Authors: Vytautas Čyras, Kristina Lapin. Symposium on Methods of Artificial Intelligence, 18-19 November 2009. T. Burczyński, W. Cholewa, W. Moczulski (eds.) Recent Developments in Artificial Intelligence Methods, AI-METH series, November 2009, p.69-76. ISBN 83-60759-15-4. http://www.ai-meth.polsl.pl. ABSTRACT: The paper addresses the purposes and design decisions produced while developing a peer-to-peer virtual world platform. The work is being done within the FP7 VirtualLife project. The purpose of the project is to create a safe, democratic and legally ruled collaboration environment. The novelty of the platform is mainly in the issues of security and trust and in the implementation of an in-world legal framework, which is real world compliant. The rule of law principle is extended to a virtual world. Such an extension advances the level of intelligence of an artifact. The approach accords with a trend in legal informatics “From norms in law to rules in artifact”. In the paper the authors reflect on user needs and learning support in a university virtual campus, a potential scenario. Virtual worlds’ opportunities in enhancing learning are discussed. A new paradigm of the content is characterized as interaction versus information.

1. User needs and legally ruled collaboration in
the VirtualLife virtual world platform
Vytautas ČYRAS, Kristina LAPIN
Vilnius University, Lithuania
vytautas.cyras@mif.vu.lt, kristina.lapin@mif.vu.lt
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2. Virtual worlds
Serious, e.g. “Second
Life”, “Active Worlds”
Educational Universe
Not games
e.g. “World of Warcraft”
I am neither a
proponent nor
opponent of them.
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Consider negative factors such as addiction
Research & software development project
FP7 ICT VirtualLife project, 3 years from 01.01.2008
Title “Secure, Trusted and Legally Ruled Collaboration Environment
in Virtual Life”. Acronym “VirtualLife”
Goal: software platform – peer-to-peer architecture
Learning support as a use scenario, e.g. “University Virtual Campus”

3. 3
About FP7 ICT VirtualLife project
Objective
to create a safe, democratic and legally ruled
3D collaboration environment
Novelties
issues of security and trust
in-world legal framework
a “Supreme Constitution”, a “Virtual Nation
Constitution”, a set of contracts
peer-to-peer network communication
architecture

4. 4
Learning needs of “digital natives”
Students of today
are active Web 2.0 participants
easy create relationships in social networks
like impressing peers with curious facts
enjoy participating in online group activities
function in “multitasking mode”
a new phenomenon: they share the knowledge with
unknown people
do not like memorizing information for later use
but they are effective in searching

5. Motivation of learning
Learning materials
static – searchable in 2D for learner’s queries
interactive objects – in 3D
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6. Learning environment
Constantly gratifying, encouraging social interaction
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7. Sample scenarios
Web 2.0
information as a content
asynchronous communication
“University Virtual Campus”
interaction as a content
synchronous communication
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8. Virtual worlds for education
Sara de Freitas. Serious Virtual
Worlds: A scoping study. 2008
A list of virtual worlds
more than 80
open source platforms:
“Multiverse”, “OpenSim”,
“Metaplace”
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/seriousvirtualworldsv1.pdf
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9. From legal rules – to virtual world rules –
to rules in software
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This translation complies with:
Lawrence Lessig’s conception “Code is law”
Raph Koster’s “Declaration of the Rights of Avatars”
‘Keep off the grass’
‘The subject – avatar – is forbidden the
action – walking on the grass’
A software program, i.e. a script.
Implemented by trigers which control the avatar
Natural intelligence – a team of (1) a legal
expert, and (2) virtual world developer
Natural intelligence – a programmer
Translation
Translation

10. Examples of rules
1. An avatar is forbidden to touch objects not owned
by him or a certain group.
2. An avatar not belonging to a given group is
forbidden to a given area of the zone.
3. An avatar is forbidden to create more than a given
number of objects during a given time interval.
4. An avatar is forbidden to use a given dictionary of
words (slang) while chatting with other avatars.
5. An avatar of age is forbidden to chat with avatars
under age.
6. An avatar is forbidden to execute authorized
scripts in a certain area.
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11. Problems of translation
Abstractness of norms. Legal norms are
formulated in very abstract terms.
Open texture. Hart’s example of “Vehicles are
forbidden in the park”.
Legal interpretation methods. The meaning of
a legal text cannot be extracted from the sole text.
Grammatical interpretation, systemic interpretation,
teleological interpretation
Legal teleology. The purpose of a legal rule
usually can be achieved by a variety of actions.
Heuristics. The ability to translate abstract high
level concepts and invent low level ones.
Consciousness of the society. Law enforcement
is a complex social phenomenon.
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12. The editor of rules
A law is composed of Norms [Vázquez-Salceda et al.
2008]. A Norm is composed by:
(1) NORM_CONDITION,
(2) VIOLATION_CONDITION,
(3) DETECTION_MECHANISM,
(4) SANCTION
(5) REPAIR.
A NORM_CONDITION is expressed by:
TYPE {Obliged, Permitted, Forbidden}
SUBJECT {Avatar, Zone, Nation}
ACTION {ENTER, LEAVE, CREATE, MODIFY, MOVE,
CREATE, TRADE, SELL, BUY, CHAT, etc.}
COMPLEMENT {AREA, AVATAR, OBJECT, etc.}
IF {logical_expresssion_using_subjects_properties}
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13. An example of Norm
1. Condition:
FORBIDDEN Student_Avatar
ENTER Library IF Student_Avatar.age < 18
2. Violation condition:
NOT over_age(Student_Avatar) AND
admit(Student_Avatar, Library)
3. Detection mechanism:
call over_age(Student_Avatar)
when Student_Avatar enters Library
4. Sanction: decrease_reputation(Student_Avatar);
notify avatar
5. Repair: log and roll back if applicable
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14. Legal framework of VirtualLife
Three tiers:
1. A “Supreme Constitution”
Code of Conduct
values that the user has to respect, e.g. avatars integrity,
sanctity of property, reputation, etc.
A part of EULA (End User License Agreement)
2. A “Virtual Nation Constitution”
authentication procedure to become a member of Nation
copyright law of Nation, e.g. “CopyLeft” or “CopyRight”
3. A set of different sample contracts
sales contract
teacher employment contract
student contract
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15. Conclusions
Virtual worlds are likely to become a widespread
extension of our real lives
Legal and security features need to be improved
Digital natives need a new learning environment
with experiences similar to online games
3D virtual worlds add the value of interaction
experience
Provide interaction and feedback
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16. Thank you
Acknowledgements: The whole VirtualLife
consortium, 9 partner organisations
http://www.ict-virtuallife.eu
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