Identity in the Context of Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds to many people are probably a lot of fun to use and be apart of, it is really common for a young adult of adolescent to come home at the end of the day and play any sort of video game.  There is a wide variety of video games and virtual worlds that you can join, and you can make conversation with people, or just roam around the world and do whatever you really want to do.  There is also a big factor in which some people sit at home and players actually live an alter-ego within there game.  This sort of thing raises a lot of questions in some people's eyes.  Some ask "Will this be us in 10-20 years?"  or "Could the excessiveness of  video gaming be a problem?" 

I took this screenshot above of all the possible avatars earlier from this semester when we had to sign up for Second Life.  It shows how you can pick which avatar you want to be throughout the virtual world.  Avatars play a huge role in virtual worlds, they are the things that are pretending to be you.  Meaning that every user has the control over there avatar, and they can sometimes live within their character.  In the picture above, you can see that you can choose your gender, race and height, ethnicity.  When you make an account you first pick your avatar and then if you want to further make your avatar look something like you, it is possible to do this.

I mean theres nothing wrong with having fun playing video games.  The bigger issue comes into play when people spend way to much time in virtual worlds and they become addicted to it.  As i was reading through the article i came across something that i found interesting, but a little strange at the same time.  It mentioned that a university professor from Korea, admitted to being in a virtual world and in which he used an avatar that was a little girl.  Although this was harmless, and the professor said he did not have any bad intentions, you can see that you don't know who is playing or behind these avatars and that is kinda what might creep people out.  This could definitely lead to harmful use, as if someone using the little girl and contacting younger players who play this game, as if they were one of them.  But there are endless amounts of possibilities of what might happen, some bad and some that might not be bad.

As we progress into the future there could be bad outcomes and good outcomes.  There is a new invention called the Microsoft HoloLens which brings your virtual experience to a whole new level by making it seem less virtual and more like reality.  This may cause some downfalls.  for example, we ask the question "will there ever come a day when people prefer to live a second life over a virtual headset because he or she wants everything to be easier by programming it into a headset.  To me, this is a little bit too much.  I wouldn't want to be living in a virtual world, when i can experience grater things that are in the world.  

For example, many people strive to be successful and have a great job with a family, and you have earned everything you wanted in life.  You have a mansion of house, cars that other people are jealous that you have.  Well most people if are in a virtual world, can have this with a snap of their fingers, if they want a nice car they can get it and you can also feel the car as you "virtually" drive it.  But this isn't the real world, this is a virtual world, and if you want those things then you need to put effort into getting them.  My point here is that, the question we have here is "scary" because the answer is obvious; why put effort into your job and become successful within 20 years buy a million dollar car with a million dollar house, when all you need to do is put a virtual headset on your head.  To me it seems as though the answer might be for anything you might want, and since your virtual headset can produce an entire world where you have everything you want, then why be confined to the real world?  

We don't know what the future will bring or where it will take us.  But we do know that the future of technology has a lot in store for us.  My only concern is that as people join virtual worlds, and get attached to them will they be able to distinguish whats really real and what isn't?  Will they be able to live and function in the real world rather than being in a whole other virtual world?  These are the questions that i have, that people amongst me have, although we don't have the answers to them right now, we will hopefully be able to get them soon enough.

Class 14: Examining Gender, Race, and Body Image in the Virtual World

For this assignment i used 2 different avatars to see how people responded differently.  I didn't find really any differences using two completely different people as i interchanged between 5 worlds.

First i went into a world that was called Little Sandbox.  This world is supposed to be inviting and welcoming spot for new people.  Although this wasn's exactly the case.  There were about 15 people in this world, so i waited a couple minutes thinking someone would message me, but no one did.  There was a group chat so i began responding and i was completely ignored.  As i look back at this world, i dont think it was the best world to have a discussion/conversation in.  

The 2nd world i entered into was called Blarney Stone Irish Park.  Here i didn't wait to be talked to, i actually started a conversation in the group chat with everyone and said "Hey whats up guys?" I ended up getting a response from some guy saying "Hey, christina how are you?" So i ended up saying "Good how are you?"  I waited for his response back, but then he never answered.  I did try joining into the conversation to see if anyone else would respond to me, but they did not.  I looked at the chat and what some people were talking about and they were just conversing among each other saying "oh joey your back, its nice to see you again."  I kinda felt awkward saying anything else because i wasn't really getting any answers from anyone in this world/group chat, so i ended up just leaving.

The 3rd world i entered into was called The Tabirin Music Club.  Here not that many people were present only about 6 or 7.  Like again i had the same character, and tried to talk to people.  This time i ended up just chatting with only one person not the whole group chat.  I thought that this would make a difference if i just talked to only one person, then they would maybe respond to me.  So i chatted this girl that was in this specific world with me and said "hey whats up?"  She ended up saying "Hello." But that was the extent of the conversation. 

This was the 4th world i had entered into and it was called The Dark Style Fair 2.  In this world i changed my avatar to a female african amercian.  So as in the last world above i ended up chatting one specific person.  I said the same thing "Hey whats up?" She said "Hello how are you?" Then i responded back and said "Good just hanging out." I thought she would not answer me again at this point seeming as when i was in the other 3 world no one really made and effort to talk to me.  I waited a couple seconds and then i got a notification saying that she had responded.  She said "Thats cool, same with me."  I ended up having a 5 minute conversation with her.  i asked her why people come here and what they do here, she responded saying that they come here to explore and talk to other people.  I said oh that is cool i guess, she said that some people always come here because they are lonely and they get to talk have friends on here.  She ended up asking me why i was here and i told her i had an assignment from my professor, that we had to complete.  She asked me what i had to do, and i pretty much said we have to go into different worlds, and talk to people and examine how we are treated in each world, whether we are a different color or gender.  She told me that, this was cool and good luck on my assignment. So at least she talked to me and didn't ignore me while i was in the world.

The last and final world (#5) that i was in was called Rez Nightclub.  In this world i kept the same avatar, the female african american.  I made her a bit taller, so maybe her size would make some people talk to her, it some what helped, but no one judged her.  She was wearing a black dress as you can see above and down below.  I entered a "club" virtual world expecting their to be dancing and a lot of things going on.  In this world, it told me there were 30+ people but when i got here there were only a few.  I messaged one person but got no response.  I finally messaged another person his name was Ian.  I said "Hey whats up?" He said "nothing really, where are you from?" I responded to him saying "Im from Boston, and you?" He told me he was from London, England.  He proceeded to tell me that he looked at my profile and said everything was blank and asked if i was an "alt" I was confused and didnt really know what that meant, so all i responded back was "No im not, im here doing a class assignment."  He then didn't respond to me again, and i found that a little bit weird.  But overall, i did not experience any gender, or race judgements from people in these worlds.  They either kept quiet, or didnt talk at all, or i had to automatically start the conversation myself.  It was interesting finding out information, that people like spending most of their time in virtual worlds then outside seem fun.  You kinda wonder, is this what people really do, and will it be more popular in the future?  To tell you the truth i would rather be outside in the world talking to people rather through a computer screen, i just find it a little bit weird. But i mean in the end, im not going to judge other people for what they like and don't like.

Final Project: My Boston Tea Party Ship

For this assignment i had to go into Mine Craft and into the Freedom Trail server which we used for class and build a replica of the ships from The Boston Team Party.  I added a top deck and then when you go to the back of the boat, there is a staircase leading to the bottom of the boat, which has your lower deck.  Here are some of the process screenshots i took while making my ship.

I started off by making the base of the boat with an off white kind of block.  I then added the brown cubes and building up on the base.

I then started building up more, and then added windows to the front of the boat.

Down below i added some of the cargo and tea crates on the outside of the ship.

I then proceeded and added flames to the top part of the ship.

This is just a side view of the ship, i added windows towards the bottom of the ship.

 I then added the Sails to the top of the boat making it a little bit more realistic. 

Lastly, i started building the front of the boat and then added some of the fire sticks.

This picture is the last screen shot i took in the lower level of my boat. 

This is a final project using Minecraft to build a replica of the Eleanor ship from the Boston Tea Party. 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

Boston College L.A. Competition: Jeff and Chris Video Game

Chris Choi and Jeffrey Yi two classmates of ours represented The Boston College Eagles in a video game competition in Los Angeles, California.  They were flown to L.A. and competed against other schools for $450,000 scholarship awards.  They did very well! Go Eagles! 

Final Project: Group State House

For this assignment, we worked as a class to build a replica of the Old Boston Statehouse as best as we could to scale. Working as a team things moved along rather quickly, here are some pictures of the project coming together! 

In the screen shots above i helped lay down the blocks for the wall.

These screen shots below are of some of the side views of the building coming together.

The first picture below is of the Old State House from a top view.  The second one is of the side and the last picture is of the Old Boston State House as a whole, completely finished. 

This is a final project using Minecraft to build a replica of the Old Boston Statehouse as a class. 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: Local Old Boston State House

For tis assignment, I had to create my own replica of the State House in Boston using Minecraft. I used Minecraft in single player, creative mode so I didn't have to deal with the monsters at night. The dimensions I used are 39 blocks long, 12 blocks wide and 13-16 blocks tall. These are my progress screenshots:

I flattened out a large area of land so I could start building.

I then carefully placed the blocks so it was 39 blocks long x 12 blocks wide.

Then I started to build up. I then built the roof and the windows that jut out of the roof. As well as, the tower type thing location in the middle of the roof.

Then I added the window and the balcony that's located on the front of the building.

This is the view of the back of the building.

Each side view is mirrored, they are identical.

 Here are the photos I used as a reference:

This is me building in Minecraft, emulating The Old State House in Boston, MA. 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