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Abstract
As a pilot project of the "human-centric communication" center of innovation at TUB, the issue of collaborative and content-based navigation in user-generated, virtual 3D worlds is targeted. The concrete example is Second Life. Technical environments like these are considered to present a great challenge for computer science, but also in social and economic respect. Questions are: How do users make sense of, and how do they navigate and interact in these environments? Can tagging be considered as a working solution for the problem of orientation in virtual worlds? And which kind of tools can support users in these environments in a suitable way?
As a pilot project, the main objective is to show the fruitfulness of a tightly coupling of research in computer science and sociology, both in conceptual and methodological respect. An existing navigation tools from NI is enhanced by using input from usability and requirements studies with probands from the field. Moreover, a basic framework for orientation practices in virtual environments is developed.
Goals of the project are the development of a demonstrator and writing the proposal of a full-fledged interdisciplinary project.
Contact: Martin Meister ((meister[at]ztg.tu-berlin.de), Phone: 314-24616
