Information
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Woohyuk John Jang

Grade: 10-12
Team Size: 1
Subject Area: Health
Project Type: Experimental
Language: English
Project Summary: This is an experimental project that investigated the effects of an avatar on the quality of communication experienced. Through the analyses, it is determined that the presence of an avatar increases the quality of chat communication. However, it is inconclusive if a direct avatar gaze condition improves upon an indirect avatar gaze condition.
Software Used: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Front Page, Microsoft Excel,
Second Life¢ē, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop, SPSS 16.0 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), Windows Screen Recorder
Hardware Used: Laptop Computer
Source of the Idea for the Project: I was inspired to do a project on this topic after reading a Science magazine article, which talked about the potential research uses of virtual worlds. After exploring the virtual world,
Second Life¢ē, I realized that avatar's lack the basic bodily behaviours of real life interactions. After realizing this issue, I was inspired to investigate the questions proposed in this project.
Special Skills: HTML, prim building in
Second Life¢ē.
Awards Won for the Project:
York Region Science and Technology Fair:
-Gold Medal
-University of Ottawa Scholarship

This project was selected to compete at the Canada Wide Science Fair in Ottawa, Ontario in May 2008.