The Effects of Online Multiuser Virtual Environments on Creative Motivation in Collaborative Design Studios

Abstract

Online Multiuser Virtual Environments (MUVEs) are online, immersive 3D environments based on anthropomorphic avatars and synchronous multiuser access. We investigated the effects of MUVEs on students' creative motivation in collaborative design studios. Based on qualitative analyses of two long-term and authentic collaborative architecture design studios in Second Life, a commercial MUVE platform, we found that the avatars' immersive experiences in the MUVEs, the presence of classmates' avatars, and co-presence with them allowed the students to evaluate the usefulness of the proposed buildings and organization of exhibition spaces. In addition, we found that the shared objects in the MUVEs encouraged the production of unexpected and new solutions. However, in the MUVEs, if any buildings were not in the immersive perception of the avatars, with respect to the body and views, students struggled to develop solutions. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013.