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Understanding how other people think and what their actions imply is a daily challenge that we all face. Within our own cultures we rely on shared knowledge to aid in our interpretation of the actions and words of others. When communicating outside of our culture, this shared knowledge is missing which can lead to misunderstanding and miscommunication problems. While disconcerting at a personal level, these problems are greatly magnified during country-level diplomatic missions or during times of potential conflict or regional destabilization.
To acquire cultural knowledge and sensitivity we can use various media such as books and web pages. We can also travel to other countries to directly experience-and become physically immersed in-other cultures. Each of these solutions has benefits, but significant challenges remain since most media do not provide the benefits of being there, the ability to explore, or the understanding of information in situ. Physical immersion can be costly and not always feasible.
We have developed a cost-effective, contextually relevant approach for the acquisition of Chinese cultural knowledge and sensitivity. The Second China project is a virtual three dimensional environment that delivers the feeling of immersion and maintains close ties to literary and multimedia knowledge. We have built this environment so that participants can access information, take part in guided learning scenarios, communicate and collaborate, and role-play. Our PC-based implementation combines the immersive component of Second Life with comprehensive web-based modules about Chinese culture.