Greg Wadley

Body and mind: a study of avatar personalization in three virtual worlds

An increasingly large number of users connect to virtual worlds on a regular basis to conduct activities ranging from gaming to business meetings. In all these worlds, users project themselves into the environment via an avatar: a 3D body which they control and whose appearance is often customizable. However, considering the prevalence of this form of embodiment, there is a surprising lack of data about how and why users customize their avatar, as well as how easy and satisfying the existing avatar creation tools are. In this paper, we report on a study investigating these issues through a questionnaire administered to more than a hundred users of three virtual worlds offering widely different avatar creation and customization systems (Maple Story, World of Warcraft, and Second Life). We illustrate the often-surprising choices users make when creating their digital representation and discuss the impact of our findings for the design of future avatar creation systems.

On the HORYZON: Moderated online social therapy for long-term recovery in first episode psychosis

BACKGROUND Early intervention services have demonstrated improved outcomes in first episode psychosis (FEP); however, recent evidence shows that treatment benefits may not be sustainable over time. These findings have resulted in repeated recommendations for the implementation of longer term treatment programs. An Internet-based intervention specifically designed for young people with psychosis may provide a cost-effective alternative to prevent loss of treatment benefits from early intervention. METHODS Our multi-disciplinary team has developed a highly novel online intervention (HORYZONS) in regular consultation with stakeholders within a specialist early psychosis program. HORYZONS integrates: i) peer-to-peer social networking, ii) individually tailored interactive psychosocial interventions, and iii) expert interdisciplinary and peer-moderation in a coherent platform designed to improve long-term outcomes in FEP. The acceptability, safety and initial clinical benefits of HORYZONS were examined through a 1-month pilot study with 20 participants with FEP. RESULTS There were no dropouts during the pilot study. Seventy per cent of participants utilised the system for at least 3weeks, 95% used the social networking features, and 60% completed at least 3 therapy modules. System usage was high during the study. There were no incidents and the majority of participants reported feeling safe, empowered and more socially connected using HORYZONS. Analysis revealed a significant reduction in depressive symptoms at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that HORYZONS is feasible, engaging and safe and may augment social connectedness and empowerment in FEP. These findings have significant implications for the enhancement of specialist FEP services. The potential of HORYZONS to improve long-term recovery is worthy of further investigation.

Moderated online social therapy: Designing and evaluating technology for mental health

Although the use and prevalence of Web-based mental health applications have grown over the past decade, many of these services suffer high rates of attrition. This is problematic, as face-to-face support for mental health is limited. To determine appropriate design guidelines for increasing engagement, we conducted a study of First-Episode Psychosis (FEP) patients and reviewed theories on the use of existing online services. We produced a set of design goals, developed an online application that combined social networking and online therapy within a clinician-moderated site, and conducted a 6-week trial with a group of young FEP patients. The design goals, based on existing theory including Supportive Accountability and Positive Psychology, are operationlised through a model we call Moderated Online Social Therapy (MOST). The trial results indicate that our implementation achieved the design goals and that the MOST model can inform the development of more effective and engaging online therapies.

Internet-based interventions for psychosis: a sneak-peek into the future.

The Internet and mobile technologies are becoming ubiquitous. However, the potential of these technologies to support people with psychosis has been unexplored and the development of innovative e-based interventions is overdue. Research suggests the acceptability and effectiveness of such interventions in psychosis. Internet-based technologies have the potential to transform psychosis treatment by enhancing the accessibility of evidence-based interventions, fostering engagement with mental health services, and maintaining treatment benefits over the long term. This article reviews the current evidence on Internet-based interventions for psychosis, including potential benefits, risks, and future challenges. Recommendations are proposed for developing future online interventions for psychosis.

Participatory design of an online therapy for youth mental health

Online therapy has the potential to extend existing face-to-face support for mental health, but designers face challenges such as lack of user engagement. Participatory design could improve outcomes but is difficult to pursue in the mental health context. By working with a research-focused clinic we have been able to employ participatory design methods over a period of three years to develop and test an online therapy for young people with psychosis. This paper discusses our methods and results in the light of existing design frameworks for youth mental health, and reports experiences which will be useful for other researchers in the field. We have found that participatory approaches are indeed challenging in the mental health context, but can result in technology that is efficacious and acceptable to young people.

You can be too rich: mediated communication in a virtual world

Internet-based virtual worlds (VWs) have emerged as a popular form of collaborative virtual environment. Most have offered only text chat for user communication; however several VWs have recently introduced voice. While research has demonstrated benefits of voice, its introduction into the popular VW Second Life (SL) was controversial, and some users have rejected it. In order to understand the benefits and problems that voice brings to virtual worlds, we used qualitative methods to gather data from SL users and analyse it. We discuss our results in the light of media-richness theory and its critiques, arguing that preferences for voice or text reflect a broader problem of managing social presence in virtual contexts.

Moderated online social therapy for depression relapse prevention in young people: pilot study of a ‘next generation’ online intervention

Implementation of targeted e‐mental health interventions offers a promising solution to reducing the burden of disease associated with youth depression. A single‐group pilot study was conducted to evaluate the acceptability, feasibility, usability and safety of a novel, moderated online social therapy intervention (entitled Rebound) for depression relapse prevention in young people.

Voice in Virtual Worlds: The Design, Use, and Influence of Voice Chat in Online Play

Communication is a critical aspect of any collaborative system. In online multiplayer games and virtual worlds it is especially complex. Users are present over long periods, require both synchronous and asynchronous communication, and may prefer to be pseudonymous or engage in identity-play while managing virtual and physical use contexts. Initially the only medium for player-to-player communication in virtual worlds was text, a medium well suited to identity-play and asynchronous communication, less so to fast-paced coordination and sociability among friends. During the past decade vendors have introduced facilities for gamers to communicate by voice. Yet little research has been conducted to help us understand the influence of voice on the experience of using virtual space: Where, when, and for whom voice is beneficial, and how it might be configured. To address this gap we examined a range of online gaming environments. We analyzed our observations in the light of theory from Human–Computer Interaction, Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, and Computer-Mediated Communication. We conclude that voice radically transforms the experience of online gaming, making virtual spaces more intensely social but removing some of the opportunity for identity play, multitasking, and multigaming while introducing ambiguity over what is being transmitted to whom.

Exploring ambient technology for connecting hospitalised children with school and home

Children undergoing long-term hospital care face problems of isolation from their familiar home and school environments. This isolation has an impact on the emotional wellbeing of the child. In this paper we report on research that explores the design of technologies that mitigate some of the negative aspects of separation, while respecting the sensitivities of the hospital, school and home contexts. We conducted design workshops with parents, teachers and hospital staff and found that there was a strong desire for mediated connection, but also a significant need to protect privacy and avoid disruption. In response we designed a novel technology that combined an ambient presence with photo-sharing to connect hospitalised children with schools and families. This paper reports on the field trial of the technology. The research provides new insights into how technology can support connectedness and provides a foundation for contributing to the wellbeing of children and young people in sensitive settings. Hospitalised children suffer isolation which impacts their well-being.Attempts have been made to use off-the-shelf ICT to ameliorate isolation.Sensitive contexts at hospital and school make the use of existing technologies problematic.We trialled lightweight communication technology for hospitalised children.Ambient awareness and photo-sharing show promise for creating social connectedness.

Social Translucence of the Xbox Live Voice Channel

In this paper we use the concept of ‘social translucence’ to understand users’ initial reaction to, and use of, the voice communication channel provided by Xbox Live. We found that although users expected voice to be an advance over text-based communication, in practice they found voice difficult to use. In particular, users experienced difficulties controlling the voice channel and these difficulties are indicative of usability and sociability problems with the configuration of the voice channel in some Xbox Live games. We argue that game developers will need to address these problems in order to realize the potential of voice in online multiplayer videogames. We believe these problems can be addressed by designing the voice channel so that socially salient information is made available to participants according to interactional affordances and constraints that are sensibly designed and well understood by users.