BLOG POST: MODELING REALITY WITH VIRTUAL WORLDS

Virtual worlds are an amazing technology that has many benefits, both in and out of the corporate world. In the video we saw in class, we saw that virtual worlds benefit the physically disabled. Some people are disabled to the point where they are physically unable to leave their homes. Virtual worlds provide a way to experience the world. It is a portal to the outside world for these people, who otherwise have no other form of entertainment or escape. Virtual worlds can also be used as baby steps in order to ease people with anti-social diseases such as autism into the real outside world. For example, for people with social problems, a virtual world might be able to “get them familiar with an environment before they actually try it out in real life” (Saidi, 2008).

Virtual worlds can also be very beneficial in the corporate world. Meetings between people on opposite sides of the world can be held in a much more interactive atmosphere instead of through a conference call. Virtual worlds can also be a very useful training tool, as it “adds a dimension to training because people don’t perceive it as learning. That makes them more willing to take risks and be more flexible in their thinking” (Frauenheim, 2006). Having virtual world training also might be very attractive to young employees who might think it would be a very unique experience.

The benefits of virtual worlds are very vast. For one, they can provide people with countless hours of entertainment, as the worlds built in a virtual environment can be limitless. Virtual worlds can also be used to help people who are anti-social, by helping them take slow steps towards going out and interacting in the real world. Virtual worlds can also be used as a meeting place for people who live thousands of miles away from each other. In corporations, it can be used as a training tool to provide a very interactive, realistic, low-risk, and safe training experience.

There is definitely a dark side to participating in the virtual world. Like social networking, one of the most glaring problems is getting too dependent on this type of technology. For example, autistic people who use virtual worlds to try to get a feel for what the real world is like from a safe distance may become addicted to the virtual world. They may feel so at ease in this “comfort zone” that they may never want to leave, which is counter productive in their situation. The very thing that was supposed to help them cure their disorder would become another problem. Basically, as technology advances, we can become dangerously dependent on it, and virtual world technology is no different.

I feel that in the future, virtual world technology will evolve to become even more realistic. In the video we saw in class, the avatars looked relatively realistic, but it still had a very pixilated look. In the coming years, technology will advance such that the avatars will become much more detailed and the landscapes and environments will become even more realistic, making the virtual world a much more immersive experience.

Frauenheim, Ed. "IBM's Virtual World for its Employees: IBM Learning Programs Get a 'Second Life'" Workforce Management 11 Dec. 2006: 6.

Saidi, Nicole. "IReport: 'Naughty Auties' battle autism with virtual interaction - CNN.com." CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. 28 Mar. 2008. 18 June 2009 .