Research on multi-agent systems has provided a promising technology for implementing cognitive intelligent non-playing characters. However, the technologies used in game engines and multi-agent platforms are not readily compatible due to some inherent differences in concerns. Where game engines focus on real-time aspects and thus propagate efficiency and central control, multi-agent platforms assume autonomy of the agents. Increased autonomy and intelligence may offer benefits for a more compelling gameplay and may even be necessary for serious games. However, problems occur when current game design techniques are used to incorporate state-of-the-art multi-agent system technology. A very similar argument can be given for agent-based (social) simulation.

This volume contains the papers presented at AGS 2009, the First International Workshop on Agents for Games and Simulations, held in Budapest on May 11, 2009. The focus of the workshop was on the particular challenges facing those using agent technology for games and simulations, with topics covering the technical, conceptual and design aspects of the field.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th International Workshop on Intelligent Virtual Agents, IVA 2007, held in Paris, France, September 17-19, 2007.

The 19 revised full papers and 12 revised short papers presented together with 5 invited talks and the abstracts of 32 poster papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 100 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on Rendering and Analysis, Culture and Identity, Behavior Models, Feedback Models, Dialogues, Applications, Evaluation, Gaze models and Emotions.

Has the virtual invaded the realm of the real, or has the real expanded its definition to include what once was characterized as virtual? With the continual evolution of digital technology, this distinction grows increasingly hazy. But perhaps the distinction has become obsolete; perhaps it is time to pay attention to the intersections, mutations, and transmigrations of the virtual and the real. Certainly it is time to reinterpret the practice and study of music. The Oxford Handbook of Music and Virtuality, edited by Sheila Whiteley and Shara Rambarran, is the first book to offer a kaleidoscope of interdisciplinary perspectives from scholars around the globe on the way in which virtuality mediates the dissemination, acquisition, performance, creation, and reimagining of music. The Oxford Handbook of Music and Virtuality addresses eight themes that often overlap and interact with one another. Questions of the role of the audience, artistic agency, individual and communal identity, subjectivity, and spatiality repeatedly arise. Authors specifically explore phenomena including holographic musicians and virtual bands, and the benefits and detriments surrounding the free circulation of music on the internet. In addition, the book investigates the way in which fans and musicians negotiate gender identities as well as the dynamics of audience participation and community building in a virtual environment. The handbook rehistoricizes the virtual by tracing its progression from cartoons in the 1950s to current industry innovations and changes in practice. Well-grounded and wide-reaching, this is a book that students of any number of disciplines, from Music to Cultural Studies, have awaited.

Virtual and Augmented Reality have existed for a long time but were stuck to the research world or to some large manufacturing companies. With the appearance of low-cost devices, it is expected a number of new applications, including for the general audience. This book aims at making a statement about those novelties as well as distinguishing them from the complexes challenges they raise by proposing real use cases, replacing those recent evolutions through the VR/AR dynamic and by providing some perspective for the years to come.

Build and create your own Roblox world with this updated, easy-to-use guide. Roblox, the largest user-generated online gaming platform that allows users to create and share their own game worlds and gaming creations, has taken the digital world by storm! With updated screenshots and instructions, The Ultimate Roblox Book, Updated Edition provides brand-new information on game changes and the latest features so you can make the most out of your Roblox game. With everything from instructions for playing the games to tips on creating your own worlds to the basics of coding, this updated guide gives you all the tools you need to get started.

The implementation of virtual environments in education has been rapidly increasing in frequency after the COVID-19 pandemic. As these technologies rise in popularity, it is essential to understand the roles digital technologies play in fostering connections and learning, the affordances of digital texts and spaces for virtual classroom experiences, the difficulties educators have faced and how these practices have been crafted to meet these challenges, and more. Innovations in Digital Instruction Through Virtual Environments advances knowledge about the pedagogical decisions and lived experiences of researchers and educators both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. It features research from those who have worked to sustain and develop digital/media pedagogical practices. Covering topics such as active learning environments, emotional labor, and textual engagements, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for educators and administrators of both K-12 and higher education, pre-service teachers, teacher educators, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

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 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Second International Conference on Augmented and Virtual Reality, AVR 2015, held in Lecce, Italy, in September 2015. The 32 papers and 8 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 82 submissions. The SALENTO AVR 2015 conference brings together a community of researchers from academia and industry, computer scientists, engineers, and physicians in order to share points of views, knowledge, experiences, and scientific and technical results related to state-of-the-art solutions and technologies on virtual and augmented reality applications for medicine, cultural heritage, education, industrial sectors, as well as the demonstration of advanced products and technologies.

An accessible, nontechnical overview of active touch sensing, from sensory receptors in the skin to tactile surfaces on flat screen displays. Haptics, or haptic sensing, refers to the ability to identify and perceive objects through touch. This is active touch, involving exploration of an object with the hand rather than the passive sensing of a vibration or force on the skin. The development of new technologies, including prosthetic hands and tactile surfaces for flat screen displays, depends on our knowledge of haptics. In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Lynette Jones offers an accessible overview of haptics, or active touch sensing, and its applications. Jones explains that haptics involves integrating information from touch and kinesthesia-that is, information both from sensors in the skin and from sensors in muscles, tendons, and joints. The challenge for technology is to reproduce in a virtual world some of the sensations associated with physical interactions with the environment. Jones maps the building blocks of the tactile system, the receptors in the skin and the skin itself, and how information is processed at this interface with the external world. She describes haptic perception, the processing of haptic information in the brain; haptic illusions, or distorted perceptions of objects and the body itself; tactile and haptic displays, from braille to robotic systems; tactile compensation for other sensory impairments; surface haptics, which creates virtual haptic effects on physical surfaces such as touch screens; and the development of robotic and prosthetic hands that mimic the properties of human hands.

There are dramatic global challenges that urge us to examine our identities and the need for intercultural dialogue to overcome differences and bring the world together around the concept of a global human module. Dialogue is important to give the world an agenda for action based on tolerance, mutual respect, and fairness. These actions can only succeed if people are clear about the foundations of cultures and civilizations, which can only be reached through dialogue. It is essential to solve how we can reach the next level of technology with inclusion, peace, and dialogue in the era of the metaverse. Dynamics of Dialogue, Cultural Development, and Peace in the Metaverse provides relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research findings in the metaverse. It explains the strategic role of trust at different levels of the information and knowledge society. Covering topics such as digital culture, peace training, and religion in the metaverse, this premier reference source is an essential resource for business leaders and executives, politicians, government officials, sociologists, students and faculty of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

How one man went from gaming and making videos at home to becoming a football club owner 'The bizarre new world of football' Guardian I lifted the trophy triumphantly over my head, just as I'd seen so many FA Cup, World Cup and Champions League winners do on TV. It was quite simply the best moment of my life. Hashtag United had won. So, how on earth did this happen? How did a kid who at one point couldn't even get in his school team end up playing at Wembley Stadium in front of 20,000 people? How did someone who spent his life playing computer games get to play football in the same side as World Cup- and Champions League-winning players? I'm hardly sure myself. But here's my attempt to tell the story.

'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

Until spring 2020 the trade fair sector was still boasting: "You can't e-mail a handshake!" Then Covid-19 came along and everything was turned upside down: exhibitions were postponed, cancelled or relocated into digital space. It also brought forth new concepts with which we had not reckoned a couple of years ago: virtual twins, AR or VR walk-through stands, online exhibitions with new meeting formats, or quite different ideas that are currently turning the sector upside down, providing new impetuses and making the trade fair a place as we have never known it before. The new trade fair yearbook presents not only the most exciting exhibition settings of the previous year but also entices us into virtual space.

Virtual worlds are increasingly incorporated into modern universities and teaching pedagogy. Over 190 higher education institutions world-wide have done teaching in the virtual world of Second Life (SL). This book is based on the first Scandinavian project to experiment with the design and testing of teaching platforms for life long learning in SL. In 2007 it created a virtual island or 'sim' in SL called 'Kamimo Education Island'. The project generated a number of courses taught in Second Life, and instructed educators in the use of SL. This book disseminates the experiences and lessons learned in that project and from other educational projects in SL. The book identifies the gaps in traditional forms of education. It provides a roadmap on issues of: instructional design, learner modelling, building simulations, exploring alternatives to design and integrating tools in education with other learning systems.