PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN VIRTUAL WORLDS
JOSHUA FOUTS, director of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, will discuss: the first competition to develop an online game that promotes public diplomacy; the center's use of its island in Second Life as a laboratory for experiments in virtual public diplomacy by the State Department, foreign ministries of state, and prominent think-tanks; and the advantages of virtual worlds over web sites or other media for public diplomacy and cultural exchanges. Fouts presents at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 18 in the Da Vinci Ballroom, fourth floor, Renaissance Parc 55.
VIRTUAL THERAPY FOR MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
SKIP RIZZO, research scientist in the USC Institute for Creative Technologies and clinical psychologist, plans to take a cautious position on the ethics of virtual therapy. While acknowledging the value of virtual worlds for support groups and other applications, Rizzo will discuss the possible consequences of patients choosing to forego professional care in favor of self-diagnosis and treatment in-world. Rizzo has developed several virtual reality applications that extend rather than replace conventional therapy, such as a game-based treatment for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. He presents at 1:45 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 18 in the Da Vinci Ballroom, fourth floor, Renaissance Parc 55. Rizzo will participate in a news briefing at 10 a.m. that day.