CLASS 13: Identity in the Context of Virtual Worlds

Someone’s “identity” in a virtual world is an important aspect of the whole virtual experience. People make the choice of whether they want to identify themselves on this virtual world as themselves in real life or totally different. Some people might not want to be themselves on these virtual worlds for many reasons but I think for one main reason is because they want to be someone they wished they were and this virtual world allows them to do that.  For example if a guy wishes he was bigger and muscular but he cannot achieve that in real life he might make his avatar that dream body he was looking for.

As I experienced using Second Life it was much easier to talk to people when you were a female. That was one of our assignments to change our identity by altering our gender, race, and physical attributes. I noticed that when I changed my avatar to a female I was approached by others and conversations were easier to start. When I was a male avatar it was so much harder to stat a conversation with someone and people were rude when you started to talk to them on the chat. So I believe that gender has a huge impact in these virtual worlds when it comes to starting conversations with others.

I believe that many people can benefit from these virtual worlds not just for educational purposes. Virtual worlds can benefit people that are usually very shy or anti-social. Those types of people might be afraid to approach people in real life and start conversation or even make friends. By using virtual worlds they can do those things without ever really encountering someone face to face. This can be some type of therapy for those types of people because by interacting with people virtually that might ease the pain of actually doing it in the real world.

When it comes to using your own identity in these virtual worlds I believe it is what I would do. I do not have a problem using it in these worlds because I am who I am and I am proud of my identity and do not care if someone makes fun of it on these virtual worlds. Although some people do care about what others think about them so they make themselves flawless. They are afraid to face what people have to say about their appearance.

I believe that the topic of “identity” in virtual worlds is a huge issue for people. I learned by being in this class and experimenting the different virtual worlds that other people can be very cruel and mean and that people change their true “identity” for that reason.  Your “identity” also makes a huge impact in whether people will talk to you or not like I mentioned females seem to have an easier time talking to people and at times get approached. It is just amazing how important someone’s “identity” is in these virtual worlds and it also impacts how much they enjoy the whole virtual experience.

Here are my favorite 4 screenshot that I took during class with my avatar altered in different ways. 

Here I spoke about what "identity" means in the virtual worlds. I also included 4 of my favorite screenshots I took over the semester.  It is a final exercise from the Immersive Education course that I am taking at Boston College. The course is called Discovering Computer Graphics. For details, visit the immersive BC portal at http://ImmersiveEducation.org/@/bc

Examining Gender, Race and Body Image in a Virtual World

In this assignment we had to go onto Second Life a virtual world and try to socialize with complete strangers. We had to use the avatar that we choose and then after thirty minutes change the avatar by either its race, gender, or physical appearance. I found that when I was just a white male that it was very difficult to talk to others. People were really not being to friendly on Second Life as well. I noticed then when I switched to a woman that I was approached several times and people started to talk to me. Then I changed it to a black female and same response I was getting more people responding to my chats and they were coming to me saying "hi".

I also noticed that it really depends what world you are on. when i was on these random worlds for example the UK world there really was nothing going on there. Then I moved to a world that had a new members theme and thee people were talking and being very friendly. So the world that you choose to be in also matter on how people interact with you.

Here in this screenshot is when I was a white male and i started to talk to these two girls. 

Here I am still a white male and there were new people coming into the world talking to me. 

In this screenshot I changed my avatar to a white female and there I got more responses without even saying anything. 

Here I am talking to some random girl that I encountered in this world. 

In this screenshot I switched my avatar to a black female and there i got approached right away and started a conversation. 

Here is a screenshot of me conversing with someone who I became friends with real quickly. This world I found was much more friendlier. 

This is me going into Second Life and changing my "identity " for my avatar and socializing with others. It is a final exercise from the Immersive Education course that I am taking at Boston College. The course is called Discovering Computer Graphics. For details, visit the immersive BC portal at http://ImmersiveEducation.org/@/bc

FINAL PROJECT: TESTING MY FELLOW CLASSMATES' IMMERSIVE LIBRARIES

In this screenshot I visited Ricardo Martins immersive library to see what content he posted. 

Here I took a screenshot of me in Ricardo's library viewing a video that he posted to it. 

Here I took a screenshot of the 5 videos that Ricardo posted to his library. 

Here in this screenshot I am visiting Shane's immersive library. 

here I am trying to view a video that Shane posted onto his library. 

here I stepped back and took a screenshot of the 5 videos that Shane has posted to his library. 

here is a screenshot of me visiting Julia Hoffman's immersive library. 

In this screenshot I am viewing a paper that she posted onto her library. 

Here i am viewing about four elements that Julia has created on her immersive library. 

This is me going to three of my classmates immersive libraries to view what they had done in theirs. i decided to view Ricardo's, Shane's and Julia's. I observed all of the papers and videos that they had posted and they did a great job with them. It is a final exercise from the Immersive Education course that I am taking at Boston College. The course is called Discovering Computer Graphics. For details, visit the immersive BC portal at http://ImmersiveEducation.org/@/bc

FINAL PROJECT: ADDING 10 NEW CONTENT ELEMENTS TO MY IMMERSIVE LIBRARY

In this screenshot I am adding one of the 10 contents to my immersive library. 

Here is a screenshot of 2 of my research papers that I have added to my immersive library. 

Here is a combination of a video and 2 papers that I have added onto my immersive library. 

In this screenshot i am adding another paper to my immersive library. 

Here is my final screenshot that I took of my immersive library as a whole complete with all of the papers and videos that I have added to it. 

This is me adding 10 new content elements to my immersive library on top of what I have already in my library. The goals here was to use a mix of the research papers that I have found and the videos. It is a final exercise from the Immersive Education course that I am taking at Boston College. The course is called Discovering Computer Graphics. For details, visit the immersive BC portal at http://ImmersiveEducation.org/@/bc

FINAL PROJECT: ADDING 5 PDF PAPERS TO MY IMMERSIVE LIBRARY

Here is a screenshot of me adding one of my research papers that I had gathered in the previous weeks onto my virtual world. 

Here I am adding another paper to my world. I entered the URL for the object that I created in the box to the left. 

Here is another paper that I added . In this screenshot I am controlling the page with the mouse. 

In this screenshot I added my final paper to my virtual library and I am trying to place it neatly in order near the others. 

Here I stepped back and took a screenshot of all of my papers in my library. 

This is me adding five of my research papers to my virtual world on Meshmoon. I did that by creating shapes and placing the papers in them. This is a final exercise from the Immersive Education course that I am taking at Boston College. The course is called Discovering Computer Graphics. For details, visit the immersive BC portal at http://ImmersiveEducation.org/@/bc

WebGL Chrome Experiments the FAIL IN FIREFOX

Here is an example of the fail message that I received when I tried to open the WebGL experiments on Firefox. 

It seemed that Firefox does not support WebGL so all of the experiments that I tested both of mine and my classmates failed to operate on Firefox. I would keep getting messages like the one shown above or the experiment just did not load. Below is a list of the WebGL experiments that I tested and they failed on Firefox. 

List:

JS Racing

City of Drones

Find Your Way To OZ

Racer S

Car Visualizer Classics

over the hills 

Web Copter

4irpucks

Decal Splatter

Saving Nemo

The Farm

WebGL Terrain

SPH Fluid Simulator

Artificial Neural Network

Car Visualizer

WebGL Chrome Experiments Using Google's Chrome Browser

The first WebGL Experiment that I chose was the Racer S. I chose this experiment because I really enjoyed the graphics  and the sound. 

Here is a screenshot of the racing car going around the track in a spectators view. Racer S

Here is a screenshot of the Experiment in the race car in a drivers view. Incredible graphics. Racer S

The second WebGL experiment that I chose was Car Visualizer Classics. I chose this experiment because I really enjoy looking at older model cars and this experiment you can view different older cars and choose different ones and colors. Really nice graphics. 

This is a screenshot of me viewing this 1963 car. As you can see it had amazing 3D graphics and it allows me to look around using my mouse. Car Visualizer Classics 

Here I am looking at a different car and I selected a different color as well. Here I turned the camera to the back of the car so that I can view the exhaust of this vehicle. That is what is so great about this experiment. Car Visualizer Classics 

The third and last WebGL experiment was the over the hills . I chose this one because I found the graphics and controls really interesting. It allowed me to drop the needle in a record player and then turn the handle to start the music. while the music is playing I can move the record. Amazing experiment and good music. 

Here is a screenshot of the record player before I place the needle down to start the music. over the hills 

In this screenshot the music is already playing and it allows me to move the record to alter the music. Great graphics and control. over the hills  

Final #3: Group 3D Building Project

Here I started my part of the project by constructing the house. I put a front door and a chimney on the house as well. 

Here I am making front stairs to the house. 

I am on the roof making the unit for the central air for the house. 

In this screenshot I made four solar panels for the house on the roof. 

Here I am making a side door to the house so that it can have two exits. 

This is me looking at my finished house.

This whole final is a group project. My part of the project was to make the house. My team members will be constructing the surrounding areas around the house. 

This is me working on a group project making a 3D building project. My part of the project was to construct the house . It is a final exercise from the Immersive Education course that I am taking at Boston College. The course is called Discovering Computer Graphics. For details, visit the immersive BC portal at http://ImmersiveEducation.org/@/bc

Learning Ladder work assignment

Here is a screenshot of the work that is being distributed throughout my group. 

Class 11 Leaderboard

Final #4:High Resolution Avatar

This screenshot show the option of selecting a head size for your avatar. 

In this screenshot there is an option of selecting a size for the torso. 

In this screenshot I am adding clothes to my avatar but it did not load so well on my computer but as you can see I added shoes, pants, and a shirt. 

In this screenshot I was using the eyelashes option to put different eyelashes on my avatar. 

Here I was using the option for different teeth for my avatar. 

This screenshot shows the option to select the age, gender, muscle, height, weight, and color. All of those option can be controlled totally by you. 

This screenshot shows that I can change the color clothes that I selected for my avatar. In the screenshot I am changing the color of his jeans to a darker color. 

This is me using the MakeHuman software where you can create a high resolution avatar. You have full control of the customization of the avatar from its height to how big its torso is. The visuals on this software is amazing. It is a final exercise from the Immersive Education course that I am taking at Boston College. The course is called Discovering Computer Graphics. For details, visit the immersive BC portal at http://ImmersiveEducation.org/@/bc