Virtual Reality Filmmaking presents a comprehensive guide to the use of virtual reality in filmmaking, including narrative, documentary, live event production, and more. Written by Celine Tricart, a filmmaker and an expert in new technologies, the book provides a hands-on guide to creative filmmaking in this exciting new medium, and includes coverage on how to make a film in VR from start to finish. Topics covered include: The history of VR; VR cameras; Game engines and interactive VR; The foundations of VR storytelling; Techniques for shooting in live action VR; VR postproduction and visual effects; VR distribution; Interviews with experts in the field including the Emmy-winning studios Felix & Paul and Oculus Story Studio, Wevr, Viacom, Fox Sports, Sundance's New Frontier, and more.

This comprehensive resource examines the rapidly-growing esports phenomenon in higher education, bringing the perspectives of players, administrators, and scholars together in one volume to discuss the basics of esports, how to start and maintain successful esports programs, and issues and trends in the field. Esports are a global phenomenon with an estimated audience of 400 million people in 2018. Given their already strong base and rising popularity on college campuses, esports have been referred to as the new college football. This book offers practical insights into how to develop and maintain an esports program that is consistent with institutional purposes and values. The book is helpful to all types of institutions (small to large, public and private, 2-year or 4-year). It draws on current scholarship and the professional experience of the authors, focused heavily on practical advice for higher education professionals. Among the challenges of esports in higher education the book addresses are competition structure, competition climate, child protection, cheating, gambling, lack of reliable relevant data to inform decisions, and the advent of an esports arms race. Some of the opportunities described in the book include student recruitment and success networks with high schools, and partnerships with the esports industry. Done correctly, esports can provide a structured way for all students (on campus, off campus, and online) to engage in both curricular and cocurricular programming that can provide measurable learning outcomes and have a positive impact on retention rates.

Growing more quickly than we can study or come to fully understand it, social computing is much more than the next thing. Whether it is due more to technology-driven convenience or to the basic human need to find kindred connection, online communication and communities are changing the way we live.

Social Computing and Virtual Communities compiles contributions from international experts to offer the sort of multidisciplinary study that is required in any investigation of communities. Delving fully into theories and methods, application areas, and types of online social environments, this book —

Introduces several theories regarding online social interaction

Provides a general overview of methodologies, qualitative and quantitative, for analyzing and evaluating virtual communities

Makes an in-depth investigation into e-learning communities and the formation of social networks of learners

Examines healthcare communities motivated by physical pain, illness, and burdensome symptoms

Discusses intellectual property (IP) issues, including those involving user-generated content

Delves into the topic of online trust

Introduces virtual communities, in which users immerse themselves in a 3D virtual environment, including MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing games)

Presents an unusual community of older people of Chinese culture who perceive virtual communities as a place where old beliefs and traditional norms can be preserved

Explores the rapid rise of social networking sites (SNS)

Books of this kind are uncommon. This work not only provides case studies of different domains of virtual communities and different types of social technologies but also emphasizes theoretical and methodological aspects required to research and analyze such communities.

Table of Contents

1. Theoretical Foundations of Social Computing and Virtual Communities; Charalambos Vrasidas and George Veletsianos

2. An Overview of Social Networks; Gindo Tampubolon

3. Research Methods 2.0: Doing Research Using Virtual Communities; Paul Cairns and Mark Blythe

4. E-Learning Communities; Andrew Laghos

5. Technology-Enhanced Health Communities: Research on the Use of Social Computing Applications byBoth the Sick and the Well; Laura Slaughter, Aksel Tjora, and Anne-Grete Sandaunet

6. Online Support Communities; Ulrike Pfeil

7. Online Content Sharing;Masahiro Hamasaki, Kouchiro Eto, Sri Kurniawan, Tom Hope, Hideaki Takeda, and Takuichi Nishimura

8. From Online Familiarity to Offline Trust: How a Virtual Community Creates Familiarity and Trust between Strangers; Paula Bialski and Dominik Batorski

9 Second Life, Immersion, and Learning; Diane Carr and Martin Oliver

10. Residency, Relationships, and Responsibility: The Social Side of World of Warcraft; David White

11. Perceiving an Internet Community as a "Utopia": Beliefs, Norms, and Resistance among Older Chinese; Bo Xie

12. Social Network Sites: An Exploration of Features and Diversity; Mike Thelwall and David Stuart

Fantasy sports have the opportunity to provide a sporting community in which gendered physical presence plays no role-a space where men and women can compete and interact on a level playing field. Whose Game? shows, however, that while many turn to this space to socialize with friends or participate in a uniquely active and competitive fandom, men who play also depend on fantasy sports to perform a boyhood vision of masculinity otherwise inaccessible to them. Authors Rebecca Kissane and Sarah Winslow draw on a rich array of survey, interview, and observational data to examine how gender, race, and class frame the experiences of everyday fantasy sports players. This pioneering book examines gendered structures and processes, such as jock statsculinity-a nerdish form of masculine one-upmanship-and how women are often rendered as outsiders. Ultimately, Whose Game? demonstrates that fantasy sports are more than just an inconsequential leisure activity. This online world bleeds into participants' social lives in gendered ways-forging and strengthening relationships but also taking participants' time and attention to generate negative emotions, stress, discord, and unproductivity.

The Advanced Game Narrative Toolbox continues where the Game Narrative Toolbox ended. While the later covered the basics of writing for games, the Advanced Game Narrative Toolbox will cover techniques for the intermediate and professional writer. The book will cover topics such as how to adapt a novel to a game, how to revive IPs and how to construct transmedia worlds. Each chapter will be written by a professional with exceptional experience in the field of the chapter.

Key Features

Learn from industry experts how to tackle today’s challenges in storytelling for games.

A learn by example and exercise approach, which was praised in the Game Narrative Toolbox.

An in depth view on advanced storytelling techniques and topics as they are currently discussed and used in the gaming industry.

Expand your knowledge in game writing as you learn and try yourself to design quests, write romances and build worlds as you would as a writer in a game studio.

Improve your own stories by learning and trying the techniques used by the professionals of game writing.

Table of Contents

Introduction. Planning Your Work. Diversity & Research. Romances. Cinematics. Building a Universe. Writing for Non-Digital Games (Board Games). Adapting a Digital World to a Novel. From Novel to Computer Game. Reinventing an IP. Managing the Branches. Quest Design. Writing and implementation. The Writer in the Studio (VO). Editing and Quality Control. Freelancing and Surviving. Journalism. Past the Release.

The word "wargames" might seem like a contradiction in terms. After all, the declaration "This is war" is meant to signal that things have turned deadly serious, that there is no more playing around. Yet the practices of war are intimately entangled with practices of gaming, from military videogames to live battle reenactments. How do these forms of play impact how both soldiers and civilians perceive acts of war? This Quick Take considers how various war games and simulations shape the ways we imagine war. Paradoxically, these games grant us a sense of mastery and control as we strategize and scrutinize the enemy, yet also allow us the thrilling sense of being immersed in the carnage and chaos of battle. But as simulations of war become more integrated into both popular culture and military practice, how do they shape our apprehension of the traumatic realities of warfare? Covering everything from chess to football, from Saving Private Ryan to American Sniper, and from Call of Duty to drone interfaces, War Games is an essential guide for anyone seeking to understand the militarization of American culture, offering a compact yet comprehensive look at how we play with images of war.

Storytelling for Virtual Reality serves as a bridge between students of new media and professionals working between the emerging world of VR technology and the art form of classical storytelling. Rather than examining purely the technical, the text focuses on the narrative and how stories can best be structured, created, and then told in virtual immersive spaces. Author John Bucher examines the timeless principles of storytelling and how they are being applied, transformed, and transcended in Virtual Reality. Interviews, conversations, and case studies with both pioneers and innovators in VR storytelling are featured, including industry leaders at LucasFilm, 20th Century Fox, Oculus, Insomniac Games, and Google. For more information about story, Virtual Reality, this book, and its author, please visit StorytellingforVR.com

Virtual environments provide places for 'being there together', for avatars to interact with each other in computer-generated spaces. They range from immersive systems in which people have life-size tracked avatar bodies to large-scale spaces such as Second Life where populations of users socialize in persistent virtual worlds. This book draws together research on how people interact in virtual environments: What difference does avatar appearance make? How do avatars collaborate and play together? How do the type of system and the space affect how people engage with each other? How does interaction between avatars differ from face-to-face interaction? What can social scientists learn from experiments and other studies of how people interact in virtual environments? What are the ethical and social issues in doing this research, and in the uses of this technology? And how do virtual environments differ from other communication technologies such as videoconferencing systems and other new media? This book is a state-of-the art survey of research on these topics, and offers a framework for understanding this technology and its future implications.

'Butler and West are fast becoming my favourite detective partnership... Addictive reading!' Alison Belsham, author of The Tattoo Thief Nothing is as it seems, for Butler and West.One spring evening, a mother and her children are brutally attacked in their home. The unprovoked and violent assault leaves DS Robin Butler and DC Freya West in the dark - the luxury items were left untouched and there is no apparent motive. The investigation's only lead is Andrew Grace, the husband who was not home at the time. He and his business partner have created unique virtual reality software which is valuable and extremely dangerous in the wrong hands. Robin and Freya are stonewalled by uncooperative witnesses at every turn but when a woman linked to the work of Andrew and his co-founder is kidnapped, the need for progress becomes critical. Failure to solve the case will result in murder. Meanwhile, Robin and Freya's unresolved feelings have come to the surface and they must finally face facts. But is it too late? In a case where nothing is as it seems, are Robin and Freya doomed to never find the truth? A tense and thrilling instalment of the Butler & West series that fans of Cara Hunter, Jane Casey and Susie Steiner will love. Praise for Louisa Scarr'Scarr delivers an immensely satisfying mystery, both timely and timeless, but her real magic lies in Butler and West themselves... This one will break your heart a little bit.' Dominic Nolan, author of Vine Street 'Compelling, fraught...I tore through it! Loved it.' Rachel Blok, author of The Fall 'Before you know it, you're chapters in and can't stop.' Fliss Chester, author of A Dangerous Goodbye 'A punchy and pacy police procedural with heart.' Jo Furniss, author of All The Little Children 'One of the best detective series there is. Smooth, thrilling and full of emotion... a must-read!' James Delargy, author of Vanished 'The latest Butler & West is a tense mystery packed with all of the 'will they, won't they' chemistry that I so love about this series. A triumph.' Heather Critchlow, author of Unsolved 'Excellent mystery... Reminiscent of Elly Griffith's Ruth Galloway series... will leave you wanting more.' Reader review 'This is one of the best police procedural books I've read of late. The partnership Freya and Robin have is so well done... I'm going to have to read more so I know what happens.' Reader review 'Another absolutely unputdownable case for detectives Robin Butler and Freya West. The plot is incredibly clever and twisty and kept me reading until the early hours. Can't wait for the next instalment, highly recommended!' Reader review 'Excellent. It had plenty of twists and turns and kept me guessing. I wholeheartedly recommend this series.' Reader review 'Wow, another brilliant book by this author. I stayed up well into the night last night to finish it... a great series and I can't wait for the next instalment.' Reader review 'Enthralling... This murder mystery was a thrill from beginning to end. The characters are strong and are vividly drawn. So cleverly written and the pacing was on point.' Reader review 'Love the Butler and West novels. Great writing and premise. Amazing characters. Page turner. Plenty of suspense to keep me guessing.' Reader review

The last century has seen enormous leaps in the development of digital technologies, and most aspects of modern life have changed significantly with their widespread availability and use. Technology at various scales - supercomputers, corporate networks, desktop and laptop computers, the internet, tablets, mobile phones, and processors that are hidden in everyday devices and are so small you can barely see them with the naked eye - all pervade our world in a major way. Computers and Society: Modern Perspectives is a wide-ranging and comprehensive textbook that critically assesses the global technical achievements in digital technologies and how are they are applied in media; education and learning; medicine and health; free speech, democracy, and government; and war and peace. Ronald M. Baecker reviews critical ethical issues raised by computers, such as digital inclusion, security, safety, privacy,automation, and work, and discusses social, political, and ethical controversies and choices now faced by society. Particular attention is paid to new and exciting developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning, and the issues that have arisen from our complex relationship with AI.

This open access book tackles the design of 3D spatial interactions in an audio-centered and audio-first perspective, providing the fundamental notions related to the creation and evaluation of immersive sonic experiences. The key elements that enhance the sensation of place in a virtual environment (VE) are: Immersive audio: the computational aspects of the acoustical-space properties of Virutal Reality (VR) technologies Sonic interaction: the human-computer interplay through auditory feedback in VE VR systems: naturally support multimodal integration, impacting different application domains Sonic Interactions in Virtual Environments will feature state-of-the-art research on real-time auralization, sonic interaction design in VR, quality of the experience in multimodal scenarios, and applications. Contributors and editors include interdisciplinary experts from the fields of computer science, engineering, acoustics, psychology, design, humanities, and beyond. Their mission is to shape an emerging new field of study at the intersection of sonic interaction design and immersive media, embracing an archipelago of existing research spread in different audio communities and to increase among the VR communities, researchers, and practitioners, the awareness of the importance of sonic elements when designing immersive environments.

With the advent of the internet and handheld or wearable media systems that plunge the user into 360 video, augmented-or virtual reality-technology is changing how stories are told and created. In this book, John V. Pavlik argues that a new form of mediated communication has emerged: experiential news. Experiential media delivers not just news stories but also news experiences, in which the consumer engages news as a participant or virtual eyewitness in immersive, multisensory, and interactive narratives. Pavlik describes and analyzes new tools and approaches that allow journalists to tell stories that go beyond text and image. He delves into developing forms such as virtual reality, haptic technologies, interactive documentaries, and drone media, presenting the principles of how to design and frame a story using these techniques. Pavlik warns that although experiential news can heighten user engagement and increase understanding, it may also fuel the transformation of fake news into artificial realities, and he discusses the standards of ethics and accuracy needed to build public trust in journalism in the age of virtual reality. Journalism in the Age of Virtual Reality offers important lessons for practitioners seeking to produce quality experiential news and those interested in the ethical considerations that experiential media raise for journalism and the public.

This book presents a comprehensive collection of case studies on augmented reality and virtual realty (AR/VR) applications in various industries. Augmented reality and virtual reality are changing the business landscape, providing opportunities for businesses to offer unique services and experiences to their customers. The case studies provided in this volume explore business uses of the technology across multiple industries such as healthcare, tourism, hospitality, events, fashion, entertainment, retail, education and video gaming. The book includes solutions of different maturities as well as those from startups to large enterprises thereby providing a thorough view of how augmented reality and virtual reality can be used in business.

This book introduces state-of-the-art research on virtual reality, simulation and serious games for education and its chapters presented the best papers from the 4th Asia-Europe Symposium on Simulation and Serious Games (4th AESSSG) held in Turku, Finland, December 2018. The chapters of the book present a multi-facet view on different approaches to deal with challenges that surround the uptake of educational applications of virtual reality, simulations and serious games in school practices. The different approaches highlight challenges and potential solutions and provide future directions for virtual reality, simulation and serious games research, for the design of learning material and for implementation in classrooms. By doing so, the book is a useful resource for both students and scholars interested in research in this field, for designers of learning material, and for practitioners that want to embrace virtual reality, simulation and/or serious games in their education.

This book presents selected research and development on virtual reality (VR) and serious games (SG) applications to assist children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in their learning of different skills. Children with ASD have challenges to learn skills of learning, living, and working, due to their cognitive and behavioral limitations. The authors and their research teams of this book have many years' research experience developing innovative and interactive VR and SG technology for the special needs education. More specifically, several VR serious games are designed to train children with ASD on learning skill, life skill, and job skill. Such games are often developed based on the needs of special education and used by special needs schools in Singapore. This book is a useful resource for students, scholars, and designers of learning material who want to embrace VR and SG for children with ASD.

This two-volume set LNCS 11574 and 11575 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality, VAMR 2019, held in July 2019 as part of HCI International 2019 in Orlando, FL, USA. HCII 2019 received a total of 5029 submissions, of which 1275 papers and 209 posters were accepted for publication after a careful reviewing process. The 80 papers presented in this volume were organized in topical sections named: multimodal interaction in VR, rendering, layout, visualization and navigation, avatars, embodiment and empathy in VAMR, cognitive and health issues in VAMR, VAMR and robots, VAMR in learning, training and entertainment, VAMR in aviation, industry and the military.

As virtual reality approaches mainstream consumer use, a vibrant development ecosystem has emerged in the past few years. This hands-on guide takes you through VR development essentials for desktop, mobile, and browser-based applications. You'll explore the three go-to platforms-OculusVR, Gear VR, and Cardboard VR-as well as several VR development environments, programming tools, and techniques. If you're an experienced programmer familiar with mobile development, this book will help you gain a working knowledge of VR development through clear and simple examples. Once you create a complete application in the final chapter, you'll have a jumpstart on the next major entertainment medium. Learn VR basics for UI design, 3D graphics, and stereo rendering Explore Unity3D, the current development choice among game engines Create native applications for desktop computers with the Oculus Rift Develop mobile applications for Samsung's Gear VR with the Android and Oculus Mobile SDKs Build browser-based applications with the WebVR Javascript API and WebGL Create simple and affordable mobile apps for any smartphone with Google's Cardboard VR Bring everything together to build a 360-degree panoramic photo viewer

Attention .NET developers, here is your starting point for learning how to create and publish augmented reality (AR) apps for iOS devices. This book introduces and explores iOS augmented reality mobile app development specifically for .NET developers. The continued adoption and popularity of Xamarin, a tool that allows cross-platform mobile application development, opens up many app publishing opportunities to .NET developers that were never before possible, including AR development. You will use Xamarin to target Apple's augmented reality framework, ARKit, to develop augmented reality apps in the language you prefer-C#. Begin your journey with a foundational introduction to augmented reality, ARKit, Xamarin, and .NET. You will learn how this remarkable collaboration of technologies can produce fantastic experiences, many of them never before tried by .NET developers. From there you will dive into the fundamentals and then explore various topics and AR features. Throughout your learning, proof of concepts will be demonstrated to reinforce learning. After reading this book you will have the fundamentals you need, as well as an understanding of the overarching concepts that combine them. You will come away with an understanding of the wide range of augmented reality features available for developers, including the newest features included in the latest versions of ARKit. What You Will Learn Create rich commercial and personal augmented reality mobile apps Explore the latest capabilities of ARKit Extend and customize chapter examples for building your own amazing apps Graduate from traditional 2D UI app interfaces to immersive 3D AR interfaces Who This Book Is For Developers who want to learn how to use .NET and C# to create augmented reality apps for iOS devices. It is recommended that developers have some Xamarin experience and are aware of the cross-platform options available to .NET. A paid Apple developer account is not needed to experiment with the AR code samples on your devices.

This book constitutes late breaking papers from the 22nd International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCII 2020, which was held in July 2020. The conference was planned to take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, but had to change to a virtual conference mode due to the COVID-19 pandemic.From a total of 6326 submissions, a total of 1439 papers and 238 posters have been accepted for publication in the HCII 2020 proceedings before the conference took place. In addition, a total of 333 papers and 144 posters are included in the volumes of the proceedings published after the conference as "Late Breaking Work" (papers and posters). These contributions address the latest research and development efforts in the field and highlight the human aspects of design and use of computing systems. The 34 late breaking papers presented in this volume were organized in two topical sections named: Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality Design and Implementation; and User Experience in Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality.

The 2 volume-set of LNCS 12190 and 12191 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality, VAMR 2020, which was due to be held in July 2020 as part of HCI International 2020 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The conference was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 1439 papers and 238 posters have been accepted for publication in the HCII 2020 proceedings from a total of 6326 submissions. The 71 papers included in these HCI 2020 proceedings were organized in topical sections as follows: Part I: design and user experience in VAMR; gestures and haptic interaction in VAMR; cognitive, psychological and health aspects in VAMR; robots in VAMR. Part II: VAMR for training, guidance and assistance in industry and business; learning, narrative, storytelling and cultural applications of VAMR; VAMR for health, well-being and medicine.

With the advent of consumer-market Virtual Reality (VR) technology, the next revolution in visual entertainment is already on the horizon: real VR will enable us to experience live-action movies, sports broadcasts, concert videos, etc. in true visual (and aural) immersion. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the algorithms and methods that make it possible to immerse into real-world recordings. It brings together the expertise of internationally renowned experts from academia and industry who present the state of the art in this fascinating, interdisciplinary new research field. Written by and for scientists, engineers, and practitioners, this book is the definitive reference for anyone interested in finding out about how to import the real world into head-mounted displays.

It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this (book).

For more than 30 years, The Legend of Zelda—which immerses players in a courageous struggle against the shadowy forces of evil in a world of high fantasy—has spanned more than 30 different installments, selling over 75 million copies. Today, it is one of the most beloved video game franchises around the globe.

Video game sales as a whole have continued to grow, now raking in twice as much money per year as the entire film industry, and countless psychologists have turned their attention to the effects gaming has on us: our confidence, our identity, and our personal growth. The Psychology of Zelda applies the latest psychological findings, plus insights from classic psychology theory, to Link, Zelda, Hyrule, and the players who choose to wield the Master Sword.

In The Psychology of Zelda, psychologists who love the games ask:

- How do Link’s battles in Ocarina of Time against Dark Link, his monstrous doppelganger, mirror the difficulty of confronting our personal demons and the tendency to be our own worst enemies?

- What lessons about pursuing life’s greater meaning can we take away from Link’s quests through Hyrule and beyond the stereotypical video game scenario of rescuing a Princess (Zelda)?

- What do we experience as players when we hear that familiar royal lullaby on the ocarina, Saria’s spirited melody in the Lost Woods, or the iconic main theme on the title screen?

- How do the obstacles throughout Majora’s Mask represent the Five Stages of Grief?

- What can Link’s journey to overcome the loss of the fairy Navi teach us about understanding our own grief and depression?

- Why are we psychologically drawn to the game each and every time a new version becomes available even when they all have a similar storyline?

Think you’ve completed the quest? The Psychology of Zelda gives you new, thrilling dungeons to explore and even more puzzles to solve.