Australasian Virtual Worlds Workshop 2008

Introduction

A growing number of innovative and enthusiastic researchers, educators and practitioners around the globe are exploring the potential of 3D virtual worlds.  Platforms such as Second Life and Vast Park are emerging as the tools of the future for business and education. The Australasian Virtual Worlds Workshop (AVWW-08) is an opportunity for these researchers, educators and practitioners to exchange their ideas, knowledge and visions for the future.

The workshop will be hosted by Swinburne University of Technology with guest speakers including Larry Johnson (CEO of New Media Consortium), Bruce Joy (CEO of Vast Park), Chris Collins (Director of Enterprise Business Systems of Linden Lab) and Keren Flavell (Exec Producer SLCN.TV). The event builds on the successful 'Discover Your Second Life' workshop hosted at Monash last December with panels chaired by Australian Film TV and Radio School (AFTRS) and IBM and guest speakers from leading Australian universities and TAFE colleges. ‘Discover Your Second Life’ was a mixed reality event with people attending in both the real and virtual environments, AVWW continues this theme.

Purpose of the Event

The aim of the workshop is to build local capacity in virtual world expertise that connects with global practice and research. It brings virtual world researchers, educators and industry partners together with invited experts to share knowledge and experience and to foster relationships for the future. Ideas and relationships will be developed through our series of theme-based discussion panels.

Presenters have submitted abstracts, presentations and panel proposals.  Discussion panels consist of 4 presenters participating with an audience to present and debate ideas and answer questions (similar to the ABC’s Question and Answer program). Participants who wish to publish their ideas will have the opportunity to submit papers to a special issue of a journal after the workshop.

Date, Time & Cost

Date:     Friday 28^th and Saturday 29^th November 2008

Time:    8.00am (Registration) – 5pm

Venue: Room 101, EN Building, Swinburne University of Technology

Cost:      AUD50 for participants, AUD20 for presenters and students.

Organisers

The primary organisers of the event are:

• Chair - Suku Sinnappan (Swinburne University of Technology)
• Publicity and Media - Greg Wadley (Melbourne University), Kim Flintoff (Edith Cowan University), Lloyd England (Monash University)
• Sponsorship - Suku Sinnappan (Swinburne University of Technology), Matthew Mitchell (Swinburne University of Technology)
• Call for Papers - Chris Yeoh (IBM Canberra), Kelly Yeoh (IBM Canberra), Melissa De Zwart (Monash University)
• Venue and Organisation of Workshop - Doc Wallace (Swinburne University of Technology) and Mandy Salomon (Swinburne University of Technology)

Description of the Event

The event is a two day workshop for researchers, educators and practitioners. It was advertised from June to August 2008 in a variety of international forums along with a call for abstracts and presentation proposals. Authors who submitted in response to this call have been organised into seven theme based discussion panels. These panels operate by participant authors presenting ideas and discussing them while interacting with an audience of invited industry and academic attendees. Over the two days these attendees may also opt to attend demonstration and poster sessions which adjoin, and run concurrently with, the panel sessions. An outcome of the panel discussions will be recommendations of selected authors to be invited to develop full papers for publication in the proceedings of the workshop.

Programme Outline AVWW 2008 here

Live audio streaming of the event is available through http://75.126.100.42:8060. However you need to have Winamp installed. Once installed please click 'File' and then 'Play URL'. Enter 'http://75.126.100.42:8060' and you should be listening live audio of the workshop shoutcasted to you from Melbourne.