The Cat in the Hat is a Brain in a Vat...

We didn't get much of a chance to talk about the 'Brain in a Vat' hypothesis during our brief discussion of models of cyberspace in Week 1, so I thought I'd pop it in here. (bit of light relief during your revision, etc, etc) :) It's a pretty simple notion really and you're probably all very familiar with it from films such as The Matrix and Vanilla Sky (I don't think I mentioned that Vanilla Sky has my favourite film quote of all time...."I'll tell you in another life....when we're both cats" Just a small 'aside', there).....So....here it is.; 'Bain in a Vat 101' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_in_a_vat. Opinions?

While you're rolling that one around, combine the possibility with this about 'mirror neurons' http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/ramachandran06/ramachandran06_index.html .......and consider this scenario. You're in a synthetic world (like SL) with your avatar. You've had this online persona / visual representation of you for many moons....and suddenly you're 'physically' attacked by others there and the avatar is subjected to pain. The avatar of a friend of yours is attacked too. Would the mirror neurons in your anterior cingulate fire more at the sight of 'you' being attacked? Would the firing rate approximate that of you being actually physically attacked.? Would this depend on level of assimilation of the avatar persona into your offline persona? Am I rambling or might this be damned interesting neurocyberpsychology PhD of the future. Probably rambling.......as per :)

So I suppose I should tell you....

.....about this fantastic library of cyberpsychology articles that I found on SL? It belongs to a PhD student from University of Surrey (Yes, we Brits do it the best :D) and contains links to articles by all the major players on all the stuff we've covered on the course, plus access to some e-journals, including Susan Herring's 'Journal of Computer Mediated Communication' (which is a veritable mine of delicious information). It also has links to their personal webpages, online references sources and advice on doing internet research. It's called the
'Social Simulation Research Lab' and is well worth a visit. The address (to type into the teleport location under 'Map' in SL) is : Hyperborea 190, 104, 23. For you non-SLers I'm putting a link to all the library resources onto WebCT too.....but DO try to check it out in person within SL and then you can complete the survey that the guy from Surreyhas put there for his PhD data. (Very soon YOU might be struggling to get people to provide data for your PhD!)

gender & deception

10 minute video which illustrates what we've covered in class about gender and deception . I don't want to say exactly what it is in case I spoil it but it's relevant and worth watching (warning: it has lots of graphic sex talk so don't watch it if that's an issue)

Link to the video

Mr T2

this is "me" in secondlife. I think the resemblance is quite good. I pity the fool who thinks otherwise.

Talking about 'immersion'

....and why it is more likely to occur in 3DVRs, I just came across this in a SL blog (from the Sim Teach site):

When form trumps function
Brent Lawson with the Hamilton Spectator in Ontario, Canada writes in a one-page article: “Not everyone is a fan (of SL). McMaster University professor Robert Hamilton says Second Life ‘fails miserably’ on several levels. ‘It does not really suspend my disbelief, it does not draw me into the experience. The graphics are really low quality, and that’s really important. ‘It’s like a Fisher Price-level entrance into this kind of stuff,’ said Hamilton, part of the multimedia department.’

Hamilton’s point has been scientifically examined in The Media Equation and the finding don’t agree."We CANNOT HELP OURSELVES from being emotionally immersed in these environments. Period. The visual “fidelity” bears no relation to this fact. This mindset is a stark example of form over function. IMHO - The more important goal is locus of control. For instance, I find it totally frustrating to BELIEVE I’m in a place with other people but then not be able to control my environment in the same ways I can in “meat space.” Proof of this urge to recreate traditional social affordances comes in Nick Yee’s recent piece about gaze aversion (PDF File) conducted in SL.

So I went dancing the other night....

.....at Castle Loughrigg Club in SL. Why do I tell you this monumental cybernews? Because I think it was the first time I could honestly say I was "lost in cyberspace".We've talked about 'immersion' in cyberspace and varying levels of it but this was the first time that I actually felt myself very saliently dissociating. Let me set the scene. I randomly clicked on a location on the World Map as it seemed to have loads of people at it. I'd been wandering Campus SL and picking up lots of worthy notecards re. educational tools, etc but felt a bit lonely there (only one other guy wandering and browsing). So I "tp'ed" (teleported :p) to the Loughrigg place. When I got there I was pretty blown away. A fully fledged club; live DJ, light shows, magic floor, dance animations dotted around so that whereever you step while the music is playing you do the appropriate moves....cocktail bar with waiter....hosts to welcome you and about...hmmm....30 people dancing.

Where does the immersion aspect come in? Well a question....Why did, after a couple of hours of being there, listening to the DJ, talking to other people and dancing did I feel my attentional focus totally projected to 'that space' rather than the sitting room where I was typing? I guess it's that dissociation thing. And it's weird when you experience it and know you are. You kind of slip in and out of 'here' and 'there'. I found myself not only singing to the music but also dancing RL on he puter chair! I was TRULY 'into' that sector of cyberspace.

The power of combined auditory and visual feedback? Maybe... The fact that I was engaging in an action too (the dancing) also wove 'reality' into the fantasy? Well, it was something that I was doing 'there' that I could mirror in RL.

Certainly has given me something to think about the past couple of days. I don't think the invisibility affordance of cyberspace is going to hold its power (or the SAME power) for very much longer. And the synthetic 'visibility' will evolve our model of cyber-selves and our experiences there.

Try it....

Deb

Second Life Bits

Morning :)

I've been trawling around SL (thinking of doing a research project there. More about that some time soon) secifically looking at the region called 'The Campus' where a number of educational institutions (eg Harvard and Stanford in the US and Surrey, Derby, Uni of Wales, Paisley and the OU over here)have 'learning centres'. These vary from wholescale 'virtual unis' to single classroom settings and projects. The Campus has massive Libraries and Resource centres and some social spaces too. Quite a few of the campuses are restricted to the institutions students only but quite a lot are open access. I thought you might like to have a look. This is the URL for SL Education Wiki on which you can see a list of some of the SL education projects and classes. http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki ....and here's the easiest route to get to the Campus.http://slurl.com/secondlife/Campus/154/140/28/

Take a look around and let me know what you think about it and its potential for our Uni?

Oh, and lets see pics of your avatars there! As I said, I'd like to compile a virtual yearbook of the Class of 2006 (garbed in the avatar finest while snooping around SL) Here's one of Hetty Harlequin exploring Campus (and apparently she stumbled down the rabbit hole into Wonderland!)

Debbie