Living digital: embodient in virtual worlds
The social life of avatars
Massively Multiplayer Game Developemnt
Massively Multiplayer Game Developemnt
"Alone together?": exploring the social dynamics of massively multiplayer online games
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Designing Virtual Worlds
I, avatar: the culture and consequences of having a second life
I, avatar: the culture and consequences of having a second life
Defining the lines between virtual and real world purchases: Second Life sells, but who's buying?
Computers in Human Behavior
Cross-modal compensation between name and visual aspect in socially active avatars
Computers in Human Behavior
Social organization in virtual settings depends on proximity to human visual aspect
Computers in Human Behavior
Living in the Hutt Space: Immersive process in the Star Wars Role-Play community of Second Life
Computers in Human Behavior
Conditioned suppression in a virtual environment
Computers in Human Behavior
My avatar is pregnant! Representation of pregnancy, birth, and maternity in a virtual world
Computers in Human Behavior
The psychological functions of avatars and alt(s): A qualitative study
Computers in Human Behavior
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Highly immersive three-dimensional virtual worlds have emerged as a popular medium for human social interactions. These environments enable multimodal sensory engagement and provide an immersive graphical representation of physical space where users can interact via avatars. However, when compared to two-dimensional virtual settings such as chats, virtual worlds impose constraints on social interactions due to the physical distance between individuals. Using the popular platform of Second Life as a model, we examined how humans manage this interindividual distance in virtual worlds. Taking advantage of methods developed in population ecology, we investigated how avatars are distributed in relation to each other to populate a virtual world. Our results revealed a striking dichotomy in the spatial relationships between avatars. Considerable aggregation, largely independent of population density, was observed alongside surprisingly marked physical isolation. These findings demonstrate that the spatial proximity to others determines how humans inhabit virtual worlds.