Present-day society is often referred to as a knowledge society. But how can knowledge be defined and what role does it play, along with the related or connected concepts of learning and media/ICT? In what sense does learning lead to knowledge, what forms of learning are adequate in the so-called knowledge society, and how are appropriate forms of learning underpinned? How should media be conceptualised, and what is the role of the media, not least digital media, i.e. ICT, in society? Most people seem to agree that we live in a knowledge society . But what is knowledge, and how can knowledge be categorised? How does learning and life-long learning help us making knowledge society a reality, and what is the role of e-learning? The book aims at answering all these basic questions. It provides a definition and logical categorisation of knowledge. It categorises learning and teaching in a similar system. It analyses media education, media socialisation, and the use of digital media in and for teaching. It summarises the main theories of e-learning. And it presents the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann s theory of the educational system. The book is written for everybody who works professionally with education, knowledge and knowledge management, including educational researchers, e-learning specialists, teachers and students at teacher training colleges and for everybody interested in understanding the so-called knowledge society.

Kim Halskov Madsen Up until a few decades ago, business administration and science were the primary areas in which computers were applied, but terms like pervasive computing reflect that interactive computing power is becoming an embedded part of people's every day environment, not only office buildings and private homes but also art and cul At one of the frontiers of multimedia applications computers are used as tural events. part of experimental theatre, puppet theatre, musical performances, museums, entertainment, and learning. In some of these domains, people interact with the computers using a mouse, keyboard and a 17-inch monitor, but present-day inter faces take a variety of forms, including motion-capture technology and displays of up to several metres in height and width. The trend of applying computer technologies in the domain of art and culture has been one of the pivots of a Danish research project, Staging of Virtual Inhabited 3D Spaces. The results of the project are presented in a series of four volumes, of which this book is the last one. The three other publications are: Virtual Interaction: Interaction in Virtual Inhabited 3D Worlds; Virtual Space: The Spatiality of Virtual Inhabited 3D Worlds; and 3D Applications: Applications with Virtual Inhabited 3D Worlds.

Containing the edited research papers resulting from an ambitious, cross-disciplinary research project, this volume examines the spatiality of virtual inhabited 3D worlds - virtual reality and cyberspace. (Three other volumes look at Interaction, Staging and Methodology.) It is about the communication spaces emerging at the Internet and supported by special 3D interfaces. It is also about the virtual spaces created by virtual reality hardware (CAVEs, panoramic screens, head mounted display systems etc.) and software. Virtual Space: Spatiality in Virtual Inhabited 3D Worlds is interdisciplinary. It deals with philosophical, psychological, communicational, technological and aesthetic aspects of space. While philosophy raises the question concerning the ontology of space - what is space - psychology deals with our perception of space. Communication theory looks at the way in which space supports communication (i.e. that space is a medium for communication), and finally aesthetic analyses exemplify the use of virtual space in virtual cities, in museums and in art.

Lars Qvortrup The world of interactive 3D multimedia is a cross-institutional world. Here, researchers from media studies, linguistics, dramaturgy, media technology, 3D modelling, robotics, computer science, sociology etc. etc. meet. In order not to create a new tower of Babel, it is important to develop a set of common concepts and references. This is the aim of the first section of the book. In Chapter 2, Jens F. Jensen identifies the roots of interaction and interactivity in media studies, literature studies and computer science, and presents definitions of interaction as something going on among agents and agents and objects, and of interactivity as a property of media supporting interaction. Similarly, he makes a classification of human users, avatars, autonomous agents and objects, demon strating that no universal differences can be made. We are dealing with a continuum. While Jensen approaches these categories from a semiotic point of view, in Chapter 3 Peer Mylov discusses similar isues from a psychological point of view. Seen from the user's perspective, a basic difference is that between stage and back-stage (or rather: front-stage), i. e. between the real "I" and "we" and the virtual, representational "I" and "we." Focusing on the computer as a stage, in Chapter 4 Kj0lner and Lehmann use the theatre metaphor to conceptualize the stage phenomena and the relationship between stage and front-stage."

3D Virtual Applications: Applications with Virtual Inhabited 3D Worlds deals with the use of virtual inhabited 3D spaces in different domains of society. (Other volumes deal with interaction, production methodology and space.) From focusing on virtual reality (a reality into which users and objects from the real world should be moved) we are increasingly focusing on augmented reality (i.e. on moving computers out into the reality of real users, objects and activities). This book deals with the use of virtual inhabited 3D spaces in both contexts. Based on the structuring of the application domains, this book looks at the use of VR and augmented reality in the following major application domains:

- Production oriented applications - use of VR and augmented reality for control of complex production plants, for navigation support (ships, cars, aeroplanes) and for support of collaborative work processes

- Communication support applications - virtual spaces are used for supporting communication in learning environments and for support of organisational communication. Also virtual spaces are used for supporting the navigation of people in public spaces, i.e. as maps, planning tools

- Scientific applications - use of 3D models for medical research; use of dynamic models for representation of abstract concepts and ideas (data-mining applications); use of dynamic 3D models for simulating biological or social processes

- Artistic and cultural applications - the construction of stages representing concepts and/or emotions

3D Virtual Applications: Applications with Virtual Inhabited 3D Worlds deals with the use of virtual inhabited 3D spaces in different domains of society. (Other volumes deal with interaction, production methodology and space.) From focusing on virtual reality (a reality into which users and objects from the real world should be moved) we are increasingly focusing on augmented reality (i.e. on moving computers out into the reality of real users, objects and activities). This book deals with the use of virtual inhabited 3D spaces in both contexts. Based on the structuring of the application domains, this book looks at the use of VR and augmented reality in the following major application domains:

- Production oriented applications - use of VR and augmented reality for control of complex production plants, for navigation support (ships, cars, aeroplanes) and for support of collaborative work processes

- Communication support applications - virtual spaces are used for supporting communication in learning environments and for support of organisational communication. Also virtual spaces are used for supporting the navigation of people in public spaces, i.e. as maps, planning tools

- Scientific applications - use of 3D models for medical research; use of dynamic models for representation of abstract concepts and ideas (data-mining applications); use of dynamic 3D models for simulating biological or social processes

- Artistic and cultural applications - the construction of stages representing concepts and/or emotions

Containing the edited research papers resulting from an ambitious, cross-disciplinary research project, this volume examines the spatiality of virtual inhabited 3D worlds - virtual reality and cyberspace. (Three other volumes look at Interaction, Staging and Methodology.) It is about the communication spaces emerging at the Internet and supported by special 3D interfaces. It is also about the virtual spaces created by virtual reality hardware (CAVEs, panoramic screens, head mounted display systems etc.) and software.Virtual Space: Spatiality in Virtual Inhabited 3D Worlds is interdisciplinary. It deals with philosophical, psychological, communicational, technological and aesthetic aspects of space. While philosophy raises the question concerning the ontology of space - what is space - psychology deals with our perception of space. Communication theory looks at the way in which space supports communication (i.e. that space is a medium for communication), and finally aesthetic analyses exemplify the use of virtual space in virtual cities, in museums and in art.

Virtual Interaction: Interaction in Virtual Inhabited 3D Worlds answers the basic research questions involved in the development of user-friendly interfaces, such as:
* How does one navigate in and with a virtual inhabited three-dimensional world?
* How can the virtual world and the interface be part of the same world?
* How can the use of these interfaces be supported by implicit narrative structures?
* How can the autonomous agents function as assistants to the end-user?
* How can the current--what you see is what you get--be replaced by What you want is what you get:?
Containing the edited research papers resulting from an ambitious, cross-disciplinary research project, this volume examines the core activity of interfaces: interaction. It takes the reader all the way from general theories and conceptualizations of interaction aspects of virtual inhabited 3D worlds, through theories of and methods for the design of autonomous agents, ending in specific design methodology considerations and suggestions for management in the multimedia industry.

A Selection of Papers from the EEC Conference on Social Experiments with Information Technology in Odense, Denmark, January 13-15, 1986

Our current society has been called a 'network society'. But what lies behind this name? Has society changed, or has our observation of society? There can hardly be any doubt that the conditions for describing the world have changed. Since the turn of the 20th century, at least, we have known that there is no point for observing the world that lies outside the world. This book reflects the consequences of these conditions for observing society. What significance does the 'loss' of metaphysical guarantees have for the description and understanding of the society in which we live and for the epistemological tools at our disposal? The book is a sociological, philosophical and aesthetical study of what 'lies behind' the idea of calling present-day society a 'network society'.

Sometimes, basic questions must be raised, and this is what this book does: What do we understand by a "medium"? How do we observe "communication"? What does it mean to say that communication is mediated? How should we interpret the idea of immediacy? The background for raising these questions is this important book which was published by Jay Bolter and Richard Grusin in 1999. Although it was published only a few years ago, revisions -- or, at least, reconsiderations -- already seem to be needed. The chapters represent a wide spectrum of different cases and media -- from television to computer, film and mobile phone. The main effort of the book is to put concepts like hypermediacy, immediacy, remediation, communication and the desire for the real into debate and practice. In nine articles, the last one written by Bolter himself, the writers are discussing and reconsidering these fundamental concepts.

Should today's society be termed an « information or a « network society? This book provides an alternative choice--the hypercomplex society, which is a critical, complex-theoretical understanding of society whose growing level of social complexity represents the basic challenge of our current society. This original understanding of society is presented through a historical analysis of the emergence of the current state of hypercomplexity and polycentrism. The functioning of communication, mass media, and the public sphere in the hypercomplex society is also analyzed and the Internet is characterized as a communication infrastructure particularly shaped by the hypercomplex society. The book concludes with a cultural self-observation of the hypercomplex society.

This book brings you to one of the frontiers of multimedia applications, where computers are used as part of experimental theatre, puppet theatre, art installations, musical performances, museums, entertainment, games and teaching. Bringing together a wealth of knowledge covering theatre production, film production, design, game development, art and software engineering, 3D Production Methods recounts the exciting histories of the origins of specific multimedia products. Each chapter is case-orientated and focuses on the production process, including themes such as: - Scriptwriting techniques- Interdisciplinary co-operative teams- Visualization of ideas- Motivation- Prototyping and experimental systems development- Advice on how to organise multimediaA CD-ROM accompanies this book, containing all figures and video material from some of the cases presented in the book. 3D Production Methods contains edited research papers resulting from a project managed by Professor Lars Qvortrup into Virtual Inhabited 3D Worlds. Other volumes include: Virtual Interaction: Interaction in Virtual Inhabited 3D Worlds; Virtual Space: Spatiality in Virtual Inhabited 3D Worlds; and 3D Virtual Applications: Applications with Virtual Inhabited 3D Worlds.