Narrator: The coronavirus pandemic has, almost overnight, changed how we interact, work, and entertain ourselves pushing the world online into virtual worlds instead of physical ones.
Narrator: Ph.D. Deepak Khazanchi, is a professor of information systems and Quantitative Analysis at the University of Nebraska Omaha and has studied how virtual worlds allow teams to interact and how a business may run in the future.
Narrator: Using a game called second life, Deepak and his assistants were able to set up a world and scenarios for teams to complete objectives and in doing so, record how the teams interacted, organized, what features of the game were used and more.
Insert Sound Byte 1 “Deepak Khazanchi” 0:36 – 1:06
Narrator: There tests led to some interesting results, not only were teams able to collaborate and complete complex tasks, the use of avatars allowed people to take on the persona of their avatar and expressing themselves and their opinions just like in real life.
Insert Sound Byte 2 “Deepak Khazanchi” 1:21 – 2:07
Narrator: In the future, this technology coupled with the use of virtual reality and augmented reality could be used to train people on new jobs or help them complete other jobs faster and more safely.
Insert Sound Byte 3 “Deepak Khazanchi” 2:18 – 2:52
For the UNO School of Communication, I’m RC Miller.
MAV Research 