The document outlines a virtual reality workshop aimed at exploring avatars and immersive experiences, scheduled for May 28, 2019. It includes an agenda with various activities such as avatar modification, virtual tours, and discussions on creating engaging environments for different purposes. The workshop emphasizes the importance of vision and purpose in utilizing technology, while providing resources for participants to develop their own virtual identities and spaces.

1. BECOME AN AVATAR: AND, EXPLORE
VIRTUAL REALITY
Jelia Domingo & Eileen O’Connor -
SUNY Empire State College – jelia.domingo@esc.edu / eileen.oconnor@esc.edu
And, a band of hearty VR builders & guides joining from around the USA –
Lisa Ryan, Scott Dolphin, Selby Evans, Lisa Ryan
Workshop – May 28, 2019 – 2 to 5pm
https://www.esc.edu/graduate-studies/masters-degrees/education-
programs/ma-learning-emerging-technologies/

2. AGENDA
• Intro & orientation
• Startup
• Avatar - modify & consider
• Break
• Building - basic > complex
• Virtual tours
• Debriefing - next steps; return and continue
Join in a guided immersive
adventure  in the future,
visit or create

3. INTRODUCTIONS
• About us / about you
• Research
• Inform consent
• Opt in / opt out
• General things we have done
• What would you hope to accomplish by end?
• Dabble? Or journey on with us?
You can simply USE an
island – we are showing you
how you can make an
island too
Success is NOT about the
technology but about the
vision and purpose for the
use
Presently, open-sim is
2d/3d; headset version in
future

4. HOW THE SETTING AND
ENVIRONMENT INTERPLAY
– SENSE OF PLACE

5. BUILD YOUR WORLD – TO WHAT
PURPOSE?
BASIC SPACES:
• Meetings
• Conferences
• Classes
• Role playing
• Stories / narratives / games
• Shared activities
• What type of space is most amenable?
Friendly? Formal?
ADVANCED SPACES
• Simulations
• Impossible / dangerous
• Fantasy
• Multi-setting
https://sites.google.com/view/vrmarian/design
https://sites.google.com/view/vrmarian/adv-development - more
advanced development work

6. ACQUIRE AVATAR & ENTER
• Need viewer – Firestorm installed
• Get avatar – www.kitely.com
• USE NAME YOU WANT & WILL
REMEMBER – SAVE PASSWORD (we can
not reset for you)
• Test speech / text chat & movement &
Snapshot
• Walk / fly
• Teleport by map (World Map)
• Find & photo – an imminent threat; a
dizzying experience; floating fun;
conference commons
https://sites.google.com/view/vrmarian/startup
https://sites.google.com/view/vrmarian/home - pirates’ peril

7. REDEFINE AVATAR
• Gather in cabin area on Mariantest
• Gather notecard, join team & test:
• New outfits
• Change in private or be bold
• Avatar size and appearance
• Save versions – take Snapshots
• TO LEARN – explore & use ? (help)
• Avatar activities
• Appearance modifications – key
• Gestures too
https://sites.google.com/view/vrmarian/avatar-change - basic
https://sites.google.com/view/vrmarian/advanced-avatar - advanced avatar

9. VIRTUAL IDENTITY?
Should an avatar:
• Look like you? Or, not?
• Does that matter?
Is an avatar important? . . . or, time
consuming?
What about?
• Age group
• Appropriateness
• Professional / personal
• Point of view vs. personification
Lots to study – lots to understand
From K12 to healthcare to education to therapy

10. WAYS TO CREATE AN
ENVIRONMENT
What to do:
• View MARIANTEST Map
• Start in Basic Build or Repurpose
• Swap areas later, if desired
• Then practice / play in Your-build Area
• Take SNAPSHOTS GALORE of your avatar, your
creations & both – SEND favorites to
eileen.oconnor@esc.edu
• Premade space
• Gather Creative Commons artifacts,
buildings, pathway
• Repurpose / modify
• Make posters, media, website portals
• Design from scratch
• ALL OF THE ABOVE
Then find your guides & have
some fun – continue later

11. EXPLORE OTHER SPACES – AND
PONDER
• Join a travel team; move to Mariantest
central house
• Visit with guides:
• The Hudson Line
• Australia
• Space
• Empire Learning Design
• Video Production
• Shadowglen
• Microknowledge
• Return for ideas and debriefing
https://sites.google.com/view/vrmarian/other-locations
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_4IlstMWAE64WWqM_j8VpZ
3jBwrRkGcK9AsFuegOB8M/present?slide=id.p – Kitely featured

12. YOUR IDEAS?
• How is immersive different from
webinar & other virtual?
• Where can immersive VR play in online
or blended experiences? In virtual
classroom spaces?
• What role could a shared space and a
virtual identity play in your future?
• What Can an Avatar Do? Any Virtual
Thing You Design – May 29; 2:30pm
• Continue to grow
• On our own
• Masters courses in MALET at ESC -
OpenSUNY – as applicant or non-
matric https://www.esc.edu/graduate-studies/masters-
degrees/education-programs/ma-learning-emerging-
technologies/