t. l. taylor » dreamscape

The Social Design of Virtual Worlds: Constructing the User and Community Through Code

T.L. — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:22:29 +0000

“The Social Design of Virtual Worlds: Constructing the User and Community Through Code” in M. Consalvo et. al. (eds.), Internet Research Annual Volume 1: Selected Papers from the Association of Internet Researchers Conferences 2000-2002. New York: Peter Lang, 2004.

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Intentional Bodies: Virtual Environments and the Designers Who Shape Them

T.L. — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:11:37 +0000

“Intentional Bodies: Virtual Environments and the Designers Who Shape Them,” International Journal of Engineering Education, Vol.19, No.1, 25-34, 2003.

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Abstract

This article examines the ways virtual environment software is explicitly designed with particular visions of identity, communication, and community in mind. This social context of software is considered with a particular focus on the ways various forms of embodiment are encoded in systems. Rather than simply framing software as a primarily technical product, this article analyzes the way software engineers and designers shape architectures and systems as conduits for social values and norms. Considerations of responsibility, identity, legitimacy, and sociability emerge as central factors in design practice.

Living Digitally: Embodiment in Virtual Worlds

T.L. — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:02:53 +0000

“Living Digitally: Embodiment in Virtual Worlds” in R. Schroeder (ed.), The Social Life of Avatars: Presence and Interaction in Shared Virtual Environments. London: Springer-Verlag, 2002.

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Everyday Experiences of Avatar Environments

T.L. — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:56:36 +0000

Everyday Experiences of Avatar Environments, co-author Nina Wakeford. Commissioned by the University of Southern California’s Integrated Media Systems Center, 2002.

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Life in Virtual Worlds: Plural Existence, Multi-modalities, and Other Online Research Challenges

T.L. — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:31:13 +0000

“Life in Virtual Worlds: Plural Existence, Multi-modalities, and Other Online Research Challenges,” American Behavioral Scientist, Vol.43, No.3, 435-449, 1999.

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Abstract

Virtual environments present researchers with a range of methodological considerations, both new and old. With the advent of embodied online worlds, experiences with distributed presence, anonymity and multiple modes of engagement increasingly become the norm. Avatars and their textual counterparts lead us to critically encounter how research can be most meaningfully handled given a terrain in which users are actually embodying themselves digitally, and often in multivalent ways. This article discusses some of the theoretical issues at stake in this form of research, as well as providing several grounded practices to help methodologically negotiate virtual worlds.