A workshop on: Simulation and Second Life
(loosely in conjunction with ESSA 2007)

7th September 2007 (14:00-18:00 GMT) IN Second Life

Co-Chaired by Bruce Edmonds and Aleks Krotoski

Virtual worlds provide environments for real social interaction. Many of the most popular virtual worlds are designed with specific goals or games in mind (e.g. World of Warcraft, EverQuest); however some are offered purely as social spaces with toolsets which allow users to create content, collaborate and make friends. One environment in particular has attracted a large user base, Second Life, is used for a wide variety of purposes (serious and recreational). The population has surged to over 6 million accounts, inspired by free subscriptions, unlimited online facilities and a robust collaborative network. For more information on Second Life, see http://secondlife.com

The social interaction found in such worlds is worthy of being studied and modelled, because:

·         they provide fascinating case-studies of the development of new societies with (somewhat) new norms and institutions

·         they offer useful comparisons with real-world social phenomena, showing how societies may differ given different environments to exist in

·         they may offer clues to how analogous online social phenomena can present in the real world

·         they will be a growing part of the lives of people as they become increasingly used as a medium for social and work-related activities, and hence are important to understand in their own rights

·         they allow for the "meeting" of interested academics without the need to travel for workshops and classes

Methodologically:

·         it is possible that the medium can be used as an embedded simulation using automated or human-driven avatars

·         they may allow for new methods of data collection using automated methods and artificial avatars

·         in many ways it is easier to collect data about social phenomena in such environments because of the potential for data logging, but this raises important ethical questions centred around privacy and online identity

There are three aims for this workshop:

1.       to discuss the possibility of social simulation in virtual worlds in general, and Second Life in particular

2.       to explore the ethical implications of conducting research with embodied entities (avatars)

3.       to devise techniques and tools for embodied, distributed formal collaboration from the experience of holding a workshop in a virtual world

The workshop is organised by:

(in RL) Bruce Edmonds, Centre for Policy Modelling, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M1 3GH, UK. http://bruce.edmonds.name
(in SL) wata klata, Centre for Policy Modelling (SL branch), Hyperborea, http://slurl.com/secondlife/Hyperborea/110/177/23/

(in RL) Aleks Krotoski, Department of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK http://www.surrey.ac.uk/~psp1ak
(in SL) Mynci Gorky, Social Simulation Research Lab, Hyperborea, http://tinyurl.com/y3wlat