Navigating the Virtual Landscape: Co-ordinating the Shared Use of Space

Abstract

Collaborative virtual environments, such as multi-user domains (MUDs),chatrooms, or three-dimensional graphical environments, provide acommon space for people to interact in, independent of geographicallocation. In this chapter we examine how the different metaphorsused to represent two- and three-dimensional environments might influenceinterpersonal behaviours. We focus on behaviours related to navigationand positioning: (1) proxemics — the maintenance of personal space,(2) the signaling of private space and (3) the effects of crowding.We discover that the design of the three-dimensional space offerssociopetal spaces that encourage interaction, make clusters of actorseasily visible and provide cues so that people maintain a sense ofpersonal space. In both environments, adverse reactions to crowdingoccur. We suggest that differences in interpersonal behaviours maybe influenced by embodiment (avatar) design features of the spaceand the number of other actors present. In a three-dimensional environment,these factors appear to influence navigation and positioning in theenvironment