[JVWR] CFP issue on Managerial and Commercial Applications of Virtual Worlds

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	Relaxing after a successful business deal The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (http://jvwresearch.org/) is happy to announce the call for this "Managerial and Commercial Applications" issue edited by Shu Schiller, Wright State University, USA Brian Mennecke, Iowa State University, USA Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA You can access this call directly through our website. The Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (http://www.jvwresearch.org/) is an online, open access academic journal that engages a wide spectrum of scholarship and welcomes contributions from the many disciplines and approaches that intersect with virtual worlds research. Virtual worlds ignite a continuously evolving area of study that spans multiple disciplines and the JVWR editorial team looks forward to engaging a wide range of creative and scholarly research. Motivation and Scope The intriguing potential of virtual worlds has attracted a significant amount of scholarly work in the business research domain. As much as we recognize the invaluable contribution made by scholars in this area, we also see the need for more research that can offer visionary perspectives to shape the future design and use of virtual worlds. Through the business lens, virtual worlds are often perceived to be promising yet risky and exciting yet formidable for the use and management of individual and collaborative work. Scholars and practitioners are confronted with an apparent contradiction: on the one hand, the business case for virtual worlds appears to offer great promise; while on the other hand, the observed returns and demonstrable successes are often absent or negligible. This special issue on “managerial and commercial applications” of virtual worlds aims to highlight research that makes a significant and novel contribution in theory and practice about virtual worlds in the business domain. We are seeking papers that showcase new directions for research by examining technical, behavioral, economic, and/or social perspectives of virtual worlds in organizational and business environments. In particular, we are interested in papers that enable us to better understand managerial and organizational issues associated with virtual worlds and how these environments should be designed, used, and managed for commercial and managerial purposes to enhance business value. We especially welcome innovative and creative research that enables our audience to see the new possibilities offered by the unique affordances of virtual environments. Authors are invited to submit original scholarly manuscripts that will make significant contributions to the advancement of our understanding of managerial and commercial applications as it applies to virtual worlds. We encouragediverse methodological approaches and welcome both qualitative and quantitative research studies, as well as theoretical, conceptual, and empirical studies. Possible topics include, but are not limited to: Novel and innovative design and development of managerial and commercial applications of virtual worlds The use, management, and evaluation of virtual worlds in organizational settings Individual and group behaviors in virtual worlds that are used for business purposes Process and governance of individual and collaborative group behaviors and mechanisms in virtual worlds The role of psychological and social attitudes and characteristics on behaviors, processes and outcomes in virtual worlds Ethics, privacy, security, and trust issues related to virtual worlds in the business domain Intra- and inter-organizational communication and collaboration and cultural issues in virtual worlds Business and economic models of virtual worlds Power and political issues related to individual, group, organizational, and societal behaviors in virtual worlds Commercial applications and commercialization of virtual worlds technologies and environments Submission Instructions Authors are invited to submit original scholarly papers of up to 6000 words including footnotes, references, and appendices. Interested authors should submit a two-page extended abstract by the deadline indicated below. All submissions (abstracts and papers) should be made via the JVWR publishing system (see www.jvwreserach.org > About JVWR > For Authors). All submissions will be blind reviewed. Accepted papers will be published online in the Volume 5, Number 3 (2012) of the Journal. Deadlines and Timeline Authors submit abstract: May 15, 2012 Editors return comments on abstracts: May 30, 2012 Authors submit full paper: July 1, 2012 Editors return review report and initial decision:September 1, 2012 Authors submit revised paper: October 1, 2012 Editors return final comments and decision:November 1, 2012 Authors submit final version: November 30, 2012 Publication: December 31, 2012 Connecting with AIS AMCIS 2012 Interested authors are welcome but not required to submit papers to the 'Virtual Communities and Virtual Worlds' Track at AMCIS 2012 (link below). This is a good opportunity to receive feedback and comments to enhance your paper. http://amcis2012.aisnet.org/index.php/program/tracks-and-minitracks/68 Please contact Shu Schiller shu.schiller AT wright DOT edu Brian Mennecke mennecke AT iastate DOT edu Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah fnah AT unlnotes DOT unl DOT edu

Video: Tesco: Homeplus Subway Virtual Store

Connecting the real and the virtual via on-line shopping.

[JVWR] Virtual Worlds MPEG-V and Other Standards: New Issue of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

We are happy to announce the publication of: Volume 4, Number 3: MPEG-V and Other Standards The editorial team for this issue includes: Jean H.A. Gelissen, Philips Research, Netherlands Marius Preda, Insitut TELECOM, France Samuel Cruz-Lara, LORIA (UMR 7503) / University of Lorraine, France Yesha Sivan, Metaverse Labs and the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, Israel This issue focuses on standards for virtual worlds, with special relation to MPEG-V, the ISO standard for connecting within virtual worlds as well as to real worlds. Managing Editor’s Corner: Celebrating Four Years and Planning for the Next Yesha Y. Sivan Issue Editors' Corner: The Current and Future Angles of Standards Jean H.A. Gelissen, Marius Preda, Samuel Cruz-Lara, Yesha Y. Sivan The Metaverse1 Case: Historical Review of Making One Virtual Worlds Standard (MPEG-V) Jean H.A. Gelissen, Yesha Y. Sivan Standards in Virtual Worlds Virtual Travel Use Case Metaverse1 Project José Manuel Cabello, José María Franco, Antonio Collado, Jordi Janer, Samuel Cruz-Lara, David Oyarzun, Albert Armisen, Roland Geraerts Teleportation of Objects between Virtual Worlds: Use Case: Exer-gaming Marco Otte, Loren Roosendaal, Johan F. Hoorn Assistive Technology Interoperability between Virtual and Real Worlds Alice Krueger, Margaret Grace Stineman Associating Automatic Natural Language Processing to Serious Games and Virtual Worlds Treveur Bretaudière, Samuel Cruz-Lara, Lina María Rojas Barahona Improving Reusability of Assets for Virtual Worlds while Preserving 3D Formats Features Rozenn Bouville Berthelot, Thierry Duval, Jérôme Royan, Bruno Arnaldi Virtual Hybrid Communications – A Telecom Infrastructure for the Metaverse Vincent Verdot, Adel Saidi Modeling the Metaverse: A Theoretical Model of Effective Team Collaboration in 3D Virtual Environments Sarah van der Land, Alexander P. Schouten, Bart van den Hooff, Frans Feldberg Let me conclude with few editorial notes. We were joined by Tzafnat Shpak as the Coordinating Editor (she is on the Reply line) We have started to fine tune our reviewers list. We have an initial journal plan for the next two years with firm editors to 50% of the issues. We have started to review our publishing policy for 2012. Join us in our Facebook page: look for Journal of Virtual Worlds Research Wishing you all Happy Holidays, Tzafnat Shpak Coordinating Editor Journal of Virtual Worlds Research   Dr.Yesha Y. Sivan Managing Editor Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

13-Dec-2011: The University of Hong Kong: Identity 3D3C: Confronting the Security and Privacy, Challenges in Virtual Worlds

                          ** Seminar **

     Department of Computer Science
       The University of Hong Kong
___________________________________________________________________

Title:       Identity 3D3C: Confronting the Security and Privacy
             Challenges in Virtual Worlds

Speaker:     Dr Yesha Sivan
             Head of Information Systems Program
             School of Management and Economy
             Tel-Aviv-Yaffo Academic College

Date & Time: December 13, 2011, Tuesday, 2:00pm

Venue:       Room 313, Chow Yei Ching Building,
             The University of Hong Kong


Abstract:

Virtual worlds are an emerging medium that is constantly creeping into 
the enterprise. Following the huge success of such gaming worlds as 
World of Warcraft, The Sims, and others, terms like 3D, avatars, chat, 
and real money are rising from the marketing department, operations, and 
product development. The drive to save travel costs and the need to gain 
new customers and retain current ones push this trend even further.  To 
distance virtual worlds from the gaming worlds, coined the term “3D3C,” 
to indicate that a real virtual world is an aggregate of four factors 
(3D, Community, Creation, and Commerce).
Initial enterprise uses of virtual worlds include collab¬oration 
(internally and externally), product design and feedback, marketing of 
products, participation in virtual shows and exhibitions, and — with 
growing intensity — general experimentation. But while virtual worlds 
present new business opportunities, they also pose new IT threats:
• For faster access, virtual worlds use different ports and protocols
  than Web sites and thus present firewall issues.
• Some worlds allow code to run in them, which raises the risks of
  malicious code.
• When customers “chat” with an enterprise rep, they may reveal private
  information. Who stores this information, and how?
• Some worlds allow video to be broadcast inside the world. Cameras
  left on can transmit to the outside world.
• Your brand and corporate image can spread virtually. Who will protect
  it?
The security and privacy issues raised by virtual worlds revolve around 
one key factor: identity. Over the last few years, I have been fortunate 
enough to initiate and participate in several efforts to develop 
standards for 3D3C virtual worlds. Repeatedly during these efforts, 
terms like privacy, authentication, trust, rights, tracking, security, 
and other related terms came up as a necessary core to virtual worlds. 
For the sake of brevity, my colleagues and I chose “identity” as the 
term to mark these related terms.
The talk will start with  these challenge as a starting point : Security 
of Audience, Anonymity, Virtual Goods, and Scams.
We will conclude with a discussion on a broad research agenda in the field.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Yesha Sivan is the head of the Information Systems Program 
(http://is.mta.ac.il) at the School of Management and Economy at the 
Tel-Aviv-Yaffo academic college (http://www.mta.ac.il). He is also the 
founder of Metaverse Labs (MVL) - a leading think tank focusing on 
connecting virtual and real worlds. Dr. Sivan professional experience 
includes developing and deploying innovative solutions for corporate, 
hi-tech, government, and defense environments (see for example: the 
Harvard 9-Keys for Knowledge Infrastructure). He published numerous 
papers in the areas of Strategy and IT, knowledge, 3D3C virtual worlds, 
and standards. Dr. Sivan received his doctorate from Harvard University. 
His avatar is Dera Kit, and his blog ishttp://www.dryesha.com. He has 
taught EMBA, MBA, engineering and design in the areas of strategic value 
of IT, the emergence of virtual worlds, and software development in 
virtual worlds.


All are Welcome!
Tel: 2859 2180 for enquiries
http://www.cs.hku.hk/seminars/

05-Dec-2011: JVWR @ ICIS 2011. The Journal of Virtual World Research will host: VW for Learning: The IBM China Perspective

As part of our outreach work, the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research will host a morning get-together at the ICIS Shanghai Conference.  Meeting will occur on :

Monday Dec 5th: 7:30 AM-8:30 AM 5F
Shanghai International Convention Center

This meeting is hosted by the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (http://jvwresearch.org/). The managing editor (Dr. Yesha Sivan) will open with a short review on the field, and the Journal. We will then turn to members to discuss publication and editorship opportunities. We will then to hear new focus and insights.

• Chair: Dr. Yesha Sivan, managing editor of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research. Tel Aviv, Israel.
• Special guest will be Yiqing (Anthony) He, Senior Learning Specialist - Manager, IBM Center for Advanced Learning. Beijing, China. 
• Discussant: Marco De Marco, on building a new discipline. Professor of organization and information systems Università Guglielmo Marconi, Roma, Italy.

Abstract
Virtual Worlds for Learning: The IBM China Perspective

IBM has officially debuted on the virtual worlds business since 2007, and ever since learning has been one of the mainstream applications of virtual worlds inside IBM. With the advancement of some newly emerged 3D virtual world platforms, we believe it could mean a perfect storm for learning by leveraging on the virtual worlds and social computing technologies. 

In order to provide the thought leadership and develop best practices for learning within a virtual social environment, IBM 3D Immersive Learning Center of Excellence (3DIL CoE) was formed in 2008. Built upon the abundant collective experience from both internal and external teams who have engaged in virtual world learning, the IBM 3DIL CoE has developed some reusable assets and templates for designing and developing learning programs, activities, and events. 

Different countries may have different adoption level of learning within a virtual social environment. The comparatively poor bandwidth conditions and low configuration of laptop are the top two reasons that keep some employees from India and China away from such innovative learning opportunities.

Despite the technical constraints, business owners in IBM China have embraced the virtual world learning with great enthusiasm. So far it has been piloted in pillars such as professional development, technical development, and even leadership training courses. The format of the application ranges from smart workplace, business simulation, collaborative learning, new employee orientation, speed mentoring, posters session, and events such as virtual world graduation ceremony. 

About Yi Qing He
Yiqing He (Yiqing Hereter, SL) is a senior learning designer and developer with the 3D Immersive Learning CoE. He is responsible for designing and developing reusable learning assets, coaching and enabling best practices, and leading the business transformation with 3D virtual world learning in IBM.

Yiqing has diverse and seasoned experience in designing and developing technology-enhanced learning products, ranging from digital textbook, interactive learning games, simple e-learning courses, to college-wide curriculum design, LMS implementation, and LCMS solution design and development. Prior to joining IBM, Yiqing worked with many multinational teams and corporations in the e-learning industry. The most successful project he led was a $4 million project co-sponsored by US Department of Education and China Ministry of Education, with 15 team members working for 2.5 years.

Yiqing was hired by IBM in early 2008 into the GCG HR Learning team as an advisory learning specialist. Beginning October of that year, he joined IBM Center for Advanced Learning and became one of the core members of the 3D Immersive Learning CoE. Yiqing quickly adopted the design skills for 3D virtual world learning, and successfully led several pilot products in both Active Worlds and Second Life platforms, including Blue Pathway, G100 Club, Blue Team Beyond Boundaries, and IBM Learning Center Island. Yiqing has also evangelized about best practices on 3D virtual world learning to more than three thousand IBMers, including GCG HR Learning facilitators, ISC DE mentors and mentees, ISSC ADM Sharenet participants, and GCG technical group Sharenet participants.

Nov 8-10, 2011: 100 Free Invites to W3C Global Social Jam Virtual Conference (with IBM)

Register to participate at: http://www.w3.org/2011/socialbusiness-jam/

This is a cool opportunity to learn about Social Business, get to know people from all over the world
and participate in the famous IBM Jam engine. (For those who are more interested in Jam -- see Harvard Business item on Value Jam (BTW, I will be hosting part of the jam for few hrs on the 9th, follow the plan).



The W3C Social Business Jam is an online conversation among an international group of leaders from business, government and academia about the current state of social business and the future role social technologies can play in improving the bottom line for companies.

* What does it mean to have a social network in the organization?
* Shell I allow my employees to use Facebook in work?
* My clients already "check-in" into my site every time they come to get service?
* Can I use my internal network with my clients?
* What are some of the circles I should worry about (Employees, Alums, customers, partners, suppliers, etc)

The Jam should produce a better understanding for participants on how businesses are using social technologies and the challenges they face integrating the technologies into their existing environments. Participants can interact with a variety of experts on six different topics around social business and are encouraged to ask questions and state their opinions as these topics are discussed.

The Jam transcends time zones and geographic boundaries by using an online discussion format available 24 hours day from virtually any browser.

Learn more about the Jam, see the special guests and hosts leading the discussions, and register to participate at: http://www.w3.org/2011/socialbusiness-jam/

More About IBM's Jam:

Since 2001, IBM has used jams to involve its more than 300,000 employees around the world in far-reaching exploration and problem-solving. ValuesJam in 2003 gave IBM's workforce the opportunity to redefine the core IBM values for the first time in nearly 100 years. During IBM's 2006 Innovation JamTM - the largest IBM online brainstorming session ever held - IBM brought together more than 150,000 people from 104 countries and 67 companies. As a result, 10 new IBM businesses were launched with seed investment totaling $100 million.

Jams are not restricted to business. Their methods, tools and technology can also be applied to social issues. In 2005, over three days, the Government of Canada, UN-HABITAT and IBM hosted Habitat Jam. Tens of thousands of participants - from urban specialists, to government leaders, to residents from cities around the world - discussed issues of urban sustainability. Their ideas shaped the agenda for the UN World Urban Forum, held in June 2006. People from 158 countries registered for the jam and shared their ideas for action to improve the environment, health, safety and quality of life in the world's burgeoning cities.