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Conference Report - Using Virtual Reality for Stakeholder Engagement
Submitted by chrishaller on Tue, 08/25/2009 - 16:47.
To access the full report, go to the Public Decisions website >>
Public Decisions today released the conference report for the Using Virtual Reality for Stakeholder Engagement conference back in July. Very insightful, including many comments and feedback from the event. This summary table outlines some of the key findings:
| Benefits | Drawbacks | Tradeoffs | |
| Appropriateness | - May appeal to some
participants who otherwise
might not attend - May be useful in instances where biases or limited abilities (such as for persons with physical disabilities) place constraints on effectively achieving engagement goals |
- The idea of virtual
worlds may be
unappealing or have a
residual negative
connotation for some
people (e.g.,
“gaming”) - Technology can be overwhelming to some not used to it |
Like other engagement techniques, virtual worlds may be appropriate for certain proportion of stakeholders |
| Effectiveness | Provides an immersive, collaborative experience to the degree that in-person, telephone conference calls and web-enabled meetings cannot | Requires computer that meets systems requirements and high-speed internet; some organizational firewalls also may block access | Requires some willingness by stakeholders to learn how to use / navigate in virtual worlds (orientation sessions are suggested) |
| Efficiency | - Provides opportunities for
participants to have
experiences that otherwise
might be too costly or
difficult / dangerous - Costs of using virtual worlds can be very low and other hosts in-world are often willing to assist at no charge |
Creating your own “island” or space in virtual worlds can be costly | - Organization / host must
invest time and effort to
first understand the
potential applicability and
acquire the capabilities
needed for virtual worlds in
order to create a successful
immersive experience for
participants - Networking with other organizations in-world is key for locating free or lowcost spaces available for use in virtual worlds |
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