Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

3. Social Virtual Worlds In Enterprises
Klaus Bredl, Amrei Groß and Jane Fleischer
Contrary to <strong>the</strong> rigid codification <strong>of</strong> knowledge elements in systems and platforms, <strong>the</strong> strategy <strong>of</strong>
personalization within knowledge management (Hansen, Nohria and Tierney 1999) is gaining
importance. Due to <strong>the</strong> introduction <strong>of</strong> Web 2.0 technology and social s<strong>of</strong>tware, this development,
known as Enterprise 2.0 (Koch and Richter 2007), corresponds with a strategy <strong>of</strong> personalization,
which is seeing an increase within enterprises.
E.g. <strong>the</strong> staff <strong>of</strong> IBM (Fray Carey 2009) is already using <strong>the</strong> Second Life GRID-Engine for internal
cooperation and learning processes. In <strong>the</strong> future, “Immersive Business Collaboration Spaces (IBCS)“
(Multiverse 2008) and “Enterprise Immersive Platforms” (Driver and Driver 2008) could be used
enterprise-wide – not only by IBM, but by various o<strong>the</strong>r enterprises as well.
In Fig. 1, you can see how <strong>the</strong> factor <strong>of</strong> immersion could be embedded in a social s<strong>of</strong>tware model for
use in organizations (Bredl 2009).
Low Degree
<strong>of</strong>
Immersion
Information
Content and
Information
Management
Strategy<strong>of</strong>
Codifcation
Strategy <strong>of</strong>
Codifcation
CMS,
DMS
Wiki
Communication
Management
Weblog
Online-Forum
Collaboration
Groupware
Social
Tagging
Virtual
Community
<strong>of</strong> Practice
Digital
Social
Network
Community
Management
Avatar
Virtual
Worlds
Strategy<strong>of</strong>
Personalisation
Strategy <strong>of</strong>
Personalisation
Human
(Social)
Presence
Management
Figure 1: Crystal (Xtal-)-Model – Immersion in Social Media
Research Approaches for Immersive Knowledge-Based Virtual Environments
High Degree
<strong>of</strong>
Immersion
The advantages <strong>of</strong> immersion and networking and <strong>the</strong> actual knowledge gain through <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong>
virtual worlds exceed <strong>the</strong> potential costs, alone because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> amount <strong>of</strong> time and travel that are
saved. To be considered for <strong>the</strong> application <strong>of</strong> MUVES, according to Bartle (2003):
The degree <strong>of</strong> (social) distance between <strong>the</strong> participants in a learning environment could be
regarded as diminishing thanks to a growing immersion in 3D environments.
The more or less unlimited possibilities <strong>of</strong> interaction compared to conventional information and
communication systems could be fur<strong>the</strong>r objectives <strong>of</strong> research.
Changing <strong>the</strong> user’s own identity by appearance <strong>of</strong> diversity (ethnicity, gender) brings <strong>the</strong>
possibility <strong>of</strong> anonymity and <strong>the</strong>refore equality in <strong>the</strong> knowledge process.
The feeling <strong>of</strong> being present toge<strong>the</strong>r with o<strong>the</strong>r learners in <strong>the</strong> learning field is possibly <strong>the</strong>
strongest factor in how immersion is perceived in <strong>the</strong> learning setting <strong>of</strong> a virtual world. This is
also potentiated by <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r users’ reactions to <strong>the</strong> digital self, which increases one’s own
presence and participation within <strong>the</strong> MUVE.
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