Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds, to me, is a really fascinating subject. They can be used in different manners, such as for business, games or just communicating with other people. Many businesses use virtual worlds because it helps push productivity. Being that a lot of companies have employees all around the world, virtual worlds helps them work together even though their not in the same location. "Technology could help engage a generation of workers who grew up playing games with 3-D graphics"(IBM Learning Programs Get a "Second Life", Ed Frauenheim). On the business side, virtual worlds can be seen positive because it is very cost effective and easy to hold meetings. Although this leads open to the chance misunderstanding certain information, it allows people to be more creative because they might feel more open in a virtual world than they would feel in reality. Also another distraction might be the moral conduct your company usually has might not be represented in the virtual world. For an example, someone may have an avatar that is not appropriate.

Virtual worlds in general pushes for greater creativity. For an example, in the article "Toys with a Second Life" by Brian Hindo, the creators of Webkinz allows people to alter their toys so they would be unique from the rest. You can also look at virtual worlds in the sense of video games such as The Sims. Many people play The Sims for hours on hand, simulating their characters life. Many people life their dream lives through their characters and really gives them something to cope with their reality.

I believe that as the years go by, technology will only get even better. Soon we will probably won't even have regular video game consoles as we have now. My take on it is that we will soon play our games through virtual reality.