Vi t l W ldVirtual Worlds as an Innovative Collaboration Media for Distributed Work
Marko Hakonen | Project Manager of VIIWE -Virtual Worlds as Innovative Working Environments project
A k i i ll b i i h A work in progress in collaboration with Petra Bosch-Sijtsema, Johanna Haapamäki and Anu Sivunen
Motivation
• Based on findings of review by Sivunen & Hakonen (In press). Review of Virtual Environment Studies on Social and Group Phenomena. Small Group Research.– Lack of research in professional settings academic andLack of research in professional settings academic and
practical novelty
• Virtual worlds (VWs) could be an emerging media for di t ib t d kdistributed work– Fun is not opposite to serious work (Reeves & Read, 2009)!
Research Question and Definition
RQ:How virtual worlds can support innovative collaboration process in distributed work?
D fi itiDefinition:By innovative collaboration in VW we mean new or improved ways of collaboration that takes place in a 3Dimproved ways of collaboration that takes place in a 3D virtual environment.
Methods
1. Literature review on VW collaboration and on innovation and creativity in VWs (41 articles)• The references to distributed work are often indirect
2 Interviews (N = 47) of company representatives using2. Interviews (N = 47) of company representatives using VWs plus VW vendors and experts • Analyzed from the viewpoint of use in distributed work
• This presentation: Comparison of current literature claims (empirical or speculative) vs our interviewclaims (empirical or speculative) vs. our interview data.
Model
1. Psychological and behavioral enablers of
innovative collaboration
3. Forms of innovativecollaboration
innovative collaboration
collaboration
2. Technological features as enablers offeatures as enablers of innovative collaboration
1 Psychological and Behavioral1. Psychological and Behavioral Enablers of Innovative Collaboration
Psychological ProcessesLiterature• Immersion, engagement and
Interviews• “It almost feels magical when two
co-presence are necessary for successful VW collaboration.(e.g., Helms et al., 2010; Reeves & Read, 2009; Sallnäs, 2005)
people are placed in a virtual room, they seem to lose all sense of everything around them.”
• “You can build trust faster [in VW]• Avatar based collaboration
increases trust and is related to positive attitudes. (e.g., Bente et al.,
• You can build trust faster [in VW] than in a telephone call and, in part, that’s because each of us can see the actions of each other.”
2008; Hindmarsh et al., 2006; Diehl & Prins, 2008) • “They may pay attention a little bit more and are not multitasking.”
• Avatars based interaction lowered b i f l t t lk tbarriers for people to talk to strangers.
Match and enrichment: Collaboration in VW was seen to inhibit multitasking. Psychological safety can help people in distributed collaborationPsychological safety can help people in distributed collaboration.
Behavior – Proxemics as a SignalLiterature• Non-verbal communication has
Interviews• Not found in interviews!
a strong potential to enhance interaction. (Antonijevic, 2008)
• Persons hold an interpersonal distance that is typical for them in real life also between avatars and distance signals e.g., liking
j dior prejudice. (Bailenson et al., 2003; Bailenson et al., 2008; Yee et al., 2007; Dotsch & Wigboldus, 2008)
Mismatch: Personal space, which affects proxemics was hard to be conscious of. Moreover, persons are not as good
at perceiving their behavior as their feelings.p g g
2 Technological Enablers of Innovative2. Technological Enablers of Innovative Collaboration
AvatarsLiterature• Avatar-task alignment
h t k f
Interviews• VENDORS: “So for business, a
i t l b i tienhances task performance.(Teigland et al., 2010)
• Possibilities to manipulate avatars has positive effects on
virtual business meeting, people try to dress their avatar according to the type of situations.” “The more realistic p
creativity. (Ward and Sonneborn, 2009)
• Avatars that are similar to people are liked. (Bailenson & Yee, 2005;Nowak & Rauh 2005; Yee &
it looks to what you actually look in real life, the better it is.”
• “Sometimes the avatar is l t l i l t ”2005;Nowak & Rauh, 2005; Yee &
Bailenson, 2009)
• Avatar customization is the way to shape one’s virtual identity.
completely irrelevant.”• “I wanted to display my Celtic
heritage … I use kilt.”(Talamo & Ligorio, 2001)
Mixed: Alignment and liking aspects were mostly confirmed by VW vendors. Some users considered avatar appearance as trivial and pp
some used it to build their virtual identity.
Import of 3D ObjectsLiterature• Useful for collaborative design.
(Gu and Tsai 2010)
Interviews• “You create this 3D
t ti f th d t d(Gu and Tsai, 2010)
• Becomes more important as VWs develop. (Ahma-aho et al., 2011 = next presentation)
representation of the data and you have the team of experts from around the globe, their avatars are there, and then ,they walk around the 3D image and they say, what is this over here…”VW i t h l t• VW environment can help to visualize models, drawings, objects, and data in 3D which is more difficult when using moremore difficult when using more traditional media for distributed work.
Match of growing importanceMatch of growing importance.
Physical Clues Help Collaboration Literature• The potential of VWs to embed
Interviews• For professional distributed
a shared place with symbolic meaning (e.g., seating) makes them superior to other remote-
h ll b ti
collaboration, the security and authentication of people in the VW were necessities in order to
k t th “Y ksynchronous collaboration platforms. (Larach and Cabra, 2010)
• Personalization of environment k i h
work together: “You know, you meet there with your company names [above avatars]. People are much more confident ”work experience enhances
creativity and make each person’s own experience more engaging (W d & S b 2009)
are much more confident…
engaging. (Ward & Sonneborn, 2009)
Partial match and enrichment: The symbolic meaning was not strongly perceived and personalization was related to securityperceived and personalization was related to security.
3 Forms of Innovative Collaboration3. Forms of Innovative Collaboration
Co-creationLiterature• Visual, auditory and haptic
d b tt i l
Interviews• “Concurrent activity allows
l t f d ff f hcues and better social presence make VWs better platforms of co-creation than old tools (Kohler et al., 2009; Teigland et
people to feed off of each other. And that’s really where the productivity—or the creativity in a brainstorming ( , ; g
al., 2010)
• Playful elements of VWs contribute to creativity (Kohler, Füller, Stieger, & Matzler, 2010)
y gsession comes from.”
• “Teams create things, leave them, and then expect them to b difi d b th t tFüller, Stieger, & Matzler, 2010) be modified by the next team who’s going to come along and modify them and play with them and leave them. This is a newand leave them. This is a new team practice.”
Partial match and enrichment: Cues are not seen as so crucial as in literature and also asynchronous co creation was emphasizedand also asynchronous co-creation was emphasized.
TrainingLiterature• Major reason for using VWs:
Interviews• “I’m going to be presenting, and
e.g. new recruits are trained in VWs by current and retired employees (e.g., Pollitt, 2007)
this is really hard to do. And then they were getting feedback that was right away. Th t d t t d• Simulations are used in training
medicine, history and cross-cultural skills (Protopsaltis et al., 2010; Zielke et al 2009)
They wanted to try over and over and over again.”
• Many notions of benefits of VW i di l d id tZielke et al., 2009)
• 3D multiplayer games teach business skills (O’Connor & Menaker, 2008; Reeves et al., 2008; Reeves & Read,
VWs in medical and accident simulations that couldn’t be done in real life (e.g., fire in oil-drilling rig shore and off shore; , ; ,
2009) drilling rig – shore and off-shore distribution).
Partial match: Gaming was not (yet) acknowledgedPartial match: Gaming was not (yet) acknowledged.
Small and Large Meetings etc…Literature• Not dominant trends in the VW
lit t !
Interviews• Many saw the benefits of VWs
literature! in meetings without limitations due to time-zones, geographical boundaries or b d d t f t liburdens and costs of traveling.
• “We’ve used VWs within our big annual meeting. We set up
bi ti th ta big meeting space so that people could with people they hadn’t connected with through the year ”the year.
• Used for knowledge sharing and as a knowledge repository.
Major enrichments to the VW literature!
ConclusionsConclusions
Expanded Model of Innovative Distributed VW CollaborationDistributed VW Collaboration
1. Psychological and behavioral
3. Forms of innovative collaboration
y genablers of innovative collaboration• Immersion, engagement and co-presence are important but so is psychological safety• Trust can develop in VWs better than with more
• Different cues were not seen as so crucial for co-creation as in the literature
traditional tools• However, proxemic behaviors were not seen as signals
• Both synchronous asynchronous co-creationwere emphasized.• Training and simulation are majors drives fordistributed workers to use VWs but lessons from 3D games were not acknowledged.
2. Technological features as enablers of innovative collaboration• Avatars were modified for virtual identity purposes
3D games were not acknowledged.• Literature has not discussed as much the benefits of VWs in distributed meetings, in organizing large events and in the use ofVWs in knowledge storing and sharing asour interviewees did• Avatars were modified for virtual identity purposes
but they were not seen as important as in the literature• Import of 3D objects will be increasingly important• The symbolic meaning of physical clues was not so strongly stressed as in the literature
our interviewees did.
• VW personalization was related to security.
Future Directions
• There are numerous potential benefits of VWs for innovative distributed collaboration!
M h i di t ib t d k tti i d d• More research in distributed work settings is needed• This is possible when more companies use VWs• The major obstacles to wider VW use are technological• The major obstacles to wider VW use are technological
problems, such as adaptation, usability and safety (Bosch-Sijtsema & Sivunen, In review)
• More about VW platforms in next presentation!
