DrYesha

[JVWR] CFP issue on Managerial and Commercial Applications of Virtual Worlds

2012-01-16T13:24:00.000-05:00

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Relaxing after a successful business deal

	The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (http://jvwresearch.org/) is happy to announce the call for this "Managerial and Commercial Applications" issue edited by Shu Schiller, Wright State University, USA Brian Mennecke, Iowa State University, USA Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA You can access this call directly through our website. The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (http://www.jvwresearch.org/) is an online, open access academic journal that engages a wide spectrum of scholarship and welcomes contributions from the many disciplines and approaches that intersect with virtual worlds research. Virtual worlds ignite a continuously evolving area of study that spans multiple disciplines and the JVWR editorial team looks forward to engaging a wide range of creative and scholarly research. Motivation and Scope The intriguing potential of virtual worlds has attracted a significant amount of scholarly work in the business research domain. As much as we recognize the invaluable contribution made by scholars in this area, we also see the need for more research that can offer visionary perspectives to shape the future design and use of virtual worlds. Through the business lens, virtual worlds are often perceived to be promising yet risky and exciting yet formidable for the use and management of individual and collaborative work. Scholars and practitioners are confronted with an apparent contradiction: on the one hand, the business case for virtual worlds appears to offer great promise; while on the other hand, the observed returns and demonstrable successes are often absent or negligible. This special issue on “managerial and commercial applications” of virtual worlds aims to highlight research that makes a significant and novel contribution in theory and practice about virtual worlds in the business domain. We are seeking papers that showcase new directions for research by examining technical, behavioral, economic, and/or social perspectives of virtual worlds in organizational and business environments. In particular, we are interested in papers that enable us to better understand managerial and organizational issues associated with virtual worlds and how these environments should be designed, used, and managed for commercial and managerial purposes to enhance business value. We especially welcome innovative and creative research that enables our audience to see the new possibilities offered by the unique affordances of virtual environments. Authors are invited to submit original scholarly manuscripts that will make significant contributions to the advancement of our understanding of managerial and commercial applications as it applies to virtual worlds. We encouragediverse methodological approaches and welcome both qualitative and quantitative research studies, as well as theoretical, conceptual, and empirical studies. Possible topics include, but are not limited to: Novel and innovative design and development of managerial and commercial applications of virtual worlds The use, management, and evaluation of virtual worlds in organizational settings Individual and group behaviors in virtual worlds that are used for business purposes Process and governance of individual and collaborative group behaviors and mechanisms in virtual worlds The role of psychological and social attitudes and characteristics on behaviors, processes and outcomes in virtual worlds Ethics, privacy, security, and trust issues related to virtual worlds in the business domain Intra- and inter-organizational communication and collaboration and cultural issues in virtual worlds Business and economic models of virtual worlds Power and political issues related to individual, group, organizational, and societal behaviors in virtual worlds Commercial applications and commercialization of virtual worlds technologies and environments Submission Instructions Authors are invited to submit original scholarly papers of up to 6000 words including footnotes, references, and appendices. Interested authors should submit a two-page extended abstract by the deadline indicated below. All submissions (abstracts and papers) should be made via the JVWR publishing system (see www.jvwreserach.org > About JVWR > For Authors). All submissions will be blind reviewed. Accepted papers will be published online in the Volume 5, Number 3 (2012) of the Journal. Deadlines and Timeline Authors submit abstract: May 15, 2012 Editors return comments on abstracts: May 30, 2012 Authors submit full paper: July 1, 2012 Editors return review report and initial decision:September 1, 2012 Authors submit revised paper: October 1, 2012 Editors return final comments and decision:November 1, 2012 Authors submit final version: November 30, 2012 Publication: December 31, 2012 Connecting with AIS AMCIS 2012 Interested authors are welcome but not required to submit papers to the 'Virtual Communities and Virtual Worlds' Track at AMCIS 2012 (link below). This is a good opportunity to receive feedback and comments to enhance your paper. http://amcis2012.aisnet.org/index.php/program/tracks-and-minitracks/68 Please contact Shu Schiller shu.schiller AT wright DOT edu Brian Mennecke mennecke AT iastate DOT edu Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah fnah AT unlnotes DOT unl DOT edu

Video: Tesco: Homeplus Subway Virtual Store

2012-01-14T13:55:00.001-05:00

Connecting the real and the virtual via on-line shopping.

[JVWR] Virtual Worlds MPEG-V and Other Standards: New Issue of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

2011-12-29T16:10:00.001-05:00

We are happy to announce the publication of:
Volume 4, Number 3: MPEG-V and Other Standards

The editorial team for this issue includes:

Jean H.A. Gelissen, Philips Research, Netherlands
Marius Preda, Insitut TELECOM, France
Samuel Cruz-Lara, LORIA (UMR 7503) / University of Lorraine, France
Yesha Sivan, Metaverse Labs and the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, Israel

This issue focuses on standards for virtual worlds, with special relation to MPEG-V, the ISO standard for connecting within virtual worlds as well as to real worlds.

Managing Editor’s Corner: Celebrating Four Years and Planning for the Next
Yesha Y. Sivan
Issue Editors' Corner: The Current and Future Angles of Standards
Jean H.A. Gelissen, Marius Preda, Samuel Cruz-Lara, Yesha Y. Sivan
The Metaverse1 Case: Historical Review of Making One Virtual Worlds Standard (MPEG-V)
Jean H.A. Gelissen, Yesha Y. Sivan
Standards in Virtual Worlds Virtual Travel Use Case Metaverse1 Project
José Manuel Cabello, José María Franco, Antonio Collado, Jordi Janer, Samuel Cruz-Lara, David Oyarzun, Albert Armisen, Roland Geraerts
Teleportation of Objects between Virtual Worlds: Use Case: Exer-gaming
Marco Otte, Loren Roosendaal, Johan F. Hoorn
Assistive Technology Interoperability between Virtual and Real Worlds
Alice Krueger, Margaret Grace Stineman
Associating Automatic Natural Language Processing to Serious Games and Virtual Worlds
Treveur Bretaudière, Samuel Cruz-Lara, Lina María Rojas Barahona
Improving Reusability of Assets for Virtual Worlds while Preserving 3D Formats Features
Rozenn Bouville Berthelot, Thierry Duval, Jérôme Royan, Bruno Arnaldi
Virtual Hybrid Communications – A Telecom Infrastructure for the Metaverse
Vincent Verdot, Adel Saidi
Modeling the Metaverse: A Theoretical Model of Effective Team Collaboration in 3D Virtual Environments
Sarah van der Land, Alexander P. Schouten, Bart van den Hooff, Frans Feldberg

Let me conclude with few editorial notes.

We were joined by Tzafnat Shpak as the Coordinating Editor (she is on the Reply line)
We have started to fine tune our reviewers list.
We have an initial journal plan for the next two years with firm editors to 50% of the issues.
We have started to review our publishing policy for 2012.
Join us in our Facebook page: look for Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

Wishing you all Happy Holidays,

Tzafnat Shpak

Coordinating Editor
Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

Dr.Yesha Y. Sivan

Managing Editor

Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

13-Dec-2011: The University of Hong Kong: Identity 3D3C: Confronting the Security and Privacy, Challenges in Virtual Worlds

2011-12-02T05:51:00.001-05:00

                          ** Seminar **

     Department of Computer Science
       The University of Hong Kong
___________________________________________________________________

Title:       Identity 3D3C: Confronting the Security and Privacy
             Challenges in Virtual Worlds

Speaker:     Dr Yesha Sivan
             Head of Information Systems Program
             School of Management and Economy
             Tel-Aviv-Yaffo Academic College

Date & Time: December 13, 2011, Tuesday, 2:00pm

Venue:       Room 313, Chow Yei Ching Building,
             The University of Hong Kong


Abstract:

Virtual worlds are an emerging medium that is constantly creeping into 
the enterprise. Following the huge success of such gaming worlds as 
World of Warcraft, The Sims, and others, terms like 3D, avatars, chat, 
and real money are rising from the marketing department, operations, and 
product development. The drive to save travel costs and the need to gain 
new customers and retain current ones push this trend even further.  To 
distance virtual worlds from the gaming worlds, coined the term “3D3C,” 
to indicate that a real virtual world is an aggregate of four factors 
(3D, Community, Creation, and Commerce).
Initial enterprise uses of virtual worlds include collab¬oration 
(internally and externally), product design and feedback, marketing of 
products, participation in virtual shows and exhibitions, and — with 
growing intensity — general experimentation. But while virtual worlds 
present new business opportunities, they also pose new IT threats:
• For faster access, virtual worlds use different ports and protocols
  than Web sites and thus present firewall issues.
• Some worlds allow code to run in them, which raises the risks of
  malicious code.
• When customers “chat” with an enterprise rep, they may reveal private
  information. Who stores this information, and how?
• Some worlds allow video to be broadcast inside the world. Cameras
  left on can transmit to the outside world.
• Your brand and corporate image can spread virtually. Who will protect
  it?
The security and privacy issues raised by virtual worlds revolve around 
one key factor: identity. Over the last few years, I have been fortunate 
enough to initiate and participate in several efforts to develop 
standards for 3D3C virtual worlds. Repeatedly during these efforts, 
terms like privacy, authentication, trust, rights, tracking, security, 
and other related terms came up as a necessary core to virtual worlds. 
For the sake of brevity, my colleagues and I chose “identity” as the 
term to mark these related terms.
The talk will start with  these challenge as a starting point : Security 
of Audience, Anonymity, Virtual Goods, and Scams.
We will conclude with a discussion on a broad research agenda in the field.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Yesha Sivan is the head of the Information Systems Program 
(http://is.mta.ac.il) at the School of Management and Economy at the 
Tel-Aviv-Yaffo academic college (http://www.mta.ac.il). He is also the 
founder of Metaverse Labs (MVL) - a leading think tank focusing on 
connecting virtual and real worlds. Dr. Sivan professional experience 
includes developing and deploying innovative solutions for corporate, 
hi-tech, government, and defense environments (see for example: the 
Harvard 9-Keys for Knowledge Infrastructure). He published numerous 
papers in the areas of Strategy and IT, knowledge, 3D3C virtual worlds, 
and standards. Dr. Sivan received his doctorate from Harvard University. 
His avatar is Dera Kit, and his blog ishttp://www.dryesha.com. He has 
taught EMBA, MBA, engineering and design in the areas of strategic value 
of IT, the emergence of virtual worlds, and software development in 
virtual worlds.


All are Welcome!
Tel: 2859 2180 for enquiries
http://www.cs.hku.hk/seminars/

05-Dec-2011: JVWR @ ICIS 2011. The Journal of Virtual World Research will host: VW for Learning: The IBM China Perspective

2011-11-01T14:45:00.001-05:00

As part of our outreach work, the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research will host a morning get-together at the ICIS Shanghai Conference. Meeting will occur on :

Monday Dec 5th: 7:30 AM-8:30 AM 5F
Shanghai International Convention Center

This meeting is hosted by the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (http://jvwresearch.org/). The managing editor (Dr. Yesha Sivan) will open with a short review on the field, and the Journal. We will then turn to members to discuss publication and editorship opportunities. We will then to hear new focus and insights.

Chair: Dr. Yesha Sivan, managing editor of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research. Tel Aviv, Israel.
Special guest will be Yiqing (Anthony) He, Senior Learning Specialist - Manager, IBM Center for Advanced Learning. Beijing, China.
Discussant: Marco De Marco, on building a new discipline. Professor of organization and information systems Università Guglielmo Marconi, Roma, Italy.

Abstract
Virtual Worlds for Learning: The IBM China Perspective

IBM has officially debuted on the virtual worlds business since 2007, and ever since learning has been one of the mainstream applications of virtual worlds inside IBM. With the advancement of some newly emerged 3D virtual world platforms, we believe it could mean a perfect storm for learning by leveraging on the virtual worlds and social computing technologies.

In order to provide the thought leadership and develop best practices for learning within a virtual social environment, IBM 3D Immersive Learning Center of Excellence (3DIL CoE) was formed in 2008. Built upon the abundant collective experience from both internal and external teams who have engaged in virtual world learning, the IBM 3DIL CoE has developed some reusable assets and templates for designing and developing learning programs, activities, and events.

Different countries may have different adoption level of learning within a virtual social environment. The comparatively poor bandwidth conditions and low configuration of laptop are the top two reasons that keep some employees from India and China away from such innovative learning opportunities.

Despite the technical constraints, business owners in IBM China have embraced the virtual world learning with great enthusiasm. So far it has been piloted in pillars such as professional development, technical development, and even leadership training courses. The format of the application ranges from smart workplace, business simulation, collaborative learning, new employee orientation, speed mentoring, posters session, and events such as virtual world graduation ceremony.

About Yi Qing He
Yiqing He (Yiqing Hereter, SL) is a senior learning designer and developer with the 3D Immersive Learning CoE. He is responsible for designing and developing reusable learning assets, coaching and enabling best practices, and leading the business transformation with 3D virtual world learning in IBM.

Yiqing has diverse and seasoned experience in designing and developing technology-enhanced learning products, ranging from digital textbook, interactive learning games, simple e-learning courses, to college-wide curriculum design, LMS implementation, and LCMS solution design and development. Prior to joining IBM, Yiqing worked with many multinational teams and corporations in the e-learning industry. The most successful project he led was a $4 million project co-sponsored by US Department of Education and China Ministry of Education, with 15 team members working for 2.5 years.

Yiqing was hired by IBM in early 2008 into the GCG HR Learning team as an advisory learning specialist. Beginning October of that year, he joined IBM Center for Advanced Learning and became one of the core members of the 3D Immersive Learning CoE. Yiqing quickly adopted the design skills for 3D virtual world learning, and successfully led several pilot products in both Active Worlds and Second Life platforms, including Blue Pathway, G100 Club, Blue Team Beyond Boundaries, and IBM Learning Center Island. Yiqing has also evangelized about best practices on 3D virtual world learning to more than three thousand IBMers, including GCG HR Learning facilitators, ISC DE mentors and mentees, ISSC ADM Sharenet participants, and GCG technical group Sharenet participants.

Nov 8-10, 2011: 100 Free Invites to W3C Global Social Jam Virtual Conference (with IBM)

2011-11-01T11:54:00.000-05:00

Register to participate at: http://www.w3.org/2011/socialbusiness-jam/

This is a cool opportunity to learn about Social Business, get to know people from all over the world
and participate in the famous IBM Jam engine. (For those who are more interested in Jam -- see Harvard Business item on Value Jam (BTW, I will be hosting part of the jam for few hrs on the 9th, follow the plan).

The W3C Social Business Jam is an online conversation among an international group of leaders from business, government and academia about the current state of social business and the future role social technologies can play in improving the bottom line for companies.

* What does it mean to have a social network in the organization?
* Shell I allow my employees to use Facebook in work?
* My clients already "check-in" into my site every time they come to get service?
* Can I use my internal network with my clients?
* What are some of the circles I should worry about (Employees, Alums, customers, partners, suppliers, etc)

The Jam should produce a better understanding for participants on how businesses are using social technologies and the challenges they face integrating the technologies into their existing environments. Participants can interact with a variety of experts on six different topics around social business and are encouraged to ask questions and state their opinions as these topics are discussed.

The Jam transcends time zones and geographic boundaries by using an online discussion format available 24 hours day from virtually any browser.

Learn more about the Jam, see the special guests and hosts leading the discussions, and register to participate at: http://www.w3.org/2011/socialbusiness-jam/

More About IBM's Jam:

Since 2001, IBM has used jams to involve its more than 300,000 employees around the world in far-reaching exploration and problem-solving. ValuesJam in 2003 gave IBM's workforce the opportunity to redefine the core IBM values for the first time in nearly 100 years. During IBM's 2006 Innovation JamTM - the largest IBM online brainstorming session ever held - IBM brought together more than 150,000 people from 104 countries and 67 companies. As a result, 10 new IBM businesses were launched with seed investment totaling $100 million.

Jams are not restricted to business. Their methods, tools and technology can also be applied to social issues. In 2005, over three days, the Government of Canada, UN-HABITAT and IBM hosted Habitat Jam. Tens of thousands of participants - from urban specialists, to government leaders, to residents from cities around the world - discussed issues of urban sustainability. Their ideas shaped the agenda for the UN World Urban Forum, held in June 2006. People from 158 countries registered for the jam and shared their ideas for action to improve the environment, health, safety and quality of life in the world's burgeoning cities.

Oct 25: HTML5Fest (Israel, Hebrew)

2011-10-25T23:38:00.000-05:00

I will be the Chairperson of the Israeli HTML5Fest conference.

See full details here. (Discount code: ufwq9)

משרד ה-W3C הישראלי (הפועל תחת איגוד האינטרנט הישראלי) מקיים כנס שנתי לקהילת הווב הישראלית, בהשתתפות מפתחי הווב המובילים בישראל ונציגי W3C העולמי.

בכנס שלושה מושבים מקבילים:

Mobile Web - מושב המיועד למפתחים העוסקים בפיתוח אפליקציות ווביות למכשירים ניידים (יושב ראש המושב - אייל רשף, IMA)
Browser & Desktop Apps - מושב המיועד למפתחים העוסקים בפיתוח אפליקציות ווביות ואינטראקציה מתקדמת ל'מסכי שולחן עבודה' (יושב ראש המושב - זוהר ארד, עצמאי).
אינטרנט ציבורי וממשלתי - מושב המיעוד לאנשי תוכן וטכנולוגיה ממוסדות שלטון מקומי ומהממשלה (יושב ראש המושב - שוקי פלג, איגוד האינטרנט הישראלי).

יושב ראש הכנס: ד"ר ישע סיון, חבר הנהלת איגוד האינטרנט הישראלי וראש התוכנית למערכות מידע, המכללה האקדמית תל-אביב יפו.

במהלך הכנס יוכרזו הזוכים בתחרות האפליקציות HTML5FEST app contest.

כל הפרטים באתר הכנס: http://www.w3c.org.il/HTML5fest/

05-Dec-2011: JVWR @ ICIS 2011. The Journal of Virtual World Research will host a meeting at ICIS2011 -- you are welcome to join us... (Save the Date)

2011-10-08T05:13:00.002-05:00

As part of our outreach work, the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research will host a morning get-together at the ICIS Shanghai Conference.

Meeting will occur on Monday Dec 5th, 7:30am-8:30am (location
7:30 AM-8:30 AM
5F (Shanghai International Convention Center))

This meeting is hosted by the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (http://jvwresearch.org/). The managing editor (Dr. Yesha Sivan) will open with a short review on the field, and the Journal. We will then turn to members to discuss publication and editorship opportunities. We will then to hear new focus and insights.

If you want to present your work (2-3 min talk) please email me.... yesha.sivan@jvwresearch.org
I'm especially looking for authors and issue editors for a future issue on the Asian Perspective of Virtual Worlds.

Sign up for the workshop as part of your AIS registration.

Video X 3 : Iphone 4S: Siri Voice Review + (its 2 conceptual roots)

2011-10-04T23:59:00.003-05:00

Apple has just released IOS5 (and iphone 4S). One of the key features is SIRI. A voice command center. This video gives you a hint of what to do look for:

Siri is a merge of voice recognition and AI. Apple has a long history of thinking about this...
here's the Knowledge Navigator (1987):

and we must remember that Star Trek Computer ... voice... played by the Majel Barrett wife of the originator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry.

Make it yourself clip:

Hebrew: My Interview for NewsGeek --

2011-10-02T09:11:00.000-05:00

See full item here ...my interview on Israeli ISOC, the W3C office, and other things...

Visual Interactive Map of Submarine Global Internet Cables

2011-10-01T11:09:00.000-05:00

The Submarine Cable Map is a free resource from TeleGeography. Data contained in this map is drawn from Global Bandwidth Research Serviceand is updated on a regular basis.

To learn more about TeleGeography or this map please click here.

Video: BBC Reports 3D learning Tools Positive for Pupils

2011-09-30T00:38:00.000-05:00

Biology teacher Ros Johnson says 3D projections of body organs have given lessons a new direction at the Abbey School in Reading

BBC article, report that "A study of the impact of 3D in the classroom has found that it improves test results by an average of 17%."

This is a specific example where 3D does make a difference. However I ask myself what is the advatage of this 3D experience (one 3D projector, and 20-30 of 3D classes) over an alternative simpler one (30 computers running a 3D simulation per students, with no glasses)?

What do you say?

[you may want also to look at my review of Google body]

JVWR Announcement: Volume 4, Number 2: Goverment & Military

2011-09-24T11:01:00.001-05:00




	We are happy to announce the publication of: Volume 4, Number 2: Goverment & Military The editorial team for this issue includes: Paulette Robinson, National Defense University Michael Piller, National Defense University This issue includes papers from the 2010 Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds Conference organized by Paulette Robinson and her colleagues at the National Defense University. Allen & Demchak ("Applied Virtual Environments: Applications of Virtual Environments to Government, Military and Business Organization") review the compact ways the components of virtual worlds, and how they create future value in various areas. This is a survey that will allow researchers and practitioners to review, use and design their experiments. Merge, Gardner, Broviak, and Greeves ("MuniGov 2.0, A New Residency Requirement: Local Government Professionals in Second Life") describe MuniGov2.0 – a group of municipal government professionals who regularly meet in Second Life. The goal of the group is to support each others geographically distributed implementation attempts to incorporate new technologies in the public sector. Ticknor & Tillinghast ("Virtual Reality and the Criminal Justice System: New Possibilities for Research, Training, and Rehabilitation") present an extensive review of the relationship between Virtual Reality and the Criminal Justice System focusing on new possibilities for research, training, and rehabilitation. Cummins ("Avatars and Security Clearances: How can we reconcile the two?") asks a simple question: how will vetting agencies reconcile the border-less nature of virtual worlds with the requirements set forth for establishing and maintaining security clearances? This paper proposes to outline some of the relevant issues involved in a rapidly evolving online community. Maxwell, Aguiar, Monte, and Nolan ("Two Navy Virtual World Collaboration Applications: Rapid Prototyping and Concept of Operations Experimentation") expose how being able to optimally configure and reconfigure spaces is a critical step in the design process to ensure the end meets the necessary mission requirements. The paper show the value of rapid active prototyping specifically for command and control scenarios. Hinrichs ("Avatars as the First Manifestation of Geo-Politically Unconstrained Global Citizens") concludes with a provoking idea: a global citizen. How can virtual worlds play a role in the construction of a global citizen? Let me also use this email to remind you that of the on-going call for Guest Editors, Associated Editors, and Reviewers. If you are interested in suggesting themes for the 2011-2013 publishing cycles, or joining our editorial team please send an initial proposal to Dr. Yesha Sivan (yesha.sivan AT jvwresearch.org). Dr.Yesha Y. Sivan Managing Editor Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

Hebrew: קול קורא למנמ"ר המצטיין בממשלה

2011-09-22T06:56:00.002-05:00

Review of Shaker... winner of TechCrunch award.. You must check it.

2011-09-16T15:34:00.002-05:00

I'm after about 3 hrs of "play" with (shell I say perhaps "Visit to") Shaker... and I like it.
If you are a virtual worlds buff, check it out. You will be amazed at how real data changed the way you behave.

Shaker is a new virtual worlds. It is based on Facebook. It won the the TechCrunch 2011 competition.

I must admit I got few invite to Shaker before, and did not bother to visit. It was a mistake!
and I'm here to correct it.

First how it works, then what is special about it, then few reflective notes.

How it works?
You can enter Shaker only via Facebook (there is a web version www.shaker.ac.il but it seems dead.)

After few seconds, you find yourself in an entry screen where you select a room to go in.
(there is the main bar, and few more rooms based on ages -- I'm sure topical rooms will come soon).

After you select a room, you enter a Flash based 2.5 D room (similar to Habbo Hotel). After a short intro you get to see 20-30-40 avatars, with small images on them (the images are of the REAL user of the avatar!!!). These avatars can be Green (your friends), Yellow (friends of friends), and Grey (new people). Simple. You get to hear bar like music (technically Sound Cloud). You can not select the music. But you can Pause it.

Now you can:
- Walk around the bar, and start chatting with people.
- Dance (your avatar starts to dance).
- Offer Drinks
- See the profile of all avatars (based on heir levels of Privacy).
- Join chats (the chat is visually marked).
- Send private messages.

and few more things...

What is Special About Shaker?
Compared with other virtual worlds: Entry takes 10 seconds. It is fast and you get the Social factor out of the box. Shaker asks you for access to all your Facebook details and it gets it. Every woman (or man) you see have their real details -- you have three levels of privacy:
- "shy" (just your name and pic - minimum),
- "normal" (more details)
- "friendly" (even more details, like all your tagged albums).

Shaker is mostly used for, of course, dating... more like pick ups. I'm not so much in this market, so I could not fully appreciate what is going on in this regards. But it seems very lively (forgive the pun): Man hunt ladies.

So what is unique:
Well it is the first virtual world that I see that connects the real and the virtual in such a simple and "aggressive" way. Simple, because all your data are imported from Facebook. I'm not sure all Shaker users really understand that they are talking with people who can get to see all their details. Shaker goes one step further and show each user common things with other avatars: Do you live in the same city, what groups you have in common, etc.

Shaker does not have yet all the usual features (design your own room, buy your own music, avatar changes, but I'm sure it will all come). The link of the real and the virtual is the key innovation here.

Reflection
The uniqueness of this world, can be easily copied to similar worlds. In fact, Second Life already have an option to use your real name.I'm sure IMVU is thinking about connecting your Facebook data to your IMVU data.

The potential here is high. Shaker needs to move fast to capture mind share and users. It should quickly develop its virtual goods (look at IMVU, if you look for user create content, or just do your own). I, for one, will continue to follow them and see how they progress.

P.S. I want to thank the 3 cool avatars I spoke with ... and mention one critical value point:
"the cool thing here, is the fact there is NO SMOKE."

Journal of Virtual Worlds Research: Volume 4, Number 1: Metaverse Assembled 2.0

2011-09-09T00:03:00.000-05:00

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	We are happy to announce the publication of: Volume 4, Number 1: Metaverse Assembled 2.0 The editorial team for this issue includes: Kathy Keeling, University of Manchester, UK Nadia Papamichail, University of Manchester, UK Debbie Keeling, University of Manchester, UK Enchi (Katherine) Chang, University of Manchester, UK This issue include papers from SLACTIONS 2010 organized by Kathy Keeling and her colleagues at the University of Manchester. The issue also marks the Journal's move to a new website, it is a minor visual change, and a major infrastructure change that will provide a foundation for the Journal to continue to grow over the next couple years. Articles include: Alrayes:("Students’ Attitudes in a Virtual Environment - SecondLife") takes a methodical approach to measure student's attitudes towards learning with virtual worlds. If you are planning to teach in Second Life (or other virtual worlds) you should review this paper to gauge some critical parameters. Silva & Coelho ("Procedural Modeling for Realistic Virtual Worlds Development") review the PG3D modeler, a solution for procedural modeling of virtual urban environments. This is a good technical intro to the field of Procedural Modeling in virtual worlds. Cruz & Fernandes ("Journalism in Virtual World") cover the interaction of an old business and a new domain. The authors ask hard questions about Journalism when it comes to reporting on events that are partially real and partially imaginary. Gilbert ("The P.R.O.S.E. (Psychological Research on Synthetic Environments) Project: Conducting In-World Psychological Research on 3D Virtual Worlds") describe the interaction between Psychology and virtual worlds. This is both a review on PROSE project and a review of some of the studies conduced since 2008. Sung, Moon, Kang, and Lin (" Actual Self vs. Avatar Self: The Effect of Online Social Situation on Self-Expression") explore the relation between the owner and its avatar. It starts with this research employs the Big Five Inventory (BFI) and its 44 personality traits to examine the level of agreement between individuals’ actual selves (i.e., evaluation of themselves) and avatar selves. Tonéis ("Puzzles as a Creative Form of Play in Metavers") explores the relationship between the logical-mathematical reasoning developed through the existence and experience in the puzzles into metaverse and creativity or creative thinking. This paper reflects on the unique value of virtual worlds in generating environments that stimulate the mind in new ways. Nosek, Whelen, Hughes, Porcher, and Davidson ("Self-Esteem in Second Life: An inWorld Group Intervention for Women with Disabilities") discuss self-esteem enhancement intervention in Second Life for women with physical disabilities. With a concrete goal in mind, the authors adapted a curriculum of a previously tested workshop intervention to include features unique to virtual environment. Results of the beta test were very positive. Intriguing paper to any person looking to use virtual worlds for treatments. Let me also use this email to remind you that of the following call for Guest Editors, Associated Editors, and ReviewersIf you are interested in suggesting themes for 2011-2013, or joining our editorial team please send an initial proposal to Dr. Yesha Sivan (yesha.sivan ATjvwresearch.org). Dr.Yesha Y. Sivan Managing Editor Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

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12..14-Aug-2011: SLCC Second Life 2011 Full Schedule

2011-08-02T01:43:00.001-05:00

While I will not be there this year, I'm happy to see SLCC seems to the right combination of fun and value. Check out http://www.slconvention.org/ for all the details.

From the web site:

We are excited to announce the full schedule for the Second Life Community Convention 2011!
Visit the “Schedule” link on our website, or view the schedule directly at http://schedule.slconvention.org to see the full line up of convention events, social events and mixers, keynote presentations, panels, breakout sessions, and more!

This year we opted to use a terrific service called http://sched.org to help our attendees view all of the options, and we’ll be integrating that with EventBrite so all registered attendees can have an account to create their own customized, personal schedules! If you’re registered for the convention, keep an eye on your email for your invitation – then you can choose your own personalized schedule and print it out, send it to your online calendar, or even view it on your mobile smart phone or tablet!

Note that in-world attendees can use the site, too, and we’ve even provided the links to the UStream channels and SLurls for in-world venues for maximum convenience! (In-world attendees will have to sign up for their accounts manually, more to come on in-world events soon!)

04..07-Aug-2011: Wikimania 2011 in Haifa

2011-07-31T23:40:00.000-05:00

I will have the pleasure to chair one of the panels, in this "amazing" Wikimania 2011 conference.
on Sat, Aug 6th 9:00-10:30

Wikimania is the annual international conference of the Wikimedia community. It's organized by a different local team each year – in 2011 the conference is taking place in Haifa, Israel. Wikimania allows the community and the general public to learn about and share their experiences with free knowledge initiatives all over the world.

GLAMorous III -- Finding Hidden Value -
Panel headed by Dr. Yesha Sivan of ISOC

GLAMDerby – Collaborating with a smaller museum

GLAM partnerships in the real life

Pikiwiki, Free Image --Collection of Israel – Convergence between Cultural Value, Usability and Copyrights

I will also be there in the reception on Wednesday if you want to say hello. See you in Haifa...

מחפשים נקודות מנוף לאינטרנט בישראל: 10 אופציות

2011-07-30T10:35:00.003-05:00

[מסתבר שהעברית לא עובדת טוב בחלק מן הדפדפנים -- חשבתי שהבעיה הזאת מאחורינו אבל היה היא קיימת -- תודה לקוראים שהאירו]

בכובע שלי, כחבר הנהלת איגוד האינטרנט, אני מוביל מהלך בו האיגוד מחפש נקודות מינוף (Tipping Points) אשר באמצעותן ניתן להשפיע על איכות החיים בישראל. לאיגוד, שהוא גוף עצמאי ללא מטרות רווח, יכולת תקציבית לאורך זמן (לשנים) בהיקפים של מאות אלפי שקלים לשנה. האיגוד יכול, בתוקף מעמדו ויכולתו לקדם, לדחוף ולוודא ביצוע.

ההגדרה של "מנוף" לצורך הדיון הזה היא פעילות ממוקדת אשר יוצרת השפעה ארוכת טווח. דוגמא קלאסית למנוף שהובל על-ידי האיגוד היא תרגום תוכנת מוודל לעברית אשר יצר שימוש גורף באקדמיות בארץ ויצר תעשייה של כמה חברות אשר מתמחות בתחום הזה. דוגמא נוספת למנוף הוא שרת המראה של איגוד המאפשר ללקוחות הארץ לטעון חומרים במהירות יחסית (תוכנות רבות כגון פיירפוקס נטענות למעשה מן השרת הזה). דוגמא טכנלוגית נוספת היא שרת ה-IIX אשר מחבר בין ספקי הרשת בישראל וחוסך להם את התעבורה לחו"ל.

הנה מספר רעיונות שכבר עלו (הסדר הוא מקרי):

1. יום בנעלי בית -- האיגוד יקדם, בעיקר על-ידי העלאת מודעות את הרעיון של עבודה של יום אחד מן הבית. האינטרנט מאפשר זאת כיום ביעילות. חברות גדולות במשק כבר מפעילות סידור שכזה.

2. 100 בתי ספר במהירות של 100 -- על-בסיס תחרותי האיגוד יממן לשלוש שנים ל-100 בתי ספר מהירות גבוהה של 100 (פי 20 מן מהירות הגבוהה המקובלת כיום). תנאי אפשרי לבתי הספר הוא כיום מקרנים בכיתות, מרכזת מיחשוב, וכו'

3. רשומה רפואית חופשית -- מהלך אשר יאפשר לאזרחים בעלות על הנתונים הרפאויים שלהם. אפשר יהיה להעביר את נתוני הבריאות לצורך מעבר בין ספקים, לצורך דעה שנייה, נסיעה לחול וכו'

4. כל זכות -- זה למעשה רעיון שעלה מאחד המרואיינים שלי -- אבל כבר למעשה מבוצע באתר כל זכות. השאלה היא מדוע לא יודעים מספיק על היוזמה הזאת.

5. מידע על תנועה (תקן GTFS) -- הרעיון הוא להנגיש את המידע על אמצעי תחבורה בישראל כדי לאפשר נגישות יותר טובה להם. ראה פירוט טכני כאן.

6. אין יותר העתקות לא חוקיות -- מהלך משפטי/טכנולוגי/הסברתי אשר ימנע העתקות. ראה למשל פסיקה של בית המשפט באנגלית המחייב את BT לחסום אתר אשר יותר לינקים לעותקים של סרטים.

7. אינטרנט בסיסי חינם -- במסורת של גישה אוניברסלית מארה"ב ראה כאן -- האם ניתן להגדיר תמורת תשלום סימלי (12 ש"ח לשנה) גישה מינימלית לאינטרנט -- כזכות בסיסית לכל אחד.

8. מוקד ענן -- בהנחה כי הענן ישפיע כמו שאומרים חלק מן החברים, האם יש בשיראל כבר התקנה של ענן רציני? של אמזון? גוגל? או מיקרוסופט?

9. מדידת הרשת -- ישראל אינה במקום טוב מבחינת מהירות גלישה (ודווקא כן במקום טוב מבחינת גישת WIFI). מהירות היא כמובן עניין מורכב הקרשר בזמן, עומס, האתר אליו גולשים וסוג השימוש. אבל אולי נתחיל במדידה טובה? וכמובן מה עם נטרליות? כיצד לוודא שאנו שומרים על SKYPE גם ברשת סלולולרית כדוגמא?

10. הרעיון שלך? -- איזה בעייה בישראל אתה או את רוצים לפתור? זה הזמן להשפיע!!!

בואו לכנס (או שילחו לי דואל בנושא).

תכנית המפגש ליום ראשון ה-7 לאוגוסט, 2011.
17:30-18:00 התכנסות ורישום.
18:00-19:00 פאנל.
19:00-19:30 דיון פתוח לשאלות מהקהל.
19:30-20:00 קוקטייל סיום חגיגי.
הדיון יתקיים באנגלית

פרטים על הארועי בפייסבוק.

רישום -- מספר המקומות מוגבל.

תודה -- ישע

Hebrew: Calling for Israeli Internet Tipping Points... קריאה למנופים לאינטרנט בישראל

2011-07-30T09:21:00.001-05:00

ביום ראשון הבא. 7 לאוגוסט 17:30-20:00 אקיים דיון פומבי בנושא האינטרנט בישראל. הארוע מחייב רישום מוקדם.

ראה הארוע ב-FACEBOOK.

מצ"ב ההודעה לעיתונות:

איגוד האינטרנט הישראלי פועל באופן שוטף לקידום האינטרנט בישראל. במסגרת פעילותו בנושא, מקיים האיגוד שולחן עגול בנושא "Tipping points for the Israeli Internet", שיהיה פתוח לקהל הרחב. הדיון ינוהל על ידי ד"ר ישע סיון, חבר הנהלת איגוד האינטרנט הישראלי, ויתקיים בנוכחות מומחים מעולם הרשת ובשיתוף הקהל. המפגש יערך בתאריך ה- 7.8.11, בין השעות 17:30-20:00 ב"מועצה לישראל יפה", שד' רוקח 80 בת"א.

מטרת המפגש היא ליצור דיון פומבי בנושא מהלכים, פרויקטים, וכיווני פעולה אסטרטגיים אשר יקדמו את האינטרנט בישראל, ולאתר ממשקי השפעה רלוונטיים למינוף רשת האינטרנט בישראל. בין היתר, יעלה איגוד האינטרנט הישראלי מספר נושאים לדיון, שנוגעים לזכות הבסיסית של האזרחים לגישה חופשית לאינטרנט. איגוד האינטרנט הישראלי מזמין את הציבור לקחת חלק בדיון ולתרום לשולחן העגול רעיונות, הצעות וכיווני חשיבה חדשים.

בדיון ישתתפו ג'יימי ויילס מייסד ויקיפדיה, רימון לוי, נשיא איגוד האינטרנט הישראלי, פרופ' קרין נהון מביה"ס למידע, אוני' וושינגטון, וגילי גורדון, מנכ"ל Boston Consulting Group, BCG-Israel , אשר יעלו רעיונות ודרכים להשגת המנופים הדרושים לקידום האינטרנט בארץ, יחד עם הנוכחים בקהל.

ד"ר ישע סיון, חבר הנהלת איגוד האינטרנט הישראלי, אמר, "איגוד האינטרנט הישראלי חרט על דגלו את קידום האינטרנט בישראל. לצד הפעילויות השוטפות, אנו נערכים כעת לחומש הבא ומחפשים כיווני פעולה חדשים, וכן נקודות מינוף בהן ניתן וצריך להשפיע. אנו קוראים למי שיש בידו לתרום לדיון להצטרף, ויחד עם המומחים שכינסנו, לחשוב צעד אחד קדימה, ולהביא את יכולות האינטרנט למיצוי עבור כולנו."

איגוד האינטרנט הישראלי הינו גוף בלתי תלוי וללא מטרת רווח הפועל לקידום האינטרנט לכלל הציבור בישראל. יעדי האיגוד הינם פיתוח ושיפור שירותי התשתית החיוניים לקיומו של האינטרנט בישראל, והרחבת השימוש באינטרנט לאזרחי ישראל למטרות חינוך, למידה, בידור, מסחר וקשר לממשל. כל זאת תוך שמירה על האופי הפתוח והגלובלי של האינטרנט לתועלת הקהילה והסרת חסמי גישה חברתיים, טכנולוגיים ורגולטוריים. פרטים נוספים ניתן למצוא באתר האיגוד: www.isoc.org.il

לפרטים נוספים: ארד תקשורת, אירית רדיע/ עדי כהן, 054-6699332/311

10-Nov-2011: World e-Gov Israeli Forum: Israel Towards a digital Democracy Leadership (Hebrew)

2011-07-26T02:45:00.005-05:00

I will have the pleasure to serve as the Chair of the rewards in this conference.
This is the gathering place of all government CIO's in Israel.

Hebrew: My interview in the Radio Oranim

2011-07-01T11:07:00.004-05:00

Aabout the future of the Web, The Israeli Internet Association, HTML5 and other cool things... in Hebrew.
החל מדקה 29:30.
על HTML, איגוד האינטרנט, ווב סמנטי וכו'

עם שלמה בראבא וד"ר ישע סיון | על מחשבים ומחשבות | iCast

10 Lessons for EU funding from one project (Presentation to the EUREKA meeting)

2011-07-01T08:06:00.001-05:00

Last moth (June 21, 2011) I was invited to give a talk to the national funding agencies of Europe.

This was the the 4th meeting of the Israeli EUREKA Chairmanship Office.

These lessons were derived from our EUREKA ITEA2 Metaverse1 project:

1.Define a very specific lofty achievable goal (MPEG-V in our case).

2.Use an Internal knowledge/management system (MyMT1)
3.Grand meetings (of all projects in one place once a year). Allow cross pollination of learning.
4.More power to project leaders.
5.Sync timing with all governments -- > saves time.
6.4 year (even 5 year projects) -- > more value.
7.More energy per partner (experts vs. workers).
8.Train people in internal & external expression (movies, presentations, papers).
9.Motivate and incentivize to cooperate.
10.Think more: reuse, customers, business.

As a side note, I of course pushed the idea of standards as a direct result of project. Next time I will put "standards" into the 10 points.

•

Video: AKB48 - Making of Eguchi Aimi

2011-06-23T02:21:00.001-05:00

According to this soruce:

Fans suspicions about AKB48’s12.5 generation member Eguchi Aimi being a “CG idol” have been confirmed!
The features of Eguchi’s face were taken from the members, which consists of Oshima Yuko (hair/body), Takahashi Minami (outline), Maeda Atsuko (eyes), Watanabe Mayu (eyebrows), Itano Tomomi (nose), and Shinoda Mariko (mouth). Twelfth generation AKB48 member Sasaki Yukari is confirmed to be the source of her voice as well

Additionally, fans correctly guessed the source of her profile information, which was posted on Glico’s website as part of the promotion. Most of the information was based on the company, such as her birthday (which is the same day that Glico was founded in 1922) and her hometown of Osaka (where Glico’s headquarters are based).
Since the truth about Eguchi Aimi has finally come out, Glico has one more surprise up their sleeve for AKB48 fans. By going onto the official “Ice no Mi” website, fans can create their “own AKB48 member” by choosing parts from any of the forty-seven girls available.

CfP on “Interoperability between Virtual and Real Worlds” in The Journal of Virtual World Research (JVWR).

2011-05-23T00:07:00.000-05:00

[Near Deadline: 15 June: submission of one page abstract]

CfP on “Interoperability between Virtual and Real Worlds”
in The Journal of Virtual World Research (JVWR).
Special Issue edited by
• Jean H.A. Gelissen, Philips Research, Netherlands,
• Marius Preda, Institut TELECOM, France,
• Samuel Cruz-Lara, LORIA / INRIA Nancy Grand Est, France,
• Yesha Sivan, Metaverse Labs and the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, Israel.

The Journal of Virtual World Research http://www.jvwresearch.org/ is an online, open access academic journal that engages a wide spectrum of scholarship and welcomes contributions from the many disciplines and approaches that intersect virtual worlds research. The field of virtual world research is a continuously evolving area of study that spans across many disciplines and the JVWR editorial team looks forward to engaging a wide range of creative and scholarly work.

While the notion of virtual worlds in an evolving concept, to provide a base to build upon, we consider virtual worlds to be computer-based simulated environment where users interact with other users through graphic or textual representations of themselves utilizing textual chat, voice, video or other forms of communication. The term virtual worlds includes, is similar to, or is synonymous to the terms of virtual reality, virtual space, data-scape, metaverse, virtual environment, massively multiplayer online games, collaborative virtual environments, and immersive virtual environments.

After several issues addressing the technological, societal and economic aspects of Virtual Worlds, JVWR is calling for contributions related to standards, “formalized by standardization bodies” or “de facto ones”, that have or may have an impact in the large deployment of VW services, applications and products. Recent examples are the MPEG-V standard (http://wg11.sc29.org/mpeg-v/), published by ISO in 2011 and addressing interoperability of virtual objects and avatars and Web3D technologies for Real-Time 3D Communication (http://www.web3d.org).

Authors are invited to submit their work, under the form of short paper for blind reviewed by the review Committee. The papers must be innovative, original, and contribute to the advancement of understanding virtual worlds related standard technologies.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):
• MPEG-V and other virtual world standards
• User Interfaces to access and manipulate objects in virtual worlds
• Money and solutions for virtual trading with real economical impact
• User Identity
• Scalability with respect to the number of concomitant users and complexity of virtual worlds
• Dependency
• Communication protocols and interchange media formats
• Cross-platform and multi-platform access to virtual worlds
• Multilinguality and e-inclusion
• Mixed Reality
• Virtual Hybrid Communication
Submission instructions

Authors are invited to submit papers of up to 5 pages in PDF format directly to the editor (jean.gelissen@philips.com). Upon acceptance, the final revised paper is required to be submitted via the JVWR Submission Site. Accepted papers will be published online in the Volume 4, Number 2 of the Journal.

Deadlines:
15 June: submission of one page abstract
30 June: reviewers’ feedback on the abstract
31 July: deadline for full paper
15 August: reviewers’ decision and comments for accepted papers
30 August: submission of final version
15 September: publication