October 29, 2008
Measuring the 'Reality' of Virtual Worlds
Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new way of measuring how "real" online virtual worlds are - an important advance for the emerging technology that can be used to foster development of new training and collaboration applications by companies around the world.
The use of virtual worlds to train employees and foster collaboration in areas such as research and development, have generated a great deal of interest. Understanding the effectiveness of these immersive environments and measuring the productivity of workers interacting in them is closely linked to how comfortable they feel functioning in this virtual realm.
According to the researchers, "if users feel they are 'present' in the virtual world, they will collaborate better with other members of their team – and the more effective the virtual world will be as a setting for research and development or other collaborative enterprises." Also if there is an increased sense of presence in the virtual world, this will lead to better comprehension and retention of information if the technology is being used for training purposes, and trainees are happier with the process."
The measurement scale developed by the researchers for the virtual world is called Perceived Virtual Presence (PVP), and factors in how users interact with the virtual environment, with their work in that environment, and with other users. The researchers believe that such a scale can be used to determine which PVP levels are most conducive to training, collaboration or other applications." The PVP scale can also be used to design a virtual environment that has the degree of reality that will best cater to a company's specific needs.
Source:
NC State University Press Release
Related articles:
Continuous Presence in Collaborative Virtual Environments (pdf)
Measuring Presence in Virtual Environments: A Presence Questionnaire
A Review of Presence and Performance in Virtual Environments
Posted by rsk at October 29, 2008 09:30 AM