The brainstorming tools area of
the IS&T research island on Second Life.
Real teamwork in virtual
world
Imagine you are part of a team conducting a
project for a worldwide corporation, yet members of the team are dispersed
around the globe. Communication would be limited to conference calls, emails
and video-conferencing, where people sit in front of a Web camera and talk. You
can see the other people on your team, but you can't always see what they mean.
You can't stand beside them and try out an idea, build a machine or test a
device and immediately - or physically - experience the results.
You can in a "virtual world."
A virtual world is defined as a
computer-based, simulated environment where the computer users, or residents,
interact by utilizing avatars. An avatar is a representation of the user that
can be either a two-dimensional icon, as in an online forum or chat room, or a
3-D model, much like those in computer games.
Immersive 3-D virtual worlds are known as
metaverses. These metaverses provide virtual team members new ways of
overcoming geographical barriers to collaboration.
Metaverses and their enormous, valuable
potential are being explored by researchers and students at the College of
Information Science & Technology (IS&T).
While commonly associated with computer
gaming, the use of virtual worlds is expanding rapidly as a source for
collaboration within the corporate world. Companies including IBM, Sears and
Circuit City are testing the business opportunities presented by virtual
worlds.
These companies, along with other businesses,
individuals and educational institutions, are renting pieces of virtual land in
an Internet-based virtual world called Second Life, a development of Linden
Research, Inc. Second Life is just one example of the online virtual worlds
that exist today.
Since opening to the public in 2003, Second
Life has attracted more than 13 million users, or residents, from around the
world. At any given moment, about 40,000 residents are using Second Life space.
Beginning last fall, students and faculty at
IS&T partnered to form a research team and utilize Second Life as part of a
doctoral seminar on virtual world project management.
The Ph.D. students were John Murphy, Alanah
Davis, Chi Zhang and Dawn Owens. The faculty members of the research team were
Ilze Zigurs, professor and chair of the department of information systems and
quantitative analysis (ISQ&A); and Deepak Khazanchi, associate dean and
professor of ISQ&A.
In addition, Jay Austin, a senior majoring in
computer science, assisted in building and setting up the team's "island" on
Second Life.
"An island is a piece of virtual land where
you can build whatever you want to build, whether it's a house or an entire
business," says Khazanchi. "On our island, we have built a digital art studio,
a lounge for gathering, an area with brainstorming tools, and a place where you
can build 3-D objects."
The island's experimental environments can be
used to manage teams of avatars and collaborate on projects. They also can be
used to explore the capabilities of virtual world technology and its
applications in academic and business real worlds.
"We want to use it as a teaching tool, and to
create some excitement about IT (information technology) and what IT can do for
people," Khazanchi says.
Zigurs says the size of the space rented in a
virtual world is limited only by the users and their investment. "IBM, for
example, owns a couple of continents on Second Life."
The space in a virtual world can be designed
to imitate the real world or just the opposite.
"There are businesses that are creating some
very realistic spaces," Zigurs says. "I know of a hospital that has created a
high-tech, 3-D duplicate of its facilities in Second Life so patients, doctors
and other interested people can see what it has to offer."
She says the island utilized by the UNO
researchers was specifically designed not to resemble the physical world - or
its limitations.
Virtual world project management (VWPM) is the
process of managing a project through coordination, communication and control
within the bounds of a virtual world environment.
In the IS&T Second Life project, it was
observed that the teams where participants interacted with each other
established trust and had successful project outcomes.
The research team also found that appearance,
including avatar appearance, was important in the process. Participants
commented on each other's appearance, and some outfitted their avatar in professional
attire to participate in the project.
The unique technology capabilities of virtual
worlds can lead to increased flexibility in how a team behaves, which provides
opportunities for VWPM. Virtual worlds offer a shared space where teams can
meet and interact and where project coordination can be enhanced.
Project coordination is a major element of
project management. Virtual worlds can help minimize coordination challenges by
providing:
• Ability for immediate feedback when
communicating among team members;
• Ability to establish trust through multiple
channels of communication;
• Removal of geographical boundaries; and,
• The ability to view one another's artifacts
as they are working on them.
The overall goal of the projects at IS&T
is to enhance research and practice on virtual teams working in virtual worlds.
There are many potential benefits to
understanding virtual worlds, says Khazanchi. "Organizations and academic
institutions that are exploring the use of metaverses can benefit by seeing
specifically how metaverses might enhance team functioning.
"Researchers can benefit from the foundation
for future research in terms of constructs, propositions and challenges," he
says. "Virtual team managers can benefit by being aware of the basic characteristics
of this new environment, and how its technological capabilities have the
potential to provide a richer form of interaction for virtual teams."
Zigurs says the fact that there currently are
more questions than answers simply adds to the excitement of exploring the
potential applications of virtual worlds.
"In the early days of the Internet, no one was
really sure how it would eventually be used," she says. "Right now, we are in
the wild, wild west of virtual worlds."
IS&T a model
of innovation
Like the revolutionary idea that led to its
inception more than 10 years ago, the College of Information Science and
Technology continues to be recognized throughout the world as an academic
pioneer in education, collaboration and research.
By forging new paths of study, attracting the
best and brightest students and renowned faculty, and creating opportunities
for cutting-edge research and entrepreneurial concepts and technologies, the
college is perfectly positioned to lead the interdisciplinary advancements in
information technology (IT) into the next decade and beyond.
One of two academic components that comprise
the University of Nebraska's Peter Kiewit Institute (PKI), IS&T and its
unique programs and business and governmental partnerships have become a model
for other universities and a magnet for students from around the globe.
IS&T includes the departments of computer
science and information systems and quantitative analysis, as well as programs
in bioinformatics, telecommunications, information assurance and a doctorate
program in information technology (IT).
The college goes well beyond offering students
the fundamentals.
Local and national businesses, academic
entities and governmental organizations partner with IS&T faculty and
students on coursework, internships, mentoring programs and product
development. The college plays host to visiting faculty from around the world
and welcomes many international experts for presentations and symposiums, while
IS&T faculty regularly travel to foreign universities to teach and are
invited to chair prestigious international events.
Service-learning programs led by IS&T
faculty and students have benefited a wide-range of entities beyond the UNO
campus, from the Douglas County Historical Society, to inmates of the Douglas
County Corrections Center who are learning basic computer skills, to area
public health agencies, to small businesses through the community that receive
instruction and advice as to how technology can better enable them to succeed.
The Wireless Omaha project led by IS&T
Dean Hesham Ali is working to provide free wireless access throughout the city,
a feature that would greatly benefit residents regardless of income or
education, and that would help establish the city as a rising star in the world
of information technology.
The college impacts the community far beyond
the university boundaries. That is due to a far-reaching vision of being a
leader by taking information technology from the classroom into the research
lab and the corporate environment, and directly to the public.
Its interactive nature has made the college a
part of the fabric of the Omaha community as well as major businesses and
government agencies throughout the nation. The Global Innovation and Strategies
Center (GISC), also situated on the Aksarben campus, and the U.S. Strategic
Command (USSTRATCOM) headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base just south of
Omaha, regularly tap into the pool of eager IS&T students for internships
and ideas.
Some of these relationships have been sparked
by other entities that call IS&T home: the Center for the Management of
Information Technology, the International Academy for Advanced Decision
Support, the Nebraska University Consortium on Information Assurance (NUCIA),
and in a partnership with the other five colleges on the UNO campus, the
Institute for Collaboration Science.
One example of the college's recognition as a
high-quality institution is its ongoing designation as a National Center of
Academic Excellence in Information Assurance by the National Security Agency.
In 2001, NUCIA was one of the first 20 centers to receive the designation.
IS&T was established in 1996, combining
three existing units: computer science, information systems and quantitative
analysis (ISQA), and the Center for Management of Information Technology.
The size and renown of the faculty since has
grown with the addition of professors recognized as experts in their fields of
study and research. Their ideas have led to further interdisciplinary
collaborations between IS&T and other institutions, including the public
health researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
The work at IS&T results in a significant
number of research grants.
Most recently, the National Science Foundation
awarded UNO researchers a two-year grant for a curriculum development project
in bioinformatics. The research team, led by IS&T's Mark Pauley, Ph.D., and
Dean Ali, will develop, test and disseminate a set of six curriculum modules in
bioinformatics that can be integrated into curricula in the biological
sciences, computer science and other disciplines.
The IT industry has seen tremendous growth
both in terms of innovation and opportunities for reemployment. Subsequently,
the role of IT education today is changing. IT faculty and students are being
challenged to integrate with various disciplines and further exciting areas
such as bioinformatics and media technology, to provide the tools to other
academic disciplines and help them achieve their goals, and to take advantage
of the growth of the new IT hybrid areas to expand the IT core.
The motto at IS&T is "IT Innovation
Through Collaboration." It is the mission and intent of the college, through
advancements in IT research, education and innovation, to continue to make a
profound, positive impact upon the world.
That goal requires vision, expertise and
dedication from everyone - from first-year students through graduate students,
from the most junior faculty member to seasoned professors, staff members and
administrators.
It's the kind of vision that led to the
establishment of the college - and it is the same vision that will help propel
IS&T into the future.
The Capstone Team, from let, David Lauer,
Devin Brisco, Nick Spies, John Croasdale, Leesu Khang, Anne Helzer, Cristina
Popescu and Baye Niang (seated). Not pictured, Maisee Xiong.
IS&T
students develop stimulation therapy system
A stimulation therapy system for older adults
living with various physical and mental disabilities, developed by graduate
students at the College of Information Science and Technology (IS&T), is
being tested in Omaha.
The students developed the Computer Assisted
Recreational Therapy System in conjunction with the Douglas County Health
Center. The health center residents will be the first to use the system. It is
an arcade-like environment that offers games and fitness to improve the
physical and cognitive functioning of the residents using custom-developed and
off-the-shelf hardware and software. Examples include memory-building games,
puzzles, Internet news, music programs, and bicycle and automobile driving
simulators.
"The UNO students played a vital role in
bringing computer technology into the lives of our residents," says Mary
Powell, director of nursing at the Douglas County Health Center. "Many of our
residents are unable go out into the world due to physical and medical
limitation. Through this project, the students have brought the world to them."
IS&T graduate students seeking a master of
science degree in management information systems (MIS) created the project as
part of a new course guided by IS&T professors Ann Fruhling and Gert-Jan de
Vreede.
