DISEÑO DEL PROGRAMA DE CAPACITACIÓN PARA LOS CULTIVADORES

When engaged in virtuality, SLers have to be aware of their virtual surroundings. The spatial and visual aspects of the online dimension affect communication in a way similar to how context affects communication in a 'real' surrounding. Avatars can visibly see other avatars around a 35 virtual metre (vm) radius. Virtual metres are measurements relevant to the size of the avatar itself and its surrounding buildings and environment. They can also see aspects of their virtual environment like hills, large buildings and water areas of up to a radius of 50 virtual metres. This gives them a sense of place and a feeling for surroundings. Second Life is home to different types of players (see 2.9). Different players have different perspectives, and it is important to have a perspective of the game in order to absorb the visual aspects of the online dimension so that the task set out by the player whether to 'socialise', 'explore', 'achieve' or 'kill', (Bartle, 2004 ) can be carried out successfully. Certain types of players may need to be more aware of their virtual surroundings than others, such as the case for a 'killer' when looking for his prey whilst avoiding capture. Socialisers have to have a good awareness of who they are surrounded by when engaged in public chat, as it is

fruitless to engage in conversation when knowledge of whom one is speaking to is absent. Achievers and explorers may see things yet more differently, as an achiever would for example take into consideration spatial aspects when building a house or buying land, and an explorer would observe and even investigate every visual aspect of the area as that is the objective of exploring within the game-playing mode.

This visual aspect of SL is what characterises it and distinguishes it from conventional online communication, such as Yahoo! chat or MSN messenger. As an illustrative example, it would be possible to run a weekly discussion group similar to that of VWER (or even a conference) and engage in academic discussion through Yahoo!

messenger, but SL has the visual element that provides the sense of presence. The differences are many and advantages of SL are significant. As far as the attendees are concerned, they are visible, all sitting down at a round table, seeming as though they are being attentive (Figure 18), whereas in Yahoo! messenger all that is visible is an icon on the right with the person's username. The virtual world is unique in a way that the avatar's presence projects that attentiveness. Interestingly, in both cases, the real person could walk away into the kitchen without anyone noticing their absence, but in SL (and other similar virtual worlds), the presence of the avatar uniquely gives that attentiveness, encouraging the speaker to carry on speaking.

Figure 18: VWER meeting showing visual aspects of SL

Another important visual aspect is that of place. The setting shapes the conversation and affects it in different ways. Knowing and seeing that you are sitting in a university auditorium (Figure 18) affects identity, as one is inclined to act and speak appropriately when in the presence of other academics, as opposed to when in the presence of internet chatters, that is, people who frequent internet chat rooms to socialise in an informal manner. Any conversation, whether spoken or synchronously written is governed by many components of communication. Hymes (1972) proposes his SPEAKING model, in which he claims that "sixteen components can be grouped together under the letters of the code word SPEAKING: settings, participants, ends, act sequences, keys, instrumentalities, norms, genres" (Hymes, 1986: 65). The setting is the time and place of the communication, and the scene "designates the psychological setting" (Hymes, 1986: 65) of the conversation, for example when interactions are redefined from formal to informal. AV could leave a business meeting at Charltina's to go to his virtual home and spend time with his family and later attend a VWER academic meeting. Each context has different components to the others, which is reflected in the language used.

The visual element contributes to the setting and scene in Hymes's theory.

When not engaged in formal meetings (sitting down), the default visual setting for a player is to see the avatar from behind and have a good view of what is in front for 50vms (Figure 19).

Figure 19: SL default view AV

C

As can be seen from Figure 19, AV and C are approximately 3vms apart. A sense of distance is also made possible with the proportions of sizes of the surrounding objects like the reindeer, Santa's sleigh and the single floor building that is a retail shop. Santa is about 15-18vms away from the player avatar in the middle distance and the boundaries of the sim are visible in the background, as one can see the water in the distance and the pieces of land that are not covered by snow. From the player perspective, one sees space as originating from the avatar itself in the immediate centre and space is therefore relative to that, and from a non-player perspective, as is the case in the virtual meeting above, all 'objects' including the people are situated in relation to each other. However, these perspectives can easily change as the situation changes, changing the indexical frame of the conversation (discussed in section 4.1.4). A fundamental feature of the indexical frame is that the deictic centre and, consequently, the nature of the relation of the centre to referents in the deictic field are in "frequent flux in the dynamics of an interaction" (Glover and Grundy, 1996: 1). Players have the option to adjust the camera controls to view their own avatar, surrounding avatars and/or land from any perspective as illustrated in Figures 20 and 21, each perspective having its own function.

Figure 20: Adjustment of camera position 1 SW

AV

Figure 21: Adjustment of camera position 2

In Figure 20, the camera controls heads up display (HUD) can be seen in the bottom right side of the illustration. These arrows are clicked to adjust the camera position. The set of arrows on the right move the camera as a whole (right, left, zoom in, zoom out) and the arrows on the left move the camera in a rotary motion (turn camera left, turn camera right, turn upwards, turn downwards). It is necessary to explain these views so as to get a sufficient understanding of the sense of direction and visibility. In 20 I have turned the camera slightly to the left so as to get SW into view, whereas in 21 I have turned the camera 180 degrees so it is facing my avatar, and I have also zoomed in closer to my avatar so as to be able to take a picture of myself for a portrait. Other sideways perspectives can be chosen, as different camera angles are suitable for different purposes and situations. Facing your interlocutor and giving them attention reflects engagement in conversation, whereas the front view is used for activities of a more egotistical nature, such as taking a self portrait picture. As discussed above, other views are also used such as the sideways view for dancing and a camera zoom view is used for acts of a more intimate nature.

Figure 22a: Camera position 3 (from side) Figure 22b: Camera position 4 (zoom)

In short, one can summarise the functions of the different camera views as follows:

1. "From behind": This is the default view and used from the 'player's perspective' which enables an awareness of the virtual surroundings to the front and is usually used in communication, walking, and flying.

2. "Sideways view": This view is used in activities such as dancing (Figure 22a), where the animated movements of the avatars engaged in the dance can be viewed and appreciated, whilst at the same time not impeding the communication, as both interlocutors can be seen.

3. "From the front": This is an egotistical view that is used to view the avatar's appearance or in cases of taking a self portrait snapshot, such as those used for profile photos.

4. "Camera zoom": Any object (baby in Figure 22b) can be zoomed into for closer inspection.

The changing of camera angles comes rather instinctively as would the changing of the focus of someone's eye sight whilst communicating. The camera is regarded as the eyes of the SL user, only being more advanced, in that it does not have the same viewpoint restrictions as the eyes do, such as in cases where the camera can be moved beyond

walls to see what is behind them. A higher ability to control the camera movements and good mechanical skills are traits of an experienced Resident. In a discussion about noobs on the official www.secondlife.com blog, one user wrote:

In my opinion it's [the characteristics of a noob] more based on how someone acts towards others, how they move through the world and their understanding of SL's social workings. Second to that would be their technical understanding of how things work in SL (building, animations, etc.) and how they appear.

For example: Most people will give other avatars a equal amount of 'personal space' as is expected in their own RL. A 'noob' will typically go barreling into people and stand uncomfortably close.

(community.secondlife.com).

The sense of self space exists, as can be implied from the above quotation when the Resident mentions feeling uncomfortable when noobs invade personal space. It is obvious here that the spatial dimension or 'the where' of the virtual world cannot be separated from 'the who', as it is the people who occupy the virtual space and what happens in the virtual space that affects the avatars after all.