Thursday, March 21, 2013

Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds


Virtual Worlds have been around for quite some time. Some sources point back to as far as 15-18 years depending on what was considered a virtual world. As a kid I watched a few movies that hinted at the future being controlled by computers and we would soon live in virtual worlds. It was always difficult to see that happening because we were so dependent on the real world, we could not forsee how that would even work. Smart phones were not around and we depended on pay phones or land lines to communicate with one another or mailed a letter if you had to send a note with a picture. We did not have smart phones or networked computers in those times so the thought of virtual worlds did not cross many people’s minds. Gamers may have thought of virtual worlds more than the common person because the games were a form of fantasy that they would engage their time and senses.

 

Now comes a future, with all of this new technology and virtual world possibilities that we could never have dreamed of as a kid. The 3D technology has become so advanced that some people can become completely immersed in a virtual world. Many people spend tremendous amounts of hours in these worlds. It becomes such an obsession for some that it takes away from family time and social time with real world friends. There are many uses for this technology. The Second Life video hit real close to home. As someone living with MS, I can relate to this video. My situation is not as dire but I definitely have limitations that prevent me from doing certain things that I enjoyed in my younger years. I can not do as many physical activities as I once did as a teenager and I have a number of issues like fatigue and memory loss, to name a couple. I have to be very careful but in this virtual world your imagination can run wild. It allows you to be free to create what ever your imagination comes up with. This is the wonderful part of this. We have to be careful though. This can also cause you to depend on this virtual reality so much that you may have problems being social in the real world. In my opinion, human interaction is so important in someone’s life. A computer can not replace that.

 

One of the coolest articles I read was called I've Been in That Club, Just Not in Real Life. I used to live in the Lower East Side and I still go there a lot because my mom and many of my friends are still in the area. It is so surreal to see this recreated in a virtual world. It helps you appreciate and relive some of your old memories by visiting places you can’t physically get to at the moment. The nostalgia of it would do wonders for people because childhood memories usually live strong in our minds. We all have said things like “I remember going to a certain place when we were younger and we wish we could do it again”. This type of virtual world can make some of that happen for you. This definitely can help feed some of your appetite but it can’t replace the real world experience. For some people it may actually have the opposite effect. It can make them miss the real world experience even more.

 
The article titled In Room 100, It's Sid and Nancy All Over Again, I found fascinating in that someone’s creativity was fostered by there want to make the hotel stay the way it was down to the crime scene in room 100. It was funny to hear that the “mailboxes” were missed and they made sure that it was a focal point of the recreation. The ability to make anything as it once was or change it to how you would have liked it to look can even create architectural jobs for certain people. If you created something that a builder may fancy, that virtual project may have a chance to become reality. There are a number of skills that can be utilized in the real world and you wouldn’t even know it initially. This type of creativity breeds new ideas that can be used by big businesses because they are always looking for ways to stay ahead of the competition.

The future will bring about new ways to use these virtual worlds. The creativity that will spawn from here will allow us to do anything without leaving your home. Businesses will most likely create ways to sell there products in these worlds. In the very near future, (if it hasn’t happened already) you will be able to recreate yourself down to your actual weight and size in these virtual worlds. This may allow you to try on clothes, jewelry, shoes, etc… just like you would in real life and make purchases that way. You may test drive cars or go house hunting with a real estate agent, all in a virtual environment. The possibilities are endless. There will be millions of people out there that would flock to this. This makes it easier to sell to anyone, anywhere in the world. It is amazing to see how far we have come with technology.

Sources cited:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV52WRXm1Cg

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/arts/television/06itzk.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1363921738-Z4K9JcOH73hXnmJPa7T0pg

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/nyregion/thecity/03virt.html

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