Identity in the Context of Virtual Worlds

For this assignment I read two articles about identity in virtual worlds. Some of what I read was surprising and some of it referenced what I had already assumed about virtual worlds or witnessed while in one. I did however disagree in some small parts about the virtual world environment. Virtual worlds are unique in that your avatar is the image people int he world see you as. In the world you could be a skinny blonde in a tight dress and in real life you could be completely opposite. 

The cool part of this is that everyone can be confident when they are in the world. Many people choose to be what they think others want them to be. While there are options for "vampires" and other abnormal avatars many people choose to take on the persona of the skinny blonde in a tight dress or the tall dark haired muscular guy. In the real world they may not be that but they express how they want to be inside this world which is actually pretty cool.

In virtual worlds many people can connect on the same level. While on SecondLife just yesterday a girl in the world was chatting about not being socially accepted and hating the labels she is given. Many people responded agreeing to this and it showed me a side of the world that I had not thought of. Many of the people who want to "be someone else" in the world and use their avatar to express this are not accepted for who they really are which can be sad. I have to say thought, people aren't always the nicest in these worlds either. Maybe because in this world they are the "cool kid" and some may treat others how they are treated because that's how they wish they could be in the real world.

Thought the virtual world is your oyster and it's a free world, the social norms of the real world are extremely present inside. Avatars used are usually within conventional standard of attractiveness. People use their body and flirt to get what they want. I entered a beach only to find out it was a nude adult beach. Everyone was naked and talking sexually. In this way I don't agree that it is a learning tool. I think that it may be a way to personally express oneself but that it is not that educational. People in the world can be crude and half of it is very sexual. 

I did agree however that the worlds can be helpful for those who need to express their true self. If in the real world you can't be a hot blonde at a club or a funny guy or even a vampire, you can in the Virtual World and though it may not be for me, I don't see how it could be bad for others to express themselves in the way they want. Though I thought many of the people could have been a bit more accepting it seems as if they have a good thing going with actual friend groups within the virtual world. You could be friends with people across the world and meet some pretty cool people! 

Final Project: My Boston Tea Party Ship

For this assignment I built a boat in Minecraft modeled off of the Boston Tea Party. I started at the edge of the land and made a strip into the water out of spruce wood. I decided to use spruce wood for most of my boat because it felt most realistic. Making the bottom curved part of the boat was challenging without round objects but I think I made it work pretty well. 

 After adding layer upon layer of spruce wood blocks I then added in a floor that would be the base for the lower deck. I also wanted to add a little more style to the boat so I used stone blocks to create the next layers for the sides of the boat. 

I decided to add a bow type thing sticking off the end because that's what they had in the pictures. I made it out of Iron blocks at first but did not like the way this looked. I then changed the bow of the ship to stone which matched the new layer of the side of the boat. I also added in windows for some natural light to flow through to the lower deck. 

Next I used the fence as the mast of the ship. I built two of them. I added the white iron to the mast to make it look more like sails.

I added more layering to the walls of the second floor. I also added chests for storage and torches because once the ceiling was placed despite the windows there would be less natural light on the lower deck. 

Next I built the upper deck! I used the spruce wood for the floor and the stone for the sides. I added many chests. I also added a hole for the masts to go through from the second level. 

 Below is a photo of the lower deck once the roof is on. It's much darker than before but I think the windows and torches work pretty well. 

I removed a few blocks in the middle of the upper deck so you can get to the lower deck. I put ladders on each side of the cut out and it's easily accessible. 

 This is the finished product: 

This is me building a boat modeled after a Boston Tea Party ship in Minecraft. 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.

Examining Gender, Race and Body Image in a Virtual World

 For this assignment I used different avatars to see how people responded differently. I found some differences however none too substantial.

First I went into a virtual world that was considered an accepting spot for newcomers. I waited a while for people to message me but no one did. I began responding in the group chat but was ignored.  I think that this world or "destination" was not the best spot to try to chat with others. Everyone in the world was considered a newcomer and therefore did not know how to respond. I finally messages a guy to see how he would respond. He responded shortly after seeming confused and asking me questions about how to use his avatar.  I of course did not know all of the answers. I messaged a few others but no one got back to me. After I left the world someone messaged me asking if I wanted to see them and I said I left and they said "okay next time". It was all sort of odd.

 After the non responsive environment I had just been in I decided to try again with he same avatar only in a virtual world that was considered a "hot spot for chatting". This was definitely a more chatty world. It was an Irish Pub. The people in it were.. unusual to say the least. First I attempted to involve myself in the group chat. I also messaged a guy, I thought might respond best to my avatar (because I was using a pretty girl avatar). The guy responded but not very energetically. I began reading the group chat. A guy referred to himself as an anti social psychopath and said that's what "they" call him. I asked who calls him that and he said all of his friends. A girl responded "I hate labels". The conversation was odd and kind of uncomfortable. It became clear that the kind of people in this chat were needy for any kind of social interaction.

The next world I teleported to was in London. I changed my avatar to an African American male. People were just standing around not really doing much. No one was even chatting really. I messaged a couple of people (a few females and a male). The male got back to me and we had a short chat but he stopped responding. To one of the women I said "Hey" to which she responded "Hey." I then asked what she was up to and she responded "???". Being a girl myself I understood what that meant. It was basically "Why are you talking to me?!". Conversations were definitely not as well received under this avatar.

Finally I changed my avatar to a female African American. She was very attractive and wearing a tight black dress. I entered a "club" virtual world expecting there to be dancing and a lot going on. Though it said there were 30+ people in the world I only found a few people. I messaged two of these people and got no response. One of the men seemed to be "checking my avatar out" but never messaged me back so I was not sure what to make of that. 

I decided to make my avatar shorter and see if anyone responded differently. There were only two people nearby and they still did not reply to my messages. No one was in the group chat. I waited for a response but never got one.

In one of the worlds I did see a girl in a wheelchair. Though I could not figure out how to put myself in a wheelchair I watched how she was interacting with others to see if she was being treated any differently.  She actually seemed to be having better luck interacting with others than I was. All in all it was kind of cool to see that people actually use these online worlds to be whatever version of themselves they want to be. 

Jeff and Chris Video Game

Chris and Jeff represented Boston College Eagles in a Video Game competition. They were flown to LA and competed in this competition. They did very well!

Final Project: Group Statehouse

This is the beginning of building the Old State House.  It took a while to collaborate on this because the building is not very large/diverse. 

We used 39 by 12 by 14-16 for the dimensions. 

First we started using stone for the material on the steeple but then we realized it was whiter in real life so we used a sandstone block. We also added in glass windows into the steeple. 

The windows were a process because we put so many. We added in a slate to the bottom of each window pane. We worked throughout the night on this with the night vision potion. 

The roof was pretty detailed and intricate. It was hard to find the materials that most resembled the actual roof but we did the best we could. 

This is me and others in my class 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