Multimodal Semiotics and Collaborative Design

under the top-surface of a metallic arch, the visual function of which is to connect two lipstickengines.
In this case, textual meta-functions of various design elements support the signification of
practical functions of design and rhetorical intentions of designers.
In synthesis, the analysis shows that the creating a sense of scale in designed places by divisions
and elevations of design elements is a commonly used method for producing experiential and
interpersonal meaning potentials. I consider elevation of surfaces and objects on VW grid as a
design strategy to expand the range of affordances in designed places, and to use the three
dimensional space more effectively. One particular factor behind the organizational logic of the
place is the presence of avatars, and the need to present visually accessible signifiers for the
practical use functions to communicate the affordances and/or constraints. As in PAL’s ‘pixel
landscape’ metaphor, emergent meaning potentials of textual elements can sometimes surface as
the dominant visual element, within which other modalities are composed. Therefore, next section
will focus on my observations on the use of prims as units of construction and semiotic resources
for the co-designers.
The prim system as semiotic resource for virtual place-making
In Chapter 7, I have explained how the default way of constructing virtual objects in SL by using
simple geometric units (prims) presents both affordances and constraints. The co-designers in the
three cases usually produced complex forms by modifying and combining prims in various
compositions, animating and functionalizing them by adding scripts, adjusting textures, opacity
and/or glow effects 16 . The common method for building objects in all three case studies included
the creation of arrangements of prims and appropriation of other resources (i.e. objects, textures,
scripts). For instance, all high-rise buildings in Metrotopia comprised of prims, but textual
organizations of geometric units show differences with respect to the intended experiential
functions. While buildings that have interior interaction spaces (i.e. Museum, Fight Club) were
built by using prims with various sizes as floor, ceiling and wall planes, non-functioning buildings
were built by using minimum amount of prims (usually 3-4 mega-prims) to avoid overloading
visitors’ computers. Another textual constraint for place-making is the prim-limit, or the limitation
of the maximum numbers allowed on a sim, which significantly affects the textual solutions
employed in making large-scale designs such as Metrotopia or PAL.
16 An alternative method to produce complex shapes is called ‘sculpted prims’, which allow designers to design
amorphous forms as single shapes in auxiliary software and import them as 3D-displacement textures 16 . However,
sculpted prims also bear practical limitations for constructing a satisfactory user experience (especially for visitors
with lower CPU capabilities) and they need specific resources / competences to work with, and they were rarely
preferred by the co-designers.
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