Advanced Virtual Economy Applications (AVEA) is a research project focusing on new approaches to so-called “virtual property”, artificially scarce digital objects that have rapidly become a viable business model for software products and online services, and especially gained prominence in e.g. massively multiplayer online games. We combine theoretical understanding of virtual economies with new application areas to produce novel software concepts aimed at the global market: mobile virtual economies, casual gaming, social networks, sustainable consumer behavior, and analytical software.
The project implements selected virtual economy applications as software prototypes allowing for realistic evaluation and paving way for possible commercialisation. The work is conducted at Helsinki Institute for Information Technology in collaboration with Waseda University, Tokyo, and industry partners. The project lasts for 2,5 years and the budget is 671 000 €.
People
- Kai Huotari, project leader
- Vili Lehdonvirta
- Juho Hamari
- Juha Tolvanen
Research groups
- Empirical Law and Economy Dr. Olli Pitkänen
- Self-Made Media Dr. Risto Sarvas/Asko Lehmuskallio
Material
Articles written in connection with the project as well as other material related to virtual economy research can be found on Virtual Economy Research Network's site www.virtual-economy.org that is hosted by HIIT.
Last updated on 16 Dec 2009 by WWW administrator - Page created on 18 Mar 2009 by Kai Huotari