Shakespeare to invade Virtual world
Ever thought of Literacy and Technology together, most unlikely mixer ever to be imagined. Castronova, an associate professor of telecommunications at Indiana University and the leading expert on the economies of virtual worlds, is doing and his team to build "Arden: The World of Shakespeare," a massively multiplayer online game, or MMO, built entirely around the plays of the Bard. That means players can expect to trot around in 17th century regalia, buying ale in Elizabethan taverns and joining guilds aimed at toppling dukes and earls, simply fascinating. The Synthetic Worlds (the team of Castronova) Initiative is constructing a synthetic world, Arden, based on the works of William Shakespeare. When launched, Arden will provide users with a fun experience that also immerses them in the narrative, language, and culture of the world's greatest writer. It will also serve as a laboratory for research on macro-level social phenomena, and the impact of the technology on those who use it.
"Arden" will be an unusual entry to the growing field of MMOs, which is already dominated by games and virtual worlds like "World of Warcraft," "EverQuest," "Ultima Online." But while those games are published by for-profit corporations, "Arden" is entirely an academic project. The timeline set during the War of the Roses, offers historical context, as well as enough political intrigue, secret conniving, deal-making and war to delight any gamer.
But "Arden" has a more serious goal than just letting gamers cavort around in an Elizabethan playground. Castronova likens "Arden" to a "petri dish" where he and other researchers can conduct ongoing social-science experiments. Castronova said the idea is similar to a biologist running multiple versions of an experiment, each with slight variations in conditions, to see how those conditions affect the outcome.
No specific timeline of release has been announced, but expected to be during mid 2007. But already on Thursday, the MacArthur Foundation is expected to announce a $240,000 grant to “Arden” team.
This will definitely draw attention to literacy savvies not to mention tech savvies.
"Arden" will be an unusual entry to the growing field of MMOs, which is already dominated by games and virtual worlds like "World of Warcraft," "EverQuest," "Ultima Online." But while those games are published by for-profit corporations, "Arden" is entirely an academic project. The timeline set during the War of the Roses, offers historical context, as well as enough political intrigue, secret conniving, deal-making and war to delight any gamer.
But "Arden" has a more serious goal than just letting gamers cavort around in an Elizabethan playground. Castronova likens "Arden" to a "petri dish" where he and other researchers can conduct ongoing social-science experiments. Castronova said the idea is similar to a biologist running multiple versions of an experiment, each with slight variations in conditions, to see how those conditions affect the outcome.
No specific timeline of release has been announced, but expected to be during mid 2007. But already on Thursday, the MacArthur Foundation is expected to announce a $240,000 grant to “Arden” team.
This will definitely draw attention to literacy savvies not to mention tech savvies.
