A
virtual world is a computer-based simulated environment
intended for its users to inhabit and interact via
avatars. These avatars are usually depicted as textual,
two-dimensional, or three-dimensional graphical representations,
although other forms are possible (auditory and touch
sensations for example). Some, but not all, virtual
worlds allow for multiple users.
The computer accesses a computer-simulated world and
presents perceptual stimuli to the user, who in turn
can manipulate elements of the modeled world and thus
experiences telepresence to a certain degree. Such
modeled worlds may appear similar to the real world
or instead depict fantasy worlds. The model world
may simulate rules based on the real world or some
hybrid fantasy world. Example rules are gravity, topography,
locomotion, real-time actions, and communication.
Communication between users has ranged from text,
graphical icons, visual gesture, sound, and rarely,
forms using touch, voice command, and balance senses.
Massively
multiplayer online games commonly depict a world very
similar to the real world, with real world rules and
real-time actions, and communication. Players create
a character to travel between buildings, towns, and
even worlds to carry out business or leisure activities.
Communication is usually textual, with real-time voice
communication using VOIP also possible.
Virtual worlds are not limited to games but, depending
on the degree of immediacy presented, can encompass
computer conferencing and text based chatrooms. Sometimes,
emoticons or 'smilies' are available, to show feeling
or facial expression. Emoticons often have a keyboard
shortcut. [4] Edward Castronova is an economist who
has argued that "synthetic worlds" is a
better term for these cyberspaces, but this term has
not been widely adopted.
History
The
concept of virtual worlds predates computers and could
be traced in some sense to Pliny.[5] The mechanical-based
1962 Sensorama machine used the senses of vision,
sound, balance, smells and touch (via wind) to simulate
its world. Among the earliest virtual worlds to be
implemented by computers were not games but generic
virtual reality simulators, such as Ivan Sutherland's
1968 virtual reality device. This form of virtual
reality is characterized by bulky headsets and other
types of sensory input simulation. Contemporary virtual
worlds, multi-user online virtual environments, emerged
mostly independently of this virtual reality technology
research, fueled instead by the gaming industry but
drawing on similar inspiration. While classic sensory-imitating
virtual reality relies on tricking the perceptual
system into experiencing an immersive environment,
virtual worlds typically rely on mentally and emotionally
engaging content which gives rise to an immersive
experience.
Maze
War (also known as The Maze Game, Maze Wars or simply
Maze) was the first networked, 3D multi-user first
person shooter game. Maze first brought us the concept
of online players as eyeball "avatars" chasing
each other around in a maze.” (http://www.digibarn.com/history/04-VCF7-MazeWar/index.html,
29th Feb). According to the website this was in 1974,
it was played on Arpanet (the initial internet), however
it could only be played on an Imlac, as it was specifically
built for this type of computer.
Then
in 1978 MUD was released, it however was not 3D, it
was text-based and used a TELNET program, by following
the link you will be able to play the game, and understand
just how far virtual worlds have come since http://www.british-legends.com/.
You can understandably argue whether or not this is
a “virtual world” and that Maze War was
more sophisticated (being 3D), but you must understand
that MUD could be played by anyone, Maze War was computer
specific. Perhaps in today’s senses it is not
a true virtual world, but the idea of a virtual world
in those days were different (see Neuromancer link
in bibliography for more information).
Some
early prototypes were WorldsAway, a prototype interactive
communities featuring a virtual world by CompuServe
called Dreamscape, Cityspace, an educational networking
and 3D computer graphics project for children, and
The Palace, a 2-dimensional community driven virtual
world. However, credit for the first online virtual
world usually goes to Habitat, developed in 1987 by
LucasFilm Games for the Commodore 64 computer, and
running on the Quantum Link service (the precursor
to America Online).
In 1996, the city of Helsinki, Finland with Helsinki
Telephone Company (since Elisa Group) launched what
was called the first online virtual 3D depiction intended
to map an entire city. The Virtual Helsinki project
was eventually renamed Helsinki Arena 2000 project
and parts of the city in modern and historical context
were rendered in 3D.
The
first virtual worlds presented on the Internet were
communities and chat rooms, some of which evolved
into MUDs and MUSHes. MUDs, short for “Multi
User Dungeons,” are examples of virtual worlds
that consist of virtual space inhabited by representations
of data and other users [7]. Early virtual worlds
were text-based, offering limited graphical representation,
and often using a Command Line Interface.
Virtual
world concepts
One
perception of virtual worlds requires an online persistent
world, active and available 24 hours a day and seven
days a week, to qualify as a true virtual world.[citation
needed] Although this is possible with smaller virtual
worlds, especially those that are not actually online,
no massively multiplayer game runs all day, every
day. All the online games listed above[clarification
needed] include downtime for maintenance that is not
included as time passing in the virtual world. While
the interaction with other participants is done in
real-time, time consistency is not always maintained
in online virtual worlds. For example, EverQuest time
passes faster than real-time despite using the same
calendar and time units to present game time.
As
virtual world is a fairly vague and inclusive term,
the above can generally be divided along a spectrum
ranging from:
massively
multiplayer online role-playing games or MMORPGs where
the user playing a specific character is a main feature
of the game (World Of Warcraft for example).
massively
multiplayer online real-life/rogue-like games or MMORLGs,
the user can edit and alter their avatar at will,
allowing them to play a more dynamic role, or multiple
roles.
Some
would argue that the MMO versions of RTS and FPS games
are also virtual worlds if the world editors allow
for open editing of the terrains if the "source
file" for the terrain is shared. Emerging concepts
include basing the terrain of such games on real satellite
photos, such as those available through the Google
Maps API or through a simple virtual geocaching of
"easter eggs" on WikiMapia or similar mashups,
where permitted.
Boundaries
Virtual
worlds are well-known as being fantasy spaces sealed
off from the real world, but more careful analysis
reveals that the boundaries between the real and virtual
worlds are quite porous. Participants constantly arrive
and depart from the world, carrying with them their
unique set of behavioral assumptions and attitudes
that cannot be disentangled from their interactions
in the virtual world. For example, in virtual worlds
which bring together players from multiple cultural
backgrounds, a participant in a virtual world brings
their own cultural preconceptions about those other
cultures across the boundary into the world while
playing. The term magic circle has been used to describe
the imaginary barrier between the virtual world and
the real world. The fantasy environment of the virtual
world is protected from the intrusion of real life
by this magic circle, but practices such as the sale
of virtual items and virtual currency for real life
currency challenges this separation while reinforcing
the notion that objects in the virtual world have
real life value. In a 2001 study by Edward Castronova,
the value of the currency in the MMORPG Everquest
was evaluated based on its exchange rate at USD 0.0107,
making this unit of virtual currency of higher value
than the Yen or the Lira.
Economy
A
virtual economy is the emergent property of the interaction
between participants in a virtual world. While the
designers have a great deal of control over the economy
by the encoded mechanics of trade, it is nonetheless
the actions of players that define the economic conditions
of a virtual world. The economy arises as a result
of the choices that players make under the scarcity
of real and virtual resources such as time or currency.
Participants have a limited time in the virtual world,
as in the real world, which they must divide between
task such as collecting resources, practicing trade
skills, or engaging in less productive fun play. The
choices they make in their interaction with the virtual
world, along with the mechanics of trade and wealth
acquisition, dictate the relative values of items
in the economy. The economy in virtual worlds is typically
driven by in-game needs such as equipment, food, or
trade goods. Virtual economies like that of Second
Life, however, are almost entirely player-produced
with very little link to in-game needs.
The
value of objects in a virtual economy is usually linked
to their usefulness and the difficulty of obtaining
them. The investment of real world resources (time,
membership fees, etc) in acquisition of wealth in
a virtual economy may contribute to the real world
value of virtual objects. This real world value is
made obvious by the trade of virtual items on online
market sites like eBay. Recent legal disputes also
acknowledge the value of virtual property, even overriding
the mandatory EULA which many software companies use
to establish that virtual property has no value and/or
that users of the virtual world have no legal claim
to property therein.
Some
industry analysts have moreover observed that there
is a secondary industry growing behind the virtual
worlds, made up by social networks, websites and other
projects completely devoted to virtual worlds communities
and gamers. Special websites as GamerDNA, Koinup and
others which serve as social networks for virtual
worlds users are facing some crucial issue as the
DataPortability of avatars across many virtual worlds
and MMORPGs. [10]
Furthermore, economical actors are interested by virtual
world like 3D video games, instant messaging, search
engines and blogs because these are places where they
can display targeted advertising, adapted to the people
who will see it. Projects about coming video games
planned to include advertisements inside the 3D environment.
Research
The
number of people using virtual worlds is increasing
at a rate of 15% every month and this growth does
not appear to be stopping or slowing down anytime
soon. (Hof, 2006d; Gartner, 2007 cited by Bray and
Konsynski 2007). This is the same with research being
carried out in virtual worlds. It is an ever increasing
way for business and governments to use the resources
to gather and collate information for their use. Research
for information systems purposes is being carried
out in virtual worlds for the look in open sourcing,
providing tools without the need for sponsorship of
corporate businesses. It provides a look into the
virtual world creation and how it is able to spread
itself around the internet for different people from
different countries to interact and provide information.
It provides an insight how people find the information
and how that information is being used by different
people. Governments are also beginning to interact
in virtual worlds and are a discussion point for some
in terms of governance and law. Virtual world is neither
public nor private owned. It is the people interacting
in it that make the world. Governments research into
the use of virtual worlds by people as some have virtual
property, amounting to a second life online in another
world. This is where governments have to look into
if it is viable or even feasible for them to tax those
with a second life to govern them with taxes and laws.
State of Play is an annual conference sponsored by
the Institute for Information Law & Policy at
New York Law School; since 2003 the conference has
investigated the intersection of virtual worlds, games
and the law.
Research
in psychology has also been proposed and conducted
in virtual worlds with key focus of the use of the
innovative platform. Bloomfield (2007)[11] has suggested
that virtual worlds may be useful for examining human
behaviour and traditional internet-world constructs
(alongside other fields). For example, Doodson (2009)[12][13]
reported that offline- and virtual-world personality
are significantly differ from each other but are still
significantly related which has a number of implications
for Self-verification, Self-enhancement and other
personality theories. Similarly, panic and agoraphobia
have also been studied in a virtual world
Virtual
worlds and real life
Some
virtual worlds have off-line, real world components
and applications. Handipoints, for example, is a children's
virtual world that tracks chores via customizable
chore charts and lets children get involved in their
household duties offline. They complete chores and
use the website and virtual world to keep track of
their progress and daily tasks.
Application
domains
Social
Even
though Virtual Worlds are often seen as 3D Games,
there are many different kinds: forums, blogs, wikis
and chatrooms where communities are born. Places which
have their own world, their own rules, topics, jokes,
members, etc... Each person who belongs to these kinds
of communities can find like-minded people to talk
to, whether this be a passion, the wish to share information
about or just to meet new people and experience new
things. Some users develop a double personality depending
on which world they are interacting with. Depending
on whether that person is in the real or virtual world
can impact on the way they think and act. It is not
all about video games and communities, virtual world
also plays a part in the social as it can allow people
to speak or share knowledge with each other. Best
examples are instant messaging and visio-conferences
which allow people to create their own virtual world.
Systems
that have been designed for a social application include:
Active
Worlds
Kaneva
Second Life
Smallworlds
Entertainment
see
also: MMOG
Single-player games
Some
single-player games contain virtual worlds populated
by non-player characters (NPC). Many of these allow
you to save the current state of this world instance
to allow stopping and restarting the virtual world
at a later date. (This can be done with some multiplayer
environments as well.)
The
virtual worlds found in video games are often split
into discrete levels.
Education
Virtual
learning environment#Virtual world learning environments
Virtual worlds represent a powerful new media for
instruction and education that presents many opportunities
but also some challenges. Persistence allows for continuing
and growing social interactions, which themselves
can serve as a basis for collaborative education.
The use of virtual worlds can give teachers the opportunity
to have a greater level of student participation.
It allows users to be able to carry out tasks that
could be difficult in the real world due to constraints
and restrictions, such as cost, scheduling or location.
Virtual worlds have the capability to adapt and grow
to different user needs, for example, classroom teachers
are able to use virtual worlds in their classroom
leveraging their interactive whiteboard with the open
source project Edusim. They can be a good source of
user feedback, the typical paper-based resources have
limitations that Virtual Worlds can overcome.
Virtual world can also be used with virtual learning
environments, as in the case of what is done in the
Sloodle project, which aims to merge of Second Life
with Moodle.
Virtual
worlds allow users with specific needs and requirements
to be able to access and use the same learning materials
from home, as they would be receiving if they were
in the presentation. This can help users to keep up
to date with the relevant information and needs while
also feeling as though involved. Having the option
to be able to attend a presentation via a virtual
world from home or from their workplace, can help
the user to be more at ease and comfortable. The flexibility
of virtual worlds have greatly improved the options
for student study and business collaboration. Although
virtual worlds are a good way of communicating and
interacting between students and teachers, this is
not a substitute for actual face-to-face meetings.
When using virtual worlds, there are the downsides
in that you lose the body language and other more
personal aspects.
Adoption
of the use of virtual worlds for education
As
shown in a study in (Chris Evans, Jing Ping Fan, Lifelong
learning through the Virtual University) that a majority
of students have rejected the idea of a completely
virtual mode of study.
In
April 1999, Numedeon Incorporated launched Whyville
as the first virtual world explicitly designed to
engage young students in a wide range of educational
activities. With a player base of over 3 million.
Whyville has been particularly successful in attracting
young teens.
With
respect to older students, a growing number of universities
and other educational institutions are exploring existing
general purpose virtual world platforms as a means
to extend and enhance their offerings to students.
Typically, educators create an online presence where
students can interact, using their avatars to learn
about new assignments or create projects that are
viewable within the virtual world. For example, students
taking a computer manufacturing class can log into
a virtual world in which they are the inhabitants
of a burgeoning village that needs their expertise
for the construction of houses, furniture, machines,
and other goods. An example of such a program is AWEDU,
a project started by Active Worlds, Inc. A number
of educational institutions are now running virtual
classrooms and discussion sections in worlds like
Second Life. The British Open University has a strong
presence in Second Life, where it is developing social
and community links for students as well as practising
teaching and learning.
Technologies can sometimes take up to 10 years to
become fully incorporated within everyday life. For
virtual worlds to be accepted, then it is vital that
teachers and students alike adapt to new ideas and
technologies and use them to their full potential
and become a useful tool in education (Yukiko Inoue,
Effects of virtual reality support compared to video
support in a high-school world geography class). The
best idea for a more complete and wider variety in
learning techniques is to integrate both paper based
and technology based methods.
Language
Education
Virtual World Language Learning
Language learning is the most widespread type of education
in virtual worlds, with many universities, mainstream
language institutes and private language schools using
3D virtual environments to support language learning.
Business
education
This
section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations
to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged
and removed. (July 2009)
Virtual worlds is used in today's business environment
for the training of employees for which it represents
an excellent venue . In particular, virtual worlds
environment (such as Second Life) have been used in
business schools as an extension of the classroom
. In some other cases virtual worlds have been used
for creating business games[citation needed]. Since
the growth of the Internet, employees have been able
to learn and to follow online trainings. This is a
major breakthrough and helps to overcome problems
such as distance, infrastructure or appointment. There
are different methods in which this can be carried
out: Video Conferencing is probably the most common
tool. People can stay in their office to attend a
live conference or a recorded meeting. This new way
of training raises some questions: Is virtual training
as effective as real trainings? Are people happy with
virtual training and does this method encourage people
to learn?
Using
technologies can affect people's behaviour in many
ways. First of all they can seem more interested in
using virtual modes as a study method and because
of this their learning satisfactions can be higher
when compared to traditional classroom techniques.
Despite the fact that people are not in a face to
face meeting and thus are not creating social links,
the efficiency is not really affected. Actually, adults
need this autonomy and need to learn by themselves
with more self-direction than younger students.
Virtual
training has a lot of advantages compared to the traditional
classroom and meetings. Thanks to the rise of the
Internet people can now interact with the information
through a more user-friendly environment which allows
them a greater level of involvement and creativity.
A large number of websites offer tutorials and the
possibility to test user knowledge with interactive
online tests (using multiple choice questions). Virtual
training is not so different from usual training in
terms of content. Thus, it is not difficult to adapt
the existing course to fit with virtual tools. This
of course would not only save the company time but
also money (no flight, accommodation costs etc).
Virtual
training is becoming a more widely accepted form of
training and is being used more often. One example
is made by the INSR-Institute competence in the area
of occupational risk prevention: protecting workers’
health and safety and preventing occupational accidents
or diseases. They have created a program to warn people
about the chemical risk of products using interactive
support. INSR used 3D environment show clearly a professional
situation and involve people through this interactive
support.
In
addition to the use of virtual training, virtual reality
can also provide useful tools. One of the widest uses
of this technology is maybe the use of 3D environment
to allows virtual visits. The concept is used by many
companies and is usually divided into two purposes.
The main use for a company is to provide a virtual
preview of their tour. Moreover some public places
allow free access to their facilities, thus allows
people who cannot visit the location for real are
due to personal constraints, are able to visit virtually.
This allows an easy access to knowledge and it becomes
a real alternative to video or picture.
Due
to the ease of learning brought by the spread of virtual
worlds, learning may become lifelong and the curriculum
is in perpetual evolution (David Davies, The virtual
university: a learning university), each employee
being able to learn through virtual world, no matter
where he lives or how old he is.
In
fiction
The
concept of a virtual world has become a popular fictional
motif and setting in recent years, although science-fiction
writers have been portraying similar ideas (for example,
cyberspace) for decades. Among the most prominent
virtual worlds in the literature are the ones written
about by William Gibson. Virtual worlds were prominent
in such movies and books as TRON, Neuromancer, The
Lawnmower Man, The Lawnmower Man 2, Epic, Snow Crash,
.Hack//Sign and Ghost in the Shell. There are many
other examples of the virtual world; for example Lyoko
in the French animated television series Code Lyoko.
A
popular example of a virtual world in fiction is from
the movie series The Matrix, a virtual reality so
realistic that the great majority of those humans
plugged in think they are living in the real world
and do not know that they are living in a virtual
world.
Series
4 of the smash hit New Zealand TV series, The Tribe
featured the birth of Reality Space and the Virtual
World that was created by Ram, the computer genius
leader of The Techno's.
In
2009, BBC Radio 7 commissioned Planet B, set in a
virtual world in which a man searches for his girlfriend,
believed to be dead, but in fact still alive within
the world, called "Planet B". The series
is the currently the biggest ever commission for an
original drama series.
The
future
According
to K Zero, a virtual world consultancy service, there
are nearly 580 million people worldwide registered
in virtual worlds today. And they expect the 600 million
barrier to be broken before 2009 is over.
Rita
J. King, CEO of Dancing Ink Productions, a strategic
creative content development and research company,
believes virtual worlds will augment what she calls
"the Digital Culture."
"I
envision virtual worlds evolving for business and
cultural development as the medium becomes more ubiquitous."
"Chatting
in a two-dimensional platform can be fun, informative
and valuable," argued King. "But co-creating
and inhabiting a three-dimensional space that can
then be collaborated upon cannot be matched. This
allows people to 'be together' despite geographical
location, age, gender, ethnic or sociopolitical affiliation."
"But
interactions will only be as developed as the imaginations
and motivations of the people involved."
Ideally,
King believes we will move to a position where people
can augment their physical lives with virtual realities.
This may ultimately affect our perceptions of physical
'wants'.
"Things
change and develop so fast," Nergiz Kern, an
English language educator inside Second Life, told
IOL. "But I think virtual worlds will become
as normal as the internet is now. Most people who
are online will have an avatar and use VW [virtual
worlds] for all kinds of activities from meeting and
chatting with friends to learning and doing business."
(Credit:
Wikipedia)
