This paper develops and offers the theory of embodied social presence (ESP). The paper reviews the literature on place and space, presence, and embodiment and demonstrates that the role of the body as a focal point for action during social interaction in multi-user virtual environments has been...

A growing number of software firms now rely on public beta testing to improve the quality of their products before commercial release. While the benefits resulting from improved software reliability are well recognized, some important market-related benefits have not been studied. Through...