Introduction to the Virtual World
Michelle Zhao--December 2014
Though, in the modern age, the phrase “virtual world” is associated with with computers and online games, the concept of virtual worlds predates even computers. Since Roman naturalist, Pliny the Elder, created the concept of “perceptual illusion,” in the first century, the essence of virtual realities has existed [4]. The earliest virtual worlds were created by Ivan Sutherland through virtual reality simulators [4]. Though this was the advent of the virtual world, the virtual worlds that we are more familiar with, for example, in the gaming sector, developed independently. The general idea between the virtual world was maintained in its application to the entertainment and gaming industry, however, the modern “virtual worlds” focused more on immersing the user in the content, while virtual reality in general attempted to trick the perceptual system into experiencing a new environment.
The first virtual worlds that were hosted on the Internet were originally a collection of chat rooms, some of which evolved into “Multi-User Dungeons/Dimensions/Domains (MUD). [4]” A MUD is a virtual world with many players interaction in real time [4]. They began originally as text-based systems in which users interacting by typing commands and reading or viewing descriptions of the world or of other users. These MUDs eventually led to the currently popular massively multiplayer online role-playing games, more commonly known as MMORPGs, as well as other modern virtual world games.
Since their evolution in 1978, the number of people involved in virtual world games has increased [1]. More specifically, since 1996, virtual worlds have grown exponentially. The number of people participating in these games is now in the hundreds of millions, with individual games now totaling over ten million users [1]. A virtual world is a simulated environment which is most commonly hosted through the Internet. There are now multiple types of virtual worlds, the most common being games and social worlds.
One example of the former is World of Warcraft, while one example of the latter is Second Life. The majority of users of game worlds are male and though the average age of a virtual world game user is twenty-six the range is fairly large with pre-teens to even seniors playing [1]. Social worlds are more diverse in terms of gender, with most games having a fifty-fifty gender split, with the most common age range being twenty-four to thirty-five years old. In addition to the adult social worlds, there are also social worlds for children such as Habbo Hotel in which users range from eight years old to fifteen years old [1]. Some of these social worlds such as Club Penguin reach even five to six year olds [1].
The rapid increase in users over the past few decades has created both ethical and policy concerns. Some of the ethical and policy concerns that have been brought up concern children and the virtual world, crime within and outside of the virtual world, and the shift in psychology that results from participating within the virtual world. Though these issues have been brought up, other than age restrictions, there have not been any specific policies addressing these issues.
The future of virtual reality is not only confined to the game space, but also to a vast array of other industries including healthcare, military, architecture, etc [3]. People like Stanford’s Jeremy Bailenson and his Virtual Reality Interaction Lab have already been exploring the different types of uses for virtual reality [3]. Through simulations, Bailenson and his lab have been able to ascertain what types of stimuli are needed in order to manipulate the way the brain responds. In addition, there have been discoveries regarding the extent to which virtual reality can alter behavior in the real world. For example, having a taller avatar can boost your confidence, a “better-looking” avatar leads to more frequent social interactions, etc [3].
In addition, to this kind of research, virtual worlds and virtual realities have begun to gather interest within the larger consumer base beyond the gaming sector. For example, the Microsoft Kinect, which tracks a user’s body movements and responds accordingly, became the fastest selling electronic consumer product after its release in 2010 [3]. More recently in 2014, a company named Oculus has garnered almost three million dollars through a Kickstarter campaign for a virtual reality headset called Oculus Rift [3]. Currently the virtual world is confined to the game sector, but there is clearly a mass-market demand for expansion of the virtual world to other fields. Though this expansion will create even more ethical and policy issues, the growth of virtual worlds does not seem to be stopping anytime soon.
Sources:
- Carnagey. "The Effect of Video Game Violence on Physiological Desensitization to Real-life Violence." April 1, 2005. Accessed December 2, 2014. http://www.virtualpolicy.net/_Downloads/Documents/tVPN-VW_Primer-V1Q308.pdf.
- ”Korean Couple Let Baby Die While Playing Online Games." Newsweek. Accessed December 2, 2014. http://www.newsweek.com/2014/08/15/korean-couple-let-baby-die-while-they-played-video-game-261483.html.
- ”What Virtual Reality Is About To Mean For Technology and Advertising." Pacific Standard. Accessed December 2, 2014. http://www.psmag.com/magazines/magazine-feature-story-magazines/jeremy-bailenson-virtual-reality-facebook-advertising-51304/.
- ”Virtual World." Wikipedia. November 30, 2014. Accessed December 2, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_world.