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The multimodal, 3D-graphlcal communication platforms known as virtual worlds have their historical roots In multi-user domains/dungeons (MUDs) and virtual reality (VR). Given the extensive research on these technologies and the novelty of virtual worlds as a topic of study In Information systems (IS), It behooves us to learn from the concepts, theories and Insights generated primarily by other disciplines that have focused on these technologies. Because neither MUDs nor VR have significant organizational application, thus locating them outside of the IS discipline's purview, very little of this literature has found Its way Into IS research thus far. This article reviews the extant literature on virtual environments and seeks to make Its Insights accessible to IS research on virtual worlds. In particular, this will focus on concepts, theories and Insights regarding embodiment and presence, which are afforded by the avatar, a distinguishing technological artifact of virtual worlds.
Ulrike Schultze (Wed,) studied this question.