Virtual World sig

 Hello Virtual Worlders and welcome to the newly upgraded Virtual World SIG website.

Just announced - the presenter for the Aug. 27 SIG!

 Title:

Synthetic Currency - Real Work:  Using a Virtual Economy to Solve the Problem of Information Overload

 Abstract

Complex multiplayer games foreshadow new possibilities for the future of work.  An increasingly large portion of game play is collaborative and strategic, and it requires sustained interactions with several players.  The engagement of games and the lessons they foster may influence a new gamer generation to expect real work that better resembles the structure of complex play.

This talk will review the recipe for successful games, the convergence of games and the future of work, and describe a new software application that tackles the problem of information overload in corporate email using psychological and economic principles from successful virtual worlds.  The application (produced by Seriosity, Inc. and called Attent) creates a synthetic economy with a currency that enables users to attach value to outgoing email to signal importance.  It gives recipients the ability to prioritize messages and a reserve of currency that they can use to signal importance of their messages to others.  The software also provides a variety of tools and rewards that enable everyone to track and analyze communication patterns and information exchanges in the enterprise.  

The lively marketplace that emerges from the attention economy offers new insights into collaboration, productivity and leadership.

Bios

Byron Reeves, Ph.D. is a Professor at Stanford University and Faculty Director of the Stanford Media X Partners Program.  He is a leading expert on the psychology of interactive media, including complex multi-player games, and is co-author of The Media Equation. Dr. Reeves has worked at Microsoft Research on consumer and enterprise software, and has helped design software products for several large companies including IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Philips, and Schwab.  He is a Co- Founder and board member at Seriosity.