Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Prior to this class and this week's lesson, I had no idea what a virtual world was and had never heard of "Second Life". I knew about World of Warcraft but had more or less dismissed it as an online video game.

However, after finishing the readings, I have seen that there are many possibilities for virtual worlds that go beyond the concept of a game.

Many of the articles deal with the advantages of a virtual world. For instance, in Nicole Saidi's article "Naughty Auties Battle Autism with Virtual Interaction", she references the benefits of a virtual world for people with autism and other people with difficulty functioning in highly social environments. In a virtual world, those with autism have the ability to interact with people and the environment while maintaing the comfort of their own familiar living space. This allows them to remain relaxed and become more prepared for real-world interactions in the future. In our lecture, one of the Youtube videos also mentions a man with cerebral palsy, who, in the real-world depends on people to take care of him, but in SecondLife, he owns his own nightclub and is able to maintain this dependence. This is a huge development because people with these disorders often lose their sense of self and confidence, and being able to have a life, even virtually, can help them to feel more like a person and increase their value of life.

Additionally, the idea of a virtual world seems to be positive for businesses as well. In an article titled "Going to the Virtual Office in Second Life" by Mark Tutton, the idea of businesses using virtual worlds to conduct meetings and training sessions for new employees indicates an advantage that not only allows employees to interact with each other on a more personal and collaborative level, but also saves the company money in thousands of dollars that would've otherwise been spent on traveling expenses. The opportunities that virtual world's pose for businesses is seemingly endless.

Not only that, the creative possibilities are endless. People owning their own virtual clothing lines, who needs a degree from F.I.T. anymore? You can create your own look, your own individuality, and your own style for a lot cheaper than you can in the real world. I walk around in sweatpants and a sweatshirt on a daily basis but if I had the money to dress myself the way I want, I'd look a whole lot nicer. Ideas like this are what makes the concept of a virtual world fun and exciting, because it seems as though anything is possible.

However, there are some disadvantages. While these worlds embrace social interaction and boost the confidence of users by allowing them to be anyone they want, it is worrisome that people will lose touch with reality and therefore be unable to function properly in a true face-to-face encounter. Also, the concept of community, while boosted by the idea of support groups for people with disabilities, and employees from around the world being able to collaborate effectively as a team, becomes skewered as well. In his article "I've Been in That Club, Just Not in Real Life", NYTimes journalist Dave Itzkoff mentions the negative side of virtual world VLES (Virtual Lower East Side) is that it diminishes the "mystery" of the neighborhood, as well as contributes to making something unique and special a mainstream commodity. People who live in the actual community feel invaded because now anyone from anywhere in the world can stroll around and feel part of the neighborhood.

In general though, I feel that virtual worlds have a mostly positive outlook in the future of new media. Colleges may begin to use virtual worlds to offer lectures and even club meetings. Baruch College, which I've heard uses up almost every single classroom on it's busier days, may be able to increase it's course offering because in a virtual world, the space is cheaper than constructing a whole building of real classrooms. As technology advances, I feel that virtual worlds are going to become a lot less virtual and a lot more a part of our every day lives.