18th Americas
Conference on Information Systems, Seattle, Washington August
9-12, 2012
Call for Papers: Mini-Track
on Business Applications, Value, and Opportunities in
Virtual Worlds
Track:
Virtual Worlds
Description:
The 3D and
interactive web environment of virtual worlds is generating
significant
interest among individuals and businesses alike. Virtual
worlds are targeted to
different audiences, ranging from kids and teenagers to people
in their 50s.
Some virtual worlds are more popular than the others, and some
virtual worlds
provide high tech gaming options while some others offer
interactive classes,
dances, and club memberships. Virtual worlds are also emerging
as a channel for
businesses to recruit potential employees or conduct business.
Some of these virtual worlds are
beginning to incorporate real-world goods and services,
interactive shopping, customer support, education, and participation-by-proxy in directions few have yet considered.
However, it
is still not clear whether virtual worlds are here to stay or
it is just one of
those phenomena that will fade over time. There are a number
of unaddressed
issues that need attention from the research community such as
what real value
virtual worlds provide or what the social and cultural impacts
of virtual
worlds are. While it cannot be denied that virtual worlds hold
a lot of
potential but there is a need to examine what kind of
opportunities are being
enabled by virtual worlds, what challenges virtual worlds are
facing today, and
what opportunities they promise for the future. There is also
a need to examine
value and impact of virtual worlds today from different
perspectives and chart
the road map for the future.
The
objective of this mini-track is to provide a forum for
discussion and
presentation of original research highlighting value and
opportunities
associated with virtual worlds’ evolution and adoption
across multiple fields. We
seek papers that address value proposition of virtual worlds
from a
theoretical, conceptual, or empirical perspective. Both
quantitative and
qualitative studies on virtual worlds are welcome.
Suggested topics: Topics that are of
interest to this
minitrack include, but are not limited to:
- Value in adoption of virtual
worlds
- Measurement frameworks for value
of virtual worlds
- Economic and social impacts of
virtual worlds
- Cultural impacts and consequences
of virtual worlds
- Fun and entertainment value of
virtual worlds
- Success stories about use of
virtual worlds
- Business and commerce
opportunities in virtual worlds
- Case studies documenting impact of
virtual worlds
- Value of virtual worlds for
universities
- Opportunity for virtual commerce
(v-commerce) through virtual worlds
- Future opportunities enabled by
virtual worlds
- Challenges in virtual worlds
development and maintenance
Mini-track
Chair(s):
Department of
Information and
Technology Management
John H
Sykes College of Business, University of Tampa, Tampa, FL,
USA
Department
of Information and Technology Management
John H Sykes
College of Business, University
of Tampa, Tampa, FL, USA
Important
Dates:
- AMCIS
2012 starts accepting manuscript submissions: January 03, 2012
- Submission
deadline:
March 01, 2012
- Acceptance
decision notification:
April 06, 2012
- Camera
Ready paper is due:
April 25, 2012
Vikas
Jain, Ph.D.
Assistant
Professor
Department
of
Information and Technology Management
John
H. Sykes College of
Business
The University of Tampa
401 W
Kennedy Blvd,
Tampa FL 33606, USA