Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

What are different ways these virtual worlds can be used? What are the pros and cons? Be specific. How do virtual worlds foster creativity? What do you think the future of virtual worlds will look like?

In the past couple of years, we have been able to discover new worlds but not on Earth nor on different planets but instead in the form of virtual worlds. Virtual worlds is a computer-based simulated environment, that allows users to create their own characters or avatar and able to interact with other users in that virtual world. Virtual world can be both reality or altered reality with time, space, and abilities affected or different. So, what are the many different ways that virtual worlds can be used? Right now, virtual worlds are popular in the gaming community. Games such as Second Life, Minecraft, and "digital LEGOs if you will, but it’s a space for kids to exercise their imagination and to connect with others to also want to build and create things. And it’s the biggest phenomenon today. “Virtual worlds” may end up needing another name, but Minecraft is a game-changer," reported by Diana Mehta in "After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds get a Reboot?" However, virtual worlds are being use for training purposes for the military soldiers and medical personals in order to reduce costs but also have time allowed for training. It's easier, cheaper, and allows more simulations to be practiced. 

Virtual worlds has allow a lot of industries to improved, as stated before, it allows training simulations for military soldiers and medical personals, but also test machines prototypes saving companies money before actually creating it in reality. "You can use virtual worlds in education, in delivery services, or as an advanced form of telehealthcare that offers so much more than videoconferencing. Virtual worlds can give us social connectivity, built-in support groups, and ways to avoid ever being alone again," explains Diana Mehta in her report.

Even though virtual worlds have many pros, it does have it cons. Many people claim that there is no real human interactions, as users don't act normal with other humans, and consider a sense of isolation. Also another negative affect is the amount of actual real-life money that user use in order to buy certain items in their respected virtual world. "In most virtual worlds, memberships are free, but players trade real money for virtual currencies, used to buy products, save up in an account or eventually redeem for real money," reported by Ruth La Ferla in the New York Times article "No Budget, No Boundaries: It’s the Real You". A user can spend as much as "$50,000 on housing, furniture or her special weakness: multistrap platform sandals, tricked out in feathers and beads." This is dangerous as people can spread a large amount of money in their virtual world and in their actual real life, putting them at risk if not paying bills, or other important necessities. It can be time consuming causing the user to neglect their actual heath because they don't eat or don't exercise, and other responsibilities in the real world. 

Virtual worlds does foster creativity as it allows anyone's imagination to be created and played out. It provides you with tools to create your own characters and your own world the way you want it, encouraging individualism and create things that are limited in the real world due to physics or money. It allows user to live a life that they know they can't in real life, "an avatar on Second Life, and her free-spending cohort can quaff Champagne, teleport to private islands and splurge on luxury brands that are the cyber equivalent of Prada waders or a Rolex watch. "

Several years ago virtual worlds was just a corner of the internet, now it's mainstream, and it will only grow more. With the introduction of virtual reality headsets, it allows users to wear a headset and be "virtual placed" in the virtual world, making the user feel like they actually in the virtual world not looking a computer screen. Many major companies such as Facebook and Sony are selling these headsets to the markets in order to capture the grow rate and advancement in technology for virtual world.

Work Cited:

• Ferla, Ruth La. “In Simulated Worlds Online, Consumption Is Still Conspicuous - The New York Times.” The New York Times - Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos, 21 Oct. 2009, https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/fashion/22Avatar.html.
• Mehta, Diane. “After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get a Reboot?” Forbes, Forbes, 30 Apr. 2013, https://www.forbes.com/sites/dianemehta/2013/04/30/after-second-life-can-virtual-worlds-get-a-reboot/#20f5a2b4735a.