Flow Experience in Second Life: The Impact of Telepresence on Human-Computer Interaction

Authors:
Anthony Faiola;Olga Smyslova
Affiliations:
School of Informatics (IUPUI), Indiana University, Indianapolis, USA;M.I.N.D. Lab, Moscow M.V. Lomonosov State University, Moscow, Russia
Venue:
OCSC '09 Proceedings of the 3d International Conference on Online Communities and Social Computing: Held as Part of HCI International 2009
Year:
2009

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Abstract

Recent trends in computer-mediated communication research suggest that "flow theory" may provide new applications of understanding within the field human-computer interaction (HCI). Csikszentmihalyi [1] refers to flow as an optimal experience issuing in a feeling of psychological immersion, energized focus, absolute involvement, and change to positive emotions. This study hopes to facilitate an understanding of flow and telepresence as applied to immersive online virtual worlds such as Second Life (SL), where players may lose their sense of time and connection with their present reality of space. Our study tested two hypotheses: (1) that participants experience flow while playing SL and (2) that flow can be correlated with telepresence. Based on our findings, indicators suggest that flow was experienced in SL based on four controlling factors related to being present in a virtual world and that there are considerable correlations that can be drawn between flow and telepresence.