Facilitating immersion in virtual worlds: issues and considerations [workshop summary]

Facilitating immersion in virtual worlds: issues and considerations [workshop summary]

Second Life is an internet-based, three-dimensional world which can be accessed by individuals via a software client which runs on a personal computer. This environment provides an unparalleled opportunity for people to interact with each other and their surroundings in unfamiliar and innovative ways. Educators have been quick to spot the potential of this Multi-User Virtual Environment (MUVE) with some 300 tertiary institutions offering classes partly or entirely within Second Life. It is the ability of MUVEs to facilitate immersion that will contribute most to the engendering of these strategies. Immersion is achieved by actively engaging at least one of the senses, typically sight. The effect is augmented by various factors including richer representations of the environment and avatars, an enhanced degree of body tracking, and decrease in the lag time between body movements and subsequent changes in sensory data (Zhu, Xiang, & Hu, 2007: p. 265). The successful cultivation of immersion is characterised by the learner’s impression of actually ‘being there’ in the virtual world and is a necessary condition for presence. This refers to a decreased awareness of one’s existence in the actual physical space at the computer in a room or computer lab and an increased experience of being in the virtual world or MUVE (Witmer & Singer, 1998: p. 225). The sense of immersion can be enhanced by a number of factors in the environment, leading to a sense of flow as well as presence resulting in an enhanced involvement and commitment to learning (McKerlich & Anderson, 2007: pp. 35-37). This workshop explores those factors with a view to designing effective, immersive learning activities in Second Life.

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