Virtual Worlds, Collaboration, and Workplace Productivity
Workshop URL: http://hcid.informatics.indiana.edu/cscw08/index.html
Call for Participation
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Held in conjunction with CSCW 2008
Workshop Overview
Following the recent and explosive success of virtual worlds such as World of Warcraft and Second Life, and the rising wave of research about virtual worlds, major efforts are underway in both the public and private sectors to develop collaborative systems built on them. As virtual worlds continue their transition from “mere entertainment” to next generation collaborative technology, the time is ripe for interaction designers and CSCW researchers to take stock, both of the virtual worlds and their users themselves, as well as on the growing body of virtual world research and the challenges and opportunities it faces. This workshop brings together an interdisciplinary group of virtual world researchers and interaction designers from industry and academia as well as decision makers from businesses who are evaluating the use of virtual worlds; we will discuss the state of the art of the virtual world research agenda as these worlds continue their transition to mainstream workplace technology.
Participants are to explore questions such as the following:
- What are the values of virtual worlds in business settings? How do we increase those values?
- How do games and virtual environments change workplace ecology, for better and for worse?
- How might ad hoc and persistent grouping practices in virtual worlds model productive workplace collaboration?
- How can game technologies and virtual worlds support and facilitate workplace interactions?
- How might game technologies and virtual worlds support collaborations that are distributed across continents, teams, and disciplinary approaches?
- Are existing theories of small- and large-group collaboration adequate for use in designing game technologies for workplace use, or do they need to be updated?
- Are existing qualitative and quantitative methods used in researching collaboration sufficient for the study of virtual worlds, or do they need to be updated?
- What relationships exist between measures of video game effectiveness (e.g., engagement, immersion, fun) and workplace software effectiveness (e.g., usability, performance, user satisfaction)?
The workshop will be a full day event and will be open to a maximum of 15-20 participants. Participants will be selected based on position papers to be no more than 4 pages using the ACM template that address workshop goals, reviewed by workshop organizers. In addition, we also encourage video submissions (provided via a URL) that describe a working system that can be demonstrated.
Workshop Goals
The workshop has the following goals:
- Improve our understanding of how virtual worlds support collaboration from small groups to a truly massive scale
- Construct an inventory of research methodologies that are productive in the study of virtual worlds, and particularly those geared toward the design of virtual worlds for workplace collaboration and service
- Critique the false dichotomies between work and play, which limit our capacity to benefit from their profound overlaps
- Articulate the value of virtual worlds for fostering collaboration in business settings
- Lay out an agenda for research and design that reflects the values and goals expressed in the workshop
Important Dates
- September 19, 2008: Submissions of position papers
- October 3, 2008: Notification of acceptance
- TBA: End of early registration
- November 9, 2008: Workshop
Publication
Accepted position papers will be published on the workshop website. Depending on the outcomes of the workshop and the interests of the workshop attendees, the organizers may also coordinate further publications.
Workshop Contact and Electronic Submissions
Shaowen Bardzell
Indiana University School of Informatics
selu [at] indiana.edu