the ability to reinvent oneself. Yet inhabitants of virtual worlds rarely achieve this liberty, game researcher Nick Yee contends...read more

Product Description: Artificial Culture is an examination of the articulation, construction, and representation of "the artificial" in contemporary popular cultural texts, especially science fiction films and novels. The book argues that today we live in an artificial culture due to the deep and inextricable relationship between people, our bodies, and technology at large...read more

Product Description: Telexistence is a fundamental concept which refers to the general technology that enables a human being to have the real-time sensation of being at a place other than where he or she actually exists, while being able to interact with the remote environment, which may be real, virtual, or a combination of both...read more

Product Description: In an accessible style that will appeal to the professional, student and laymen, the authors explain the methods for creating and simulating clothes for virtual humans. Using numerous detailed illustrations, colourful images, and step-by-step analysis they map out the terrain of this exciting and cutting-edge discipline...read more

Product Description: This study, now in a revised and updated third edition, covers the economic history of Latin America from independence in the 1820s to the present. It stresses the differences between Latin American countries while recognizing the external influences to which the whole region has been subject...read more

Product Description: The sense of touch is fundamental during the interaction between humans and their environment; in virtual reality, objects are created by computer simulations and they can be experienced through haptic devices. In this context haptic textures are fundamental for a realistic haptic perception of virtual objects...read more

Product Description: Whole Body Interaction is “The integrated capture and processing of human signals from physical, physiological, cognitive and emotional sources to generate feedback to those sources for interaction in a digital environment” (England 2009)...read more

Product Description: This book systematically details the basic principles and applications of head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) and virtual auditory display (VAD), and reviews the latest developments in the field, especially those from the authors own state-of-the-art research group...read more

Product Description: This book is primarily a summary of research done over 10 years in multimedia and virtual reality, which fits within a wider interest of exploiting psychological theory to improve the process of designing interactive systems. The subject matter lies firmly within the field of HCI, with some cross-referencing to software engineering...read more

Product Description: The Internet has become a new organization tool for innovation, creativity, and competitiveness of all business, educational, and governmental services. With the emergence of new social media networks, organizations are better able to decrease costs and increase capabilities which continue to change the lifestyles and businesses...read more

Product Description: Just a few years ago, virtual reality was regarded as more a toy than a tool. Today, however, it is becoming the enabling technology for man-machine communications. The rapid development of graphics hardware and soft­ ware makes its application possible...read more

Lars Qvortrup The world of interactive 3D multimedia is a cross-institutional world. Here, researchers from media studies, linguistics, dramaturgy, media technology, 3D modelling, robotics, computer science, sociology etc. etc. meet. In order not to create a new tower of Babel, it is important to develop a set of common concepts and references. This is the aim of the first section of the book. In Chapter 2, Jens F. Jensen identifies the roots of interaction and interactivity in media studies, literature studies and computer science, and presents definitions of interaction as something going on among agents and agents and objects, and of interactivity as a property of media supporting interaction. Similarly, he makes a classification of human users, avatars, autonomous agents and objects, demon­ strating that no universal differences can be made. We are dealing with a continuum. While Jensen approaches these categories from a semiotic point of view, in Chapter 3 Peer Mylov discusses similar isues from a psychological point of view. Seen from the user's perspective, a basic difference is that between stage and back-stage (or rather: front-stage), i. e. between the real "I" and "we" and the virtual, representational "I" and "we". Focusing on the computer as a stage, in Chapter 4 Kj0lner and Lehmann use the theatre metaphor to conceptualize the stage phenomena and the relationship between stage and front-stage.

Product Description: Websites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+ have enabled users to create virtual communities for social networking and communities of practice. Because of the ever-evolving environment in social networking, there has been much opportunity for new areas of research...read more

Product Description: This book is the THE source for information on virtual worlds, covering every aspect of this intriguing and fast-changing social practice and the technologies upon which it rests.• A detailed chronology detailing inspirations, precursors, developments, and controversies related to virtual worlds• Tables of data about users of virtual worlds• An annotated list of private, nonprofit, and government organizations pertinent to virtual worlds• Biographical sketches of authors, developers, researchers, policymakers, and notable virtual world users• A glossary of scores of relevant terms related to virtual worlds' function and use• A bibliography of additional resources readers can consult to learn even more about virtual world...read more