Back in London for the second year; VWF08 is three days of congress, expo and optional workshops, brought by the regular Virtual Worlds Salon hosts. VWF08 is the place to make serious business connections, be inspired by three streams of content, participated in the extended expo and demo theatre. For more information please visit: http://virtualworldsforum.com/

Journal of Database Management (JDM)

Special Issue on Virtual Worlds and 3-D Web

Deadline: 19 January 2009

Special Issue Editors

• Blake Ives, University of Houston
• Brian Mennecke, Iowa State University
• Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah, University of Nebraska at Lincoln
• Shu Schiller, Wright State University
• Keng Siau, University of Nebraska at Lincoln

Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVE), Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs), and other 3-D virtual environments have begun to attract the attention of scholars, practitioners, and the public at large.  Although many of these environments originated as games or social networks, numerous scholars have recognized that virtual worlds and 3-D web have the potential to revolutionize how individuals work, play, and use the web, how groups and teams interact, collaborate, socialize, and conduct their work, how businesses market and sell products, goods, and services, and how societal and governmental boundaries and institutions are stretched and redefined.  The popularity of games such as World of Warcraft, social networks such as Second Life, and children’s games such as Webkinz has demonstrated that these environments have appeal, and experience thus far has shown that these environments present both opportunities and challenges for individuals, businesses, governments, and societies.

This special issue has the goal of fostering research to examine this important phenomenon by offering scholars the opportunity to publish and disseminate empirical, theoretical, or conceptual papers addressing the importance and impact of virtual worlds and 3-D web. We are open to the use of a variety of research methodologies to understand phenomena
relating to Virtual Worlds and the 3-D web.

Topics relevant to this special issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Studies and models of individual perceptions? acceptance, and use of virtual worlds and the 3-D web
• Studies and models of group, team, and social interaction in virtual environments
• Studies and models of organizational applications for virtual worlds and the 3-D web
• Studies and models of inter-organizational uses of virtual worlds
• The application of business models, strategic frameworks, and/or competitive models to understand economic and business development in virtual worlds
• Studies and models examining the adoption, development, and evolution of virtual worlds and the 3-D web
• Examinations of the educational, business, legal, economic, societal, and jurisdictional impact of virtual worlds

Important Dates:

• Submission Deadline: 19 January 2009
• Initial screening by Guest Editors: 31 January 2009
• First round of review: 6 April 2009
• Second round of review: 6 July 2009
• Final Decision: 10 August 2009

Submission Procedure:
All manuscripts will be subject to high standards of peer review at JDM. Manuscripts should follow the JDM guidelines for submission. Details regarding the submission format are available at http://www.igi-pub.com/jdm

Please email your submission as an attachment to Dr. Brian Mennecke at mennecke@iastate.edu

Full-time Research Associate position based at the Open University in Milton Keynes, UK

Closing date for applications: 21/08/2008
 
The Faculty of Mathematics, Computing and Technology at the Open University, UK is seeking a post-graduate researcher to work on a JISC-funded e-learning research project: “Design of Learning Spaces in 3-D Virtual Environments”; Salary range: £25,888 – £30,912; 9 months contract available from 1st October 2008. (more…)

Special Issue: Culture of Virtual Worlds

Deadline: September 30, 2008 | Publication Date: November 20, 2008

Guest Editors: Mark Bell, Indiana University and Mia Consalvo, Ohio University

Early users of virtual worlds trumpeted their potential to bring together like-minded groups to create community, to encourage social activism, and to explore facets of identity. Over the past 20 years, we have seen virtual worlds develop from text-based to graphical, and from 2D to 3D interactive spaces. Some spaces have focused primarily on game-related activities, from MUD through Ultima Online and World of Warcraft, while others have concentrated on social aspects of being, allowing users to define their own goals, and often create many parts of the spaces they inhabit–from LambdaMoo to The Palace and Second Life. Virtual worlds have also become big business at the same time as some worlds remain resolutely tied to different goals. Yet what of the cultures that have grown up in, around, and through virtual worlds in this same time period? What do we know about that culture, or more accurately, those cultures and how to define them? (more…)

FINDING THE REAL-WORLD VALUE IN VIRTUAL WORLDS: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Cutter IT Journal
San Murugesan, Guest Editor

Abstract Due: 20 June 2008
Articles Due: 31 July 2008

Virtual worlds are a hot topic now, thanks to the increased computing and graphic capabilities of personal computers, high-speed Internet access, and intense corporate interest in exploring and exploiting these worlds. These 3D, interactive Web environments are said to deliver an immersive experience that is much richer than what we currently experience with the traditional Web. So is the Web poised for its next major evolution? According to the Association of Virtual Worlds, the answer is yes: “Virtual worlds represent a major information and technological revolution in how we work, play, and live.”

(more…)

Call for Papers/Participation to join a workshop on learning and research in Second Life(R) on October 16, 2008 in Copenhagen at Internet Research 9.0 (http://conferences.aoir.org/). Deadline June 15th (Individual extensions may be given).

Second Life is a 3d virtual environment created by Linden Lab (R) which has captured the attention of researchers and teachers from around the world from a variety of disciplines. This workshop aims to improve the understanding of Second Life as a Learning and Research environment. It will bring 35 researchers together to collaborate, discuss and workshop diverse topics related to research and learning in Second Life. We will pursue a full-day schedule in which participants will discuss their work and interests on four different topics: learning in Second Life, integrated learning, the contributions of research to the community and ethical research methods

The Swedish Tax Agency posted a statement/ruling on their website, titled “Virtual worlds — value-added tax” (”Virtuella varldar — mervardesskatt”). In it, the agency states that in-game transactions may incur liability for both value-added tax as well as income tax under Swedish law. Read the rest of this article at Virtual-World.org.

From examining the muscular movements of frogs, to understanding the results of chemical reactions, Second Life is a world of scientific inquiry.

Students at KTH, the Royal Institute of Technology,are now able to take an architecture course called, “Unreal central perspective.” To quote the following website, “The 3D tools used by Second Life developers are similar to those used by architects, and Lindstrand wanted to explore the relationship between computer gaming and architecture, as well as between design tools and production.” Furthermore, the article continues that in Second Life, the lack of physical constraints of the material world don’t exist. This allows students to stretch their thinking.

This is a reminder that the deadline for the virtual worlds special issue is 31st of May. If you are interested in submitting a paper please check out the call for papers.