Second Life Research Bots
Millions of people now spend time in massive multiplayer online games and virtual worlds. Some metaverses like SecondLife are particularly interesting for study, since they are being built by their virtual citizens and "evolving organically".
We are studying virtual societies using our unique research bots. More to come soon.
Papers
D. Friedman, A. Steed, and M. Slater, Spatial Social Behavior in Second Life, Proc. Intelligent Virtual Agents LNAI 4722, Pelachaud et al. (eds), pages 252—264, Paris, France, September 2007. (short-listed for best paper award). PDF.
D. Friedman, A. Steed, and M. Slater, Research Bots in Second Life, A workshop on: Simulation and Second Life, in SL, Sept. 7th, 2007. PDF.
AVL bots now taking part in immersive journalism
Watch high res or low res
Press
Anti-social bot invades Second Lifers' personal space
By Tom Simonite, 02 November 2007, NewScientist.com news service
Bot-avatar Pesters Second Life Users (For Science!)
By CmdrTaco, 05 November 2007, Slashdot
Obtaining AVL Bots
We are now making AVL bots available to the research community free of charge. Please contact avl@idc.ac.il - describe your intended use in a paragraph or two, and we will send you the software.
AVL bot instructions
Tutorial movie