节目资讯
刊物:生活知识家
日期:2009-10-17
难易度:Low
关键字:site, community, aggressive, confident, VHIL, Virt
Hi, friends. Welcome back from the break.
Now as we mentioned before the break, an avatar, even though you create it,
it can, in turn, change your behavior and even your personality.
Now it sounds like the beginning of a science fiction movie when computers with
artificial intelligence eventually take over the world.
OK.
I... I think I need to calm down and see what words we have left in the Word
Bank.
OK. We find that adjective ”aggressive,” as in:
Shelly’s dog is very aggressive.
It tries to bite anyone it doesn’t know.
And another adjective:
confident.
Joe has been more confident since he started dating Cindy.
Now let’s get back to the text.
Our reading continues on line eleven.
(Music).
Avatars.
Nick Yee, from Stanford’s VHIL, claims that avatars can change a user’s
behavior.
If someone has a tall avatar, for example, he or she is more likely to be
aggressive.
Having an avatar that is either very beautiful or handsome may make one more
confident.
Through the use of avatars, the link between online life and real life is
growing.
It is up to the users to decide to be honest in how they represent themselves.
Who will you be?
Welcome back.
Just before the break when we... as we were talking about avatars,
we learned that some questions have been raised about the relationship between a
human being and his or her avatar.
And we mentioned that there has even been some research done that shows that
avatars can actually affect their users.
Let’s learn a little bit more specifically what that means and what that
research says right now.
In fact, Nick Yee, from Stanford’s VHIL, claims that avatars can change a user’s
behavior.
We’re going to talk more about that,
but let’s first look at VHIL. Chip, could you tell us what VHIL stands for,
first of all?
OK.
Well, it stands for uh, Virtual Human Interaction Lab.
Now uh, if something is virtual, that means that it looks or appears to be real,
but it’s not.
So often we refer to activity online as virtual.
Maybe you have a conversation with somebody on the Internet.
Well, we might call that a virtual conversation because you’re not actually
talking.
So this VHIL is a group of researchers from Stanford University,
who do their best to try to figure out maybe uh, the effect that online,
uh, things like avatars and other digital items have on people’s behavior and
maybe on their attitudes.
And they very specifically have studied avatars before and they come up with
some very, very fascinating information.
Chip, uh, our text gives us a couple of examples.
Could you tell us one?
Well, from the research,
they says they... they... they found that if someone has a tall avatar, for
example, he or she is more likely to be aggressive.
Now that’s very interesting,
uh, that if you have a tall avatar - and I would assume that we’re talking an
avatar that is a little bit taller than maybe the person actually is,
then you might tend to be more aggressive.
Now that word ”aggressive” means what, Chelsea?
Well, if you’re aggressive, it means that you’re behaving in, maybe, an angry
way or a threatening way.
Perhaps you want to attack something or fight somebody.
You’re being very aggressive.
So maybe if someone makes their avatar extra tall or just tall as it says, they
might be more aggressive in real life.
That’s very interesting.
Now that’s not the only research that’s been done.
There’s also another example here, Chip.
And what does that example tell us?
Well, it says that having an avatar that is either very beautiful or - if you’re
a man - handsome,
that may make one more... that may... sorry... that may make one person more
confident.
Now if you’re more confident or if you have confidence, that means that you are
sure that you can do something very well.
That means that you are certain that you are able to do things well.
For example, maybe if you practice your English a lot, you are very confident in
your English language skills.
Now through the use of avatars, the link between online... online life and real
life is growing.
So we see more people online.
We see more people creating avatars.
And because the amount of time spent online, this relationship between people
and their avatars is really, really growing.
So it’s up to the users to do what, Chip?
Well, it’s up to the users to decide uh, how honest to be when they represent
themselves,
how honest they should be.
Should their avatar look like them?
Or should it look maybe better, more handsome, more beautiful, taller than they
are?
That’s a good question.
Now if I had to create my own avatar, I’m not exactly sure where I would even
start.
I have no idea what I would want my avatar to look like.
But I would keep in mind this research,
this research that shows that uh, depending on the characteristics that you
choose for your avatar,
those might affect how you behave and affect your attitude maybe toward other
people.
So as with all things, just be careful and use your time wisely.
Uh, maybe not spend too much time on your avatars online.
And while at the same time, I think this is a... a good uh, thing to use uh, in
order to have conversations with other people in a confident way.
And you can be more confident when you have these virtual conversations with
people using your avatar.
And I might just say once again.
If you remember right, we do have our very own Cyber Village here at Studio
Classroom.
If you want to work on you English even more outside of the magazines and
outside of watching the television program,
you can create your own avatar and go through our Cyber Village to work on your
English.
And I imagine there’s more information on that in our magazines.
So you could check it out.
And I’ll be interested to hear how our viewers will represent themselves uh,
either with an avatar in another website,
or how they choose to represent themselves uh, on... in Cyber Village.
So if you uh, do Cyber Village, then let us know.
E-mail us, send us some letters, and let us know what you think of your avatar
and how you used it.
That’s all we have for today.
We’re going to exit.
But before we do, we’re gonna watch a skit.
So stay tuned.
Because I’m an avatar, these video games are more interesting.
Yes.
Learning English is a more interesting too.
These sites are fun.
Mmhm.
Oh, well, please excuse me.
I have to go now.
Oh.
Where are you going?
I’m going to my Second Life.
Second Life?
Second Life online.
Oh.
Yeah.
Today, I’m shopping for artwork.
Oh, look.
I want that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Not for sale?
I want it!
Give it to me now!
Oh, you’re so aggressive.
Oh, I know.
This avatar has effected me.
It’s changed my behavior.
It’s tall, so I can be aggressive.
Oh, hey, uh... let me choose an avatar for Second Life.
All right.
OK. This and that. Here.
Hey, your avatar is beautiful.
Yes. It gives me confidence.
I can see why.
Your avatar is very attractive.
Ha.
But it doesn’t look like you at all!
Oh, yeah? Take that!
Ouch! Stop hitting my avatar!
Take that!
Ouch!
You stop it.
Leave my avatar alone! Take that!
No! You take...
Take that!
No.
Take that!
Oh, man! Now it’s broken.
Oops.
Hi, everyone.
I’m Michelle.
(Chinese).
And make sure you come back for Language Tips next time.
I’ll see you. Bye-bye.
Thank you, Michelle.
OK. The line between avatars and real life can get blurry.
So everyone, if you do have a digital double of yourself somewhere in
cyberspace,
be sure to keep at least one foot firmly planted in reality.
Friends, to help keep your feet planted in the world of English, we’ve created a
Studio Classroom Tidbits feature,
which this month makes its appearance back on page thirty-two.
It’s not a lesson,
but it is a fun page of miscellaneous facts and fun.
Take some time this weekend and check it out.
On Monday, we begin a true story of a family who decided to go sailing around
the world.
Friends, thanks again for studying with Studio Classroom.
We’ll see you all next week.
(Music).