Ready Player One (Common Text 2014-2015): Articles

Growing consumption of energy has also resulted in the country becoming increasingly dependent on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. Rising prices of oil, gas and coal and potential shortages in future lead to concerns about the security of energy supply needed to sustain our economic growth. Increased uses of fossil fuels have also caused environmental problems both locally and globally. Against this background, the country urgently needs to develop a sustainable path of energy development. The ultimate solution for the secure supply of energy will be the discovery of methods of harnessing non-conventional energy sources. The extraction and utilization of non-conventional energy will not only help in meeting energy demands but also help in their development. Since non-conventional energy sources provide environment-friendly, non-polluting energy, they help keep the atmosphere and environment clean and safe. Moreover, such energy sources are available locally; therefore they will reduce the losses due to transmission. Hence this paper examines the short fall of energy and also it is find out the social benefit of the solar energy utilization.

The evaluation of learning outcomes associated with game-based learning is fraught with conflict and confusion. Many serious game developers uncritically use content mastery as the yardstick of learner progress and achievement. Other developers train simple skills in a drill-and-practice fashion in the belief that games are best used to motivate student interest in subject domains that students find boring or tedious to learn. This paper has two parts. The first part is theoretical, and the second part consists of an illustrative case. In the first part, I examine computer and video games as a unique digital medium that supports first-person immersive learning. I interrogate what kind of epistemology is entailed when learning takes place in the first-person. Drawing upon the philosophy of pragmatism, I argue that a powerful and appropriate way to assess game-based learning outcomes using such games is through the construct of performance. This construct is grounded in the literature related to performance theory and performance studies. A performative stance, I argue, is productive for viewing learning through the theoretical lens of being and becoming because game play involves being a person on a developmental trajectory of becoming. Locating learning within a socio-cultural context, I show how the construction of identity has a vital role to play in a performance-oriented theory of learning. In the second part of the paper, I reify the theoretical ideas above via the educational game "Legends of Alkhimia" (LoA). This game has been developed at our research centre. It will be used in two classrooms, in separate schools, in mid-2010. LoA is a multiplayer game that supports up to four concurrent users. The game is designed to support authentic learning of chemistry by 14-year-olds at the lower secondary school level. The underlying pedagogy is one of learning as inquiry, in the spirit of Dewey. Dialogism and the enaction of identity are key elements of the curriculum's learning design. In the LoA game, students have to solve the mystery of recent strange happenings in the once sleepy town of Alkhimia. In tackling this challenge, students engage in doing chemistry to create effective weapons that can repel marauding monsters that appear out of nowhere, and they work to fulfil missions for the good of various inhabitants of the town. They slowly become acquainted with the legends of Alkhimia and learn that not all is as it appears. By engaging in the learning program, the goal is that students will develop a practical sense with and of chemistry as a professional domain of practice. In so doing, they appropriate the habitus of professional practice and develop the values and dispositions of critical reflexivity and epistemological vigilance. In short, they learn to become chemists.

'Are intelligent buildings a pragmatic approach towards achieving a sustainable built environment?' is the research question that this review article aims to answer. It has been argued that there is a serious need for intelligent buildings to be evaluated against the parameters of total sustainability (environmental, economic and social) so as to help the agenda of living in a technologically advanced, healthy and comfortable world. This paper reviews existing theoretical concepts of intelligence and sustainability in the built environment, through an exploration of various scientific literature and U.S Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) databases. A systematic qualitative review approach has been employed to select an appropriate definition of sustainable development and use it as a theoretical framework to assess the technological impact of intelligent buildings on the environmental, economic and social front. Subsequently five case study buildings from around the world, which exemplify the use of intelligent technologies to achieve sustainable gains were chosen and analyzed to further validate the literature findings. Outputs from the study highlight the various benefits of intelligent buildings, which include decrease in energy and water consumption, operational costs, as well as increase in productivity and investments. Additionally the analysis of the case studies revealed that the use of intelligent building technologies has contributed significantly towards a higher sustainability rating on the LEED rating scale. Moreover, the comparison of the attributes of intelligent buildings and sustainable practices in buildings, illustrates the fact that there is a considerable overlap between the two and intelligence can aid sustainability in the built environment. Thus the research suggests that green technologies and intelligence in combination may be a pragmatic approach towards the sustainability aspect.

Abstract: Immersive virtual settings are evolving to become new “spaces of life”. Humans inhabit these different virtual worlds through their avatars, and tend to gather into communities. However, the behavioral factors underlying the cognitive process of immersion in virtual worlds are still far to be understood. We here investigated these factors using the Star Wars Role-Play community of the virtual setting of Second Life as a model. More specifically, our studies focused on the immersion process in the “Hutt Space”, a portion of the Star Wars Galaxy ruled by the alien species of the Hutts, which combines the trademark aspects of Star Wars universe. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, we identified some of the factors which favor the immersion process. Our results suggest that the different behavioral factors contributing to the immersion process can be organized in three structuring dimensions: commitment, cohesion, and coherence. We also unveil a compensatory mechanism between appearance and behavioral factors in creation and maintenance of social groups in virtual worlds. Finally, we point out some of the behavioral aspects of the evolution from passive media engagement (spectators), to active media engagement (actors), and suggest a theoretical framework to investigate how human inhabit immersive virtual spaces.

In this study, 438 players of the online video game, World of Warcraft, completed a survey about video game addiction and answered an open-ended question about behaviors they considered characteristic of video game addiction. Responses were coded and correlated with players' self-reports of being addicted to games and scores on a modified video game addiction scale. The behaviors most frequently mentioned as characteristic of addiction included playing a lot and games' interfering with other activities, especially socializing or work. Few players mentioned such signs of addiction as withdrawal symptoms or tolerance, and some thought it was not possible to become addicted to video games. Self-reported addiction to video games correlated positively with perceptions that video game addiction involved playing a lot or playing to escape problems, and correlated negatively with perceptions that addiction involved games' interfering with other activities or not being able to stop play. Implications for assessment are discussed.

This study develops a framework for understanding user intentions and behaviors within a virtual world environment. The proposed framework posits that the intention to participate in virtual world is defined by a person's 1) social identity, 2) attitude toward using the service, 3) subjective norms, 4) attitude toward advertising on the service and 5) enjoyment. The proposed model is tested using data (n=319) from members of the virtual world environment. The results support the multidimensional view of social identity and show a strong positive association between social identity and intention and social identity and behavior, and further, confirm the intention-behavior link. Moreover, the results indicate that social identity outweighs the significance of a person's attitude and relevant subjective norms in explaining intention and behavior. The results also indicate that enjoyment strongly explains both ease of use and attitude.

Although effects of violence in video games have been researched extensively, no empirical studies have examined effects of profanity, a form of verbal aggression, in video games. An experiment (N = 321) investigated effects of profanity used by protagonist and antagonist characters in a “first-person shooter” game on players' hostile expectations, accessibility of aggressive thoughts, aggressive feelings, and other responses. Profanity used by both protagonist and antagonist characters increased hostile expectations, a direct precursor to aggressive behaviors. Findings suggest that profanity in video games may affect aggressive outcomes, emphasizing the need for more research investigating effects of profanity in media.

An essay is presented which discusses the use of roleplaying games (RPGs) in order to create what is referred to as the Laboratory of Dreams, which is where feminist science fiction becomes feminist theory. The role RPGs, including the video game "Eclipse Phase," play in enabling resistance to oppression and gender norms, is discussed.

This population-based cross-sectional survey examined the association between exposure to violent online games and cyberbullying and victimization in adolescents recruited from two large cities utilizing a stratified two-stage random cluster sampling technique. Cyberbullying and victimization were assessed by the E-victimization and E-bullying scales validated in a previous study. Exposure to violent online games was measured by self-nomination of the degree of violent content in the games played. Results indicated that the majority (74.3 percent) of respondents did not experience any cyberbullying or victimization in the last 7 days before the survey, 14.4 percent reported to be victimized via cyberspace, 2.9 percent admitted that they had bullied others, and 8.4 percent reported to be both perpetrators- and- victims. One hundred and eighty seven (15.3 percent) considered games they were playing were of moderate to severe violence. Students who had been involved in cyberbullying as well as being victimized were two times as likely to have been exposed to violent online games, and nearly four times as likely for those involved in bullying others. Exposure to violent online games was associated with being a perpetrator as well as a perpetrator-and-victim of cyberbullying. Parents and clinicians need to be aware of the potential harm of these exposures. The policy implications of results were also discussed.

Virtual reality has achieved an adequate level of development for it to be considered in innovative applications such as education, training, and research in higher education. Virtual reality offers both opportunities and challenges for the educational sector. One of the challenges of virtual reality technology is the costs associated which have been unaffordable for educational institutes. However, in recent years, computer hardware and software development has made it more feasible to incorporate virtual reality technology into future teaching strategies. Despite the cost challenges, educational benefits of implementing virtual reality remain compelling. This paper explains virtual reality principle and describes the interactive educational environment developed at WMG, the University of Warwick. It also discusses the benefits of using state-ofthe- art 3D photorealistic interactive and immersive virtual environment for engineering undergraduates and postgraduate teaching, learning and training.

Little is known about how individuals come to relate to settings in virtual worlds (VWs), which are defined as digital environments in which individuals, groups, and even organizations interact in virtual (that is to say,nonphysical) spaces. This research develops a theory of virtual space and place (VSP), specifically relating this to the setting of Second Life (SL), a prominent social virtual world. We explore how three-dimensional space, as perceived by users, is able to provide them with an interactive experience with virtual objects, as well as with other VW denizens. To test our theory, we build interactive work tools in SL that are designed to reflect various degrees of motion range and to influence presence. The three information technology tools are evaluated by 150 business professionals who are either familiar or unfamiliar with SL. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.

Abstract: Immersive virtual settings are evolving to become new “spaces of life”. Humans inhabit these different virtual worlds through their avatars, and tend to gather into communities. However, the behavioral factors underlying the cognitive process of immersion in virtual worlds are still far to be understood. We here investigated these factors using the Star Wars Role-Play community of the virtual setting of Second Life as a model. More specifically, our studies focused on the immersion process in the “Hutt Space”, a portion of the Star Wars Galaxy ruled by the alien species of the Hutts, which combines the trademark aspects of Star Wars universe. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, we identified some of the factors which favor the immersion process. Our results suggest that the different behavioral factors contributing to the immersion process can be organized in three structuring dimensions: commitment, cohesion, and coherence. We also unveil a compensatory mechanism between appearance and behavioral factors in creation and maintenance of social groups in virtual worlds. Finally, we point out some of the behavioral aspects of the evolution from passive media engagement (spectators), to active media engagement (actors), and suggest a theoretical framework to investigate how human inhabit immersive virtual spaces.