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What is Virtual World

Chapter 50
Handbook of Research on Didactic Strategies and Technologies for Education: Incorporating Advancements
An online community that takes the form of a computer-based simulated environment through which users can interact with one another and use and create objects. The term has become largely synonymous with interactive 3D virtual environments, where the users take the form of avatars visible to others.
Published in Chapter:
The Prospects for Teaching in Virtual Worlds
Gianni Panconesi (Esplica, Italy)
Copyright: © 2013 |Pages: 10
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-2122-0.ch050
Abstract
The aims of this project were to develop the participants’ skills and knowledge in educational design of Virtual World teaching, in management and construction of virtual objects and learning environments with examples of learning activities in Virtual worlds; to develop their capacity and confidence using Internet and its available resources, their knowledge of 3D environment and its usage for creating new learning scenarios, their knowledge of learning methods, good practices and lesson planning adopted in the Virtual worlds; to identify and assess the effectiveness of the results of the various activities carried out inworld to plan strategies, activities and resources for learning in the various subjects; to integrate the Virtual worlds as an innovative tool in daily teaching. During the course, teachers were also involved in developing a Project Work, experimenting subsequently with the students and evaluating the didactic use in the classroom.
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Chapter 9
The Layered Virtual Reality Commerce System (LaVRCS): Proposing an Immersive Web X.0 Framework for E-Commerce
A complete representation of a physical realm. Most likely this world is populated by avatars representing players, as well as virtual representations of virtual world characters (bots). Virtual worlds can mimic environments we are familiar with, or populate worlds with completely different inhabitants and rules of nature (e.g. people can fly).
Published in Chapter: The Layered Virtual Reality Commerce System (LaVRCS): Proposing an Immersive Web X.0 Framework for E-Commerce; From: Handbook of Research on Web 2.0, 3.0, and X.0: Technologies, Business, and Social Applications
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Chapter 24
MMORPGS and Foreign Language Education
A computer-simulated world where people inhabit as avatars. It could be two dimensional or three dimensional, and people can interact with each other via text or real-time voice communication via VOIP.
Published in Chapter: MMORPGS and Foreign Language Education; From: Handbook of Research on Effective Electronic Gaming in Education
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Chapter 24
The Benefits for Faculty Teaching in Online and F2F Environments
Computer-based simulated environment in which users interact via avatars.
Published in Chapter: The Benefits for Faculty Teaching in Online and F2F Environments; From: Encyclopedia of Distance Learning, Second Edition
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Chapter 6
Game-Based Virtual-World Environments to Engage Lifelong Learners in Open Courseware for Open Learning
Provides 3-D environments for users to explore new virtual surroundings, interact with peer users without structured activities, and create virtual artifacts. The reward systems in virtual worlds are not always required. Users can wonder around and move between virtual worlds freely or purposefully. Interactions in virtual worlds, as opposed to those in GBL, are not meant for competitions.
Published in Chapter: Game-Based Virtual-World Environments to Engage Lifelong Learners in Open Courseware for Open Learning; From: Handbook of Research on Technologies for Improving the 21st Century Workforce: Tools for Lifelong Learning
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Chapter 8
From Traditional to Meta Continuing Education
Virtual worlds, which allow individuals to engage in virtual experiences, are assigned different names; synthetic world, digital world, and simulated world.
Published in Chapter: From Traditional to Meta Continuing Education; From: Embracing Technological Advancements for Lifelong Learning
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Chapter 73
Exploring Video Games from an Evolutionary Psychological Perspective
An online/digital environment such as Second Life wherein individuals simultaneously interact, typically through the use of self-chosen avatars.
Published in Chapter: Exploring Video Games from an Evolutionary Psychological Perspective; From: Encyclopedia of E-Business Development and Management in the Global Economy
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Chapter 163
Post-Modern Tribes as a Marketing Tool
A computer-simulated environment, usually inhabited by avatars. The virtual world representation may assume very different forms (two or three-dimensional graphic landscape, text-based description, etc.). The majority of virtual worlds allows multiple users.
Published in Chapter: Post-Modern Tribes as a Marketing Tool; From: Encyclopedia of Networked and Virtual Organizations
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Chapter 4
Digital Citizens as Writers: New Literacies and New Responsibilities
A persistent digital environment hosted online for participants to build, create, or interact across a computer network or grid.
Published in Chapter: Digital Citizens as Writers: New Literacies and New Responsibilities; From: Handbook of Research on Writing and Composing in the Age of MOOCs
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Chapter 11
Multi-User Virtual Learning Environments in Education
A computer-based simulated online community intended for users to inhabit and interact via avatars, often in game or simulation format which is similar to activities that occur in the real world.
Published in Chapter: Multi-User Virtual Learning Environments in Education; From: Handbook of Research on Digital Information Technologies: Innovations, Methods, and Ethical Issues
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Chapter 33
Augmenting Actual Life Through MUVEs
a computer-simulated environment, usually inhabited by avatars. The virtual world representation may assume very different forms (two or three-dimensional graphic landscape, text-based description, etc.). The majority of virtual worlds allow multiple users.
Published in Chapter: Augmenting Actual Life Through MUVEs; From: Handbook of Research on Socio-Technical Design and Social Networking Systems
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Chapter 15
Digital Technologies: Way Forward for Nigerian Languages Literacy
A web-based multi-user, multimodal simulation environment that gives a user a feeling of presence.
Published in Chapter: Digital Technologies: Way Forward for Nigerian Languages Literacy; From: Handbook of Research on Examining Cultural Policies Through Digital Communication
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Chapter 5
Facilitation Strategies to Moderate Synchronous Virtual Discussion Groups in Teacher Training
Shared and simulated online spaces inhabited and designed by their users who are represented as avatars and who engage in communication and interaction with other avatars.
Published in Chapter: Facilitation Strategies to Moderate Synchronous Virtual Discussion Groups in Teacher Training; From: Current and Prospective Applications of Virtual Reality in Higher Education
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Chapter 42
Engagement in the Second Life Virtual World with Students
Computer-mediated, simulated, three-dimensional environment that presents the user(s) with a rich, visual experience and real-time communication with other users.
Published in Chapter: Engagement in the Second Life Virtual World with Students; From: Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction
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Chapter 10
Designing Pervasive Virtual Worlds
In its traditional meaning, informed by the computer sciences, it can also be referred to as ‘artificial worlds’ or ‘virtual environments’. From a different perspective, that is, from a philosophical one, a virtual world is approached as a state of being. Following the work by Pierre Lévy, Gilles Deleuze, Henri Bergson, there are four states of being: the real, the possible, the actual and the virtual. The virtual and the possible are latent, while the real and the actual are manifest. The main difference between the virtual and the possible is that the virtual questions a creative solution to a problem: it tries to problematize it again, while the possible only executes and repeats already existing solutions.
Published in Chapter: Designing Pervasive Virtual Worlds; From: Handbook of Research on Digital Media and Creative Technologies
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Chapter 6
Perceptions of Presence and Community in Immersive Online Learning Environments
A technology-based environment in which participants typically interact as avatars, and can have synchronous interactions with other participants and resources in the environment.
Published in Chapter: Perceptions of Presence and Community in Immersive Online Learning Environments; From: Emerging Technologies in Virtual Learning Environments
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Chapter 29
Using Virtual Worlds to Assist Distributed Teams
A Virtual World is a persistent virtual environment in which all users login from their own computers to exist in a world in which there are no specific goals or rules to the world.
Published in Chapter: Using Virtual Worlds to Assist Distributed Teams; From: Handbook of Research on Virtual Workplaces and the New Nature of Business Practices
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Chapter 685
Creating Active Learning Spaces in Virtual Worlds
Representation in an artificial system or a part of reality.
Published in Chapter: Creating Active Learning Spaces in Virtual Worlds; From: Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, Fourth Edition
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Chapter 30
Knowledge Transfer and Marketing in Second Life
“A scene or an experience with which a participant can interact by using computer-controlled input-output devices. Most virtual worlds attempt resemble physical reality …” ( Heim, 1993 , p. 160).
Published in Chapter: Knowledge Transfer and Marketing in Second Life; From: Handbook of Research on Virtual Workplaces and the New Nature of Business Practices
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Chapter 21
Theatre in Second Life® Holds the VR Mirror up to Nature
A computer-based simulated environment in which users interact as avatars.
Published in Chapter: Theatre in Second Life® Holds the VR Mirror up to Nature; From: Handbook of Research on Computational Arts and Creative Informatics
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Chapter 31
Advancing Learning Through Virtual Worlds
a computer-based, simulated environment where individuals assume a virtual identity called an avatar
Published in Chapter: Advancing Learning Through Virtual Worlds; From: Handbook of Research on Web 2.0, 3.0, and X.0: Technologies, Business, and Social Applications
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Chapter 42
E-HRM as a Reality in Virtual World
An environment where people can share knowledge, do business, and study together by using new technological devices such as PCs, laptops, mobile phones, PDAs, PDA phones and other devices by accessing to common networks such as Internet
Published in Chapter: E-HRM as a Reality in Virtual World; From: Encyclopedia of Human Resources Information Systems: Challenges in e-HRM
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Chapter 27
Virtual Worlds: Places Where You Can Find Your True Talents
3D digital environment where it is possible to build creations, see other people's work, script and interact with other people taking the form of an avatar.
Published in Chapter: Virtual Worlds: Places Where You Can Find Your True Talents; From: Handbook of Research on Collaborative Teaching Practice in Virtual Learning Environments
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Chapter 116
Virtual Commerce
An interactive, simulated, persistent, computer-generated environment accessed by multiple users through an online interface. A subset of virtual reality.
Published in Chapter: Virtual Commerce; From: Encyclopedia of E-Business Development and Management in the Global Economy
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Chapter 7
Human Resources in the Digital Era: Hybrid Work Environment as a “New Normal”
A complex concept using technology-supported tools for communication and content creation in an online environment that respects social networks.
Published in Chapter: Human Resources in the Digital Era: Hybrid Work Environment as a “New Normal”; From: Handbook of Research on Smart Management for Digital Transformation
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Chapter 9
Experience Design's Impact on Graphic Design
A virtual world is either a computer-rendered simulation of the real world or a completely original setting. Avatars enable for user engagement in virtual worlds that are designed to be inhabited (personified representations of the user within the digital environment).
Published in Chapter: Experience Design's Impact on Graphic Design; From: Handbook of Research on Perspectives on Society and Technology Addiction
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Chapter 41
Marketing for Children Using Social Interaction Technologies
Computer-simulated environment in which individuals interact with others through avatars.
Published in Chapter: Marketing for Children Using Social Interaction Technologies; From: Handbook of Research on Social Interaction Technologies and Collaboration Software: Concepts and Trends
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Chapter 16
Promoting Awareness of Human Trafficking Through Innovative Educational Technology Using the Holocaust as Historical Reference
Virtual world, or virtual space, is an immersive environment created as a computer simulation. These worlds may be populated by multiple users who create avatars, explore the world, participate in activities, and interact with others synchronously.
Published in Chapter: Promoting Awareness of Human Trafficking Through Innovative Educational Technology Using the Holocaust as Historical Reference; From: Paths to the Prevention and Detection of Human Trafficking
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Chapter 12
Virtual Worlds and Online Videogames for Children and Young People: Promises and Challenges
An internet based MUVE that has no prescribed structuring of activity (see White & LeCornu, 2010).
Published in Chapter: Virtual Worlds and Online Videogames for Children and Young People: Promises and Challenges; From: Handbook of Research on the Societal Impact of Digital Media
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Chapter 30
The Virtual Social Continuum Expressed: Interaction and Community Formation in MMORPGs
A complete online representation of a physical realm where players’ avatars populate virtual worlds, as well as virtual world characters. Virtual worlds can mimic environments we are familiar with, or populate worlds with completely different inhabitants and rules of nature (e.g., people can fly). Most MMORPGs are complete virtual worlds.
Published in Chapter: The Virtual Social Continuum Expressed: Interaction and Community Formation in MMORPGs; From: Handbook of Research on Social Interaction Technologies and Collaboration Software: Concepts and Trends
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Chapter 4
Virtual Reality in Medical Education
A virtual world is a computer-based simulated environment.
Published in Chapter: Virtual Reality in Medical Education; From: Mobile Devices and Smart Gadgets in Medical Sciences
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Chapter 10
Cognitive Apprenticeship for Teaching Computer Science and Leadership in Virtual Worlds
A simulated space located on the web or on a local grid that provides a view of the simulator from the server’s perspective. The virtual world is comprised of parcels of land, regions, and 3D content that residents create within them.
Published in Chapter: Cognitive Apprenticeship for Teaching Computer Science and Leadership in Virtual Worlds; From: Recent Advances in Applying Identity and Society Awareness to Virtual Learning
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Chapter 4
Educational Contents and Creativity in Virtual Environments: ST.ART Project
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Chapter 40
Social Psychology and Massively Multiplayer Online Learning Games
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Chapter 8
Get in the GROOVE: Using a Virtual World to Promote Health
A digital environment that allows users to engage with their virtual surroundings, various activities, and interact with other users.
Published in Chapter: Get in the GROOVE: Using a Virtual World to Promote Health; From: Recent Advances in Applying Identity and Society Awareness to Virtual Learning
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Chapter 15
Model for Effective Collaborative Learning in Virtual Worlds with Intelligent Agents
Computer-simulated environments inhabit by residents in which they interact with others, either themselves or graphic representations called avatar.
Published in Chapter: Model for Effective Collaborative Learning in Virtual Worlds with Intelligent Agents; From: Handbook of Research on Interactive Information Quality in Expanding Social Network Communications
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Chapter 258
Towards Open-Source Virtual Worlds in Interdisciplinary Studies
Representation in an artificial system (e.g., a computer) of a part of reality.
Published in Chapter: Towards Open-Source Virtual Worlds in Interdisciplinary Studies; From: Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, Third Edition
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Chapter 17
Ancestor Veneration Avatars
A complex computerized environment that resembles a real world, often a persistent environment where many people can interact and where their actions have lasting consequences.
Published in Chapter: Ancestor Veneration Avatars; From: Handbook of Research on Technoself: Identity in a Technological Society
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Chapter 12
Does Second Life Mark the Beginning of a New Era of Online Shopping?: Exploring the Avatar-Based Shopping Experience in Virtual Worlds
A virtual world is a computer-mediated online environment combining either 2D or 3D graphics with the text-based or voice message-based communication system. This environment allows multiple avatars to interact with each other at the same time.
Published in Chapter: Does Second Life Mark the Beginning of a New Era of Online Shopping?: Exploring the Avatar-Based Shopping Experience in Virtual Worlds; From: Handbook of Research on Digital Media and Advertising: User Generated Content Consumption
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Chapter 20
Affordances in Virtual World Learning Communities
A persistent, computer-simulated environment populated by many users.
Published in Chapter: Affordances in Virtual World Learning Communities; From: Handbook of Research on Teaching With Virtual Environments and AI
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Chapter 8
Engaging Students in a Computer Diversity Course Through Virtual Worlds
A virtual world often refers to an internet-based 3D or 2 ½ D environment where users can interact within the world or with other users through an avatar. Often virtual worlds are persistent environments where a large number of users can participate.
Published in Chapter: Engaging Students in a Computer Diversity Course Through Virtual Worlds; From: Current and Prospective Applications of Virtual Reality in Higher Education
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Chapter 8
Information Literacy in Virtual Environments: Changing Needs of P-12 Learners
A persistent digital environment hosted online for participants to build, create, or interact across a computer network or grid.
Published in Chapter: Information Literacy in Virtual Environments: Changing Needs of P-12 Learners; From: Handbook of Research on Gaming Trends in P-12 Education
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Chapter 7
Learning Environments: Physical Classrooms or Virtual Worlds
A computer-generated simulation in which users are embodied as avatars with a sense of presence in a persistent, often user-created environment.
Published in Chapter: Learning Environments: Physical Classrooms or Virtual Worlds; From: Metamodernism and Changing Literacy: Emerging Research and Opportunities
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Chapter 18
Use of Virtual Worlds for Development of Social Interaction Skills of Children With Special Needs
A virtual world is a computer-simulated environment. A virtual world simulates the physical world or any imaginary scenarios and may include many users who can create a virtual identity (or a personal avatar) to represent themselves in the world and have real-time interactions with each other.
Published in Chapter: Use of Virtual Worlds for Development of Social Interaction Skills of Children With Special Needs; From: Handbook of Research on Teaching With Virtual Environments and AI
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Chapter 19
Sustainable Engagement in Open and Distance Learning With Play and Games in Virtual Reality: Playful and Gameful Distance Education in VR
A persistent, computer-generated 3D multi-user environment where users can populate and communicate as avatars.
Published in Chapter: Sustainable Engagement in Open and Distance Learning With Play and Games in Virtual Reality: Playful and Gameful Distance Education in VR; From: Handbook of Research on Gamification Dynamics and User Experience Design
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Chapter 1
Web X.0: A Road Map
A virtual world is a Web-based 3D interactive environment much richer than the traditional Web and looks like a “place” -- a real place or a fanciful one. Most are designed to be created or populated by their users. Users are represented by their avatars, and avatars can navigate and move around the world and communicate with other avatars by text or by voice. A virtual world is also a platform for socializing and community-building. Some virtual worlds, like the real world, have their own functional economy -- a money market for in-world virtual goods and services. Thus, a virtual world, as its name implies, is a world of its own in cyberspace. Virtual worlds have emerged as an online 3D space for a wide range of activities, including gaming, social networking, education and training, marketing, e-business, and so on.
Published in Chapter: Web X.0: A Road Map; From: Handbook of Research on Web 2.0, 3.0, and X.0: Technologies, Business, and Social Applications
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Chapter 58
Learner-Centered Technology Integration
An online environment in which users act and interact with others as avatars.
Published in Chapter: Learner-Centered Technology Integration; From: Encyclopedia of E-Leadership, Counseling and Training
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Chapter 7
Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games as English as a Foreign Language Learning Environments
A computer-simulated world where people inhabit as avatars. It could be two dimensional or three dimensional, and people can interact with each other via text or real-time voice communication.
Published in Chapter: Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games as English as a Foreign Language Learning Environments; From: English Language Teaching in a Post-Method Paradigm
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Chapter 3
Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality in Education: A Brief Overview
It is a computer-based simulated environment where the users can interact via alter ego in the computer representation in real time with different devices, for example head mounted displays, and data gloves.
Published in Chapter: Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality in Education: A Brief Overview; From: Current and Prospective Applications of Virtual Reality in Higher Education
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Chapter 220
ICT Eases Inclusion in Education
Computer based simulation of real world where users can create a personal avatar which explore the virtual world, participate in its activities and communicate with other avatars.
Published in Chapter: ICT Eases Inclusion in Education; From: Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, Fourth Edition
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Chapter 144
Impacts of Social Media on Today's Businesses
A computer-based simulated environment intended for its users to inhibit and interact via avatars.
Published in Chapter: Impacts of Social Media on Today's Businesses; From: Encyclopedia of E-Commerce Development, Implementation, and Management
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Chapter 469
Conceptual Foundations for Interactive Programming Activities with the Conjunction of Scratch4OS and Open Sim
Three dimensional (3D) artificial immersive spaces or places that simulate real-world spatial awareness in a virtually-rich persistent workflow.
Published in Chapter: Conceptual Foundations for Interactive Programming Activities with the Conjunction of Scratch4OS and Open Sim; From: Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, Third Edition
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Chapter 8
Building Blocks, Opportunities, and Challenges of Metaverse in Web 3.0
A virtual world is a computer-based simulated environment that allows users to interact with each other and digital objects in a virtual space.
Published in Chapter: Building Blocks, Opportunities, and Challenges of Metaverse in Web 3.0; From: Decentralizing the Online Experience With Web3 Technologies
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