Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds offer a virtual representation of any imaginable world. The most known virtual environment is Second Life, which allows users to hang out and interact in a 3-D world through the internet. Users are represented by personalized avatars and are able to assist to virtual gatherings and do other activities that imitate real life.

Activities such as visiting a club and enjoy musical performance are possible thanks to virtual worlds. Companies, such as MTV Networks, are seeing the potential in building their brand through online virtual worlds. According to The New York Times, in its article I’ve Been in That Club, Just Not in Real Life, In 2006 MTV started to build a virtual representation of the Southern Californian beach community from one of its reality shows, among with other virtual properties with the goal to create virtual social networks and platforms to discover artists.

Virtual worlds can facilitate meetings and reduce travelling costs, which is beneficial when the attendees reside in different geographical zones. Last year the Congress broadcasted a hearing with some attendees logged from a virtual room in Second Life, as noted in this article from The Washington Post.

There are many applications to virtual worlds and the possibilities are endless, however, similar to social networking, they present some disadvantages and negative side effects. Biologically our bodies are not designed to inhabit in virtual worlds, hence we cannot properly experience the full benefits of real life social interactions.

In the future I see virtual reality gaining more prominence and becoming a huge part in our lives. As computing power increases and manufacturing processes bring prices down, a better and more realistic virtual representation of the world could be possible. Avatars would no longer be pixelated and could better display a  bigger array of human expressions. Full immersion would be possible with advances in haptic technology, which allow the use of the sense of touch. Eventually, as technology would be able to replicate even in more detail the real world, the appeal of virtual worlds would also increase.