Publisher's Synopsis
Work and Play in Shared Virtual Environments brings together contributions from leading social scientists and computer scientists who have conducted research on online gaming and practical applications in various types of virtual environments. Presenting a well-rounded overview of current applications, the book is focused on practical and empirical findings that are relevant to future research, development, and exploitation of this technology. This book focuses specifically on the 2 main areas of application:Work or other practical settings e.g. training, distributed meetings, building models together, etc. and Online gaming, also a field of study with many implications beyond leisure, including trust, community building, and the relation between online and offline behaviours. Offering a comprehensive outlook on these emerging areas of applications of shared virtual environments, these findings will be useful to students in Media Studies and Digital Arts and to practitioners who are developing systems and applications.
