Virtual World

Virtual world is an online community in the form of an interactive simulated environment accessed by multiple online users. These are various types of digital worlds, but there are common features; sharing space, socialization and interactivity etc. Virtual worlds are usually used for commercial gaming, socializing gaming, Education and Training. For example, the U.S military and IBM are using virtual worlds for soldier and employee training. Digital world can be usable for many organizations and companies. In business field, simulations allow their users, employees to experience and practice their tasks without actually doing and risk involved, and more organizations nowadays have used virtual worlds as meeting places. According to the Article, Going to the virtual office in Second Life, “more than 1,400 organizations… use Second Life to hold meetings and conduct training.” This can be also a good opportunity for students to practice business principles in digital worlds. They can make some products and sell them in virtual market to obtain business experiences. Virtual world can be also used for education like virtual college. One of the disadvantages of online education is that there are no in-class and campus experiences. However, digital worlds allow students to c­­omplete their education and have campus experience through virtual classrooms without leaving home or office. In addition, Virtual worlds can help to foster social skills as well. In the Article, iReport: Naughty Auties Battle Autism with Virtual Interaction, the authors states that “for people who have social, emotional, communicational problems… we can get them familiar with an environment before they actually try it out in real life.” 

However, virtual world can bring some disadvantages as well. One of the negatives is that some people spend more and more time in the virtual worlds than real world, and then they may have difficulty to distinguish between fantasy and reality. Some people become confused what they can do in real and virtual worlds. Some psychologists caution for people who depend on too much on digital worlds because it may cause aggressive behaviors leading them to commit illegal activities. 

In the future, I think we will be able to do more things and feel more “reality” in the virtual worlds as computer technologies develop. In other words, there will be almost no difference between real and digital worlds since everything we experience is about electrical activity in our brain. If we invent technologies to provide these electrical signals to our brains, we will able to have “actual life” in virtual world like the movie, The Matrix.