Virtual Worlds Defined
Modern virtual worlds are massive, simulated environments that can be accessed via the World Wide Web. Virtual worlds can be categorized into two distinct groups: “gaming” virtual worlds and “social” virtual worlds. As their names imply, these two categories of virtual worlds are distinguished by their overall purposes. The first type is designed primarily for game play, and the second type almost exclusively for communications.
Gaming virtual worlds also abbreviated as MMOGs (massively multiplayer online games) and MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games)—have included well-known titles such as World of War craft, Ever Quest Online Adventures, and The Sims Online. Vast and complex online environments, gaming virtual worlds have been the focus of much social science research in their own right. However, because their primary purpose is for gaming, not communications, gaming worlds are not typically used for extensive scientific discourse. To see how virtual worlds are used to communicate science, we must turn to an entirely different category of virtual worlds, called social virtual worlds. (Kavanaugh, 2001: 496)
Social virtual worlds developed to date have included the online environments of There, Cyber world, and Second Life. As their name implies, social virtual worlds lack the basic attributes of traditional games or video games: There are no points to score, no objectives or tasks to complete, no rules to follow, and no overarching game narratives (Littlejohn, 1983: 80). Rather, the true “purpose” of a social virtual world such as Second Life is for users to exist inside it as they exist in real life. That is to say, users “enter” a social virtual world by downloading a software p...
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In addition to creating an identity, your virtual character can converse with others, exchange gestures, express emotions and rise and fall in popularity. You can even die in a MUD (Turkle 183). Essentially, you can be who or whatever you want, and you can say anything because your character exists only in cyberspace, as does everyone else who you encounter.
McGonigal demonstrates the role of technology by exemplifying the gamer’s dependence on technology to fulfil pleasures that reality lacks and this relates to Twombly’s reliance on technology for comfort. McGonigal writes “The real world just doesn’t offer up as easily the carefully designed pleasures, the thrilling challenges, and the powerful social bonding afforded by virtual environments.” (McGonigal, 223). Reality encloses people in a state of events that exist and may or may not be desirable for an individual. McGonigal
Schiesel, Seth. "It's Your (Virtual) World. Feel Free to Roam or Slay." The New York Times 26 November 2011: C.1. Web. 1 March 2014.
Through the novel Gibson was responsible for creating the terms “virtual reality” and “cyberspace”, and in an increasingly computer literate age these terms would be adopted by a generation of users, becoming an independent and universal language. Within the novel cyberspace is described as a
From reading this book we can understand that the author Tom Boellstorff grew up playing video games with that interest he went beyond and got an interest in virtual worlds and he became an member of the "Second life", as an anthropologist he decided to apply the ethnographic methods which he gained from previous research where he did his studies in Indonesia to this online life and interviews in the subculture of Second life. "Coming of age in Second Life: An anthropologist explores the virtually human" is an ethnography book by Tom Boellstorff, this book Boellstorff argues between two worlds which is the virtual world and the world of anthropology. From reading this book you can understand that Boellstorff has spend years doing an traditional
Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human, by Tom Boellstroff, gives us a unique outlook on humanity in that we get to experience the world of virtual reality through a study conducted by an anthropologist. Boellstroff creates an ethnography by entering “Second Life”: an online world where people create a virtual representation of themselves and go about a new life. The experiment takes place between 2004 to 2007 and the main goal is to determine if entering into this new world does in fact create a new person, or “homo cyber” (virtual reality version of oneself), and whether or not it makes the user more human or less.
Traveling the world and experiencing in a different world without moving out of the house was a thing in the past until modern technology made it into reality. Virtual reality is one of the recent groundbreaking technologies takes the perspective of an individual and change the environment in an instant. The purpose of this essay is to talk about how the technology is involved, significance of virtual reality, ethical and legal issues, security concerns, social problems, and further improvement for the future of virtual reality.
The term Virtual Reality (VR) is used by many different people with many meanings. There are some people to whom VR is a specific collection of technologies, that is a Head Mounted Display, Glove Input Device and Audio. Some other people stretch the term to include conventional books, movies or pure fantasy and imagination. However, for purposes of this research, we restrict VR to computer mediated systems. We would define Virtual Reality as a way for humans to visualize, manipulate and interact with computers and extremely complex data.
In the video game world anything is possible, and if your player dies you can always play again. The videogame industry is exploding in the market place; it's far from child's play and far from the days of pong. In the most recent issue of Entertainment Weekly (December 6, 2002) there is an article, Video Game Nation, discussing a new video game experience being touted as the wave of the future, The Real World meets The Matrix. In this virtual world called The Sims Online, people "live" in a virtual environment peopled by avatars created by thousands of other gamers. Neal Stephenson envisioned this future ten years prior with his release of Snow Crash. Stephenson describes a computer-generated "metaverse" where the logged-on could take on "avatars" hang out, and walk around, meet other "avatars" and perhaps fall in love. These artificial realities offer millions of people a chance to step out of our world and enter another dimension where anything can happen. The setting may be artificial in nature, an electronic stream of data creates this artificial world for the player back home, but the interaction and the emotional appeal for the players are very real. When Neo is "reborn" we see where technology has taken us; it has enslaved us and uses us humans as a power source. Why not see that for what it is: a warning. We see computer gaming as nothing more than just escape. This is what technology offers people escape -- from this world, but is something being given up? Perhaps we should look at the nature of the beast and realize we are already enslaved. We are already there linked together in a Marxist fashion struggling for power, shelling out time and money to find solace inside the World Wide ...
3. “Video Games” by Chris Jozefowics. Published by Gareth Stevens Publishing 2010. Pleasantville, NY 10570-70000 USA. Produced by Editorials Directions Inc.
Role-playing games are becoming increasingly popular in this age due the assistance of the Internet. In these types of game a person can assume a character and give this character a personality, physical features and “live” through them. All though in past years “pen and paper” types have dominated the rpg world, now MUDs are making it possible to role-play along with thousands of others A MUD is a network-accessible, multi-participant virtual reality that is primarily text-based. (Bruckman, 1992). Although the term “virtual reality” often refers to a computer-simulated environment that contains varying degrees of audio/visual interface, this form of virtual reality is mainly text-based. Elizabeth Reid further explains by saying:
Virtual reality can be defined as a, "technology that enables users to enter computer generated worlds and interface with them three dimensionally through sight, sound, and touch" (Newquist 93). Virtual reality combines computer simulation and visualization into a single, coherent whole (Peterson 8). Researchers say it embodies an attempt to eliminate the traditional distinction between the user and the machine. Virtual reality is intended to provide a means of naturally and intelligently interacting with information (8). Virtual reality is contending to be the interface of the future, allowing ordinary users to use their senses to interact with complex data.
.... Also, whether going to parties with friends or playing games alone, the purpose is essentially the same; to have a good time. The advantages of living a Second Life are many. People bring themselves into this virtual world for the freedom to do anything they choose; Second Life presents its residents with many capabilities to be and do anything their imagination will permit them to. There is the originality of creating and building, as well as the ability to perform and simply have fun, yet there are also many relationships and friendships formed in this online world. These are communal attachments that extend outside of Second Life and into the real world, that influence the user's frame of mind long after they have turned off their computer and that they appreciate and hold in high regard as much - if not more - than their relationships in the real world.
The traditional way of socializing limits our ability to meet other people around the world. Virtual interactions offers a more possible means to communicate in today's society. Furthermore, the growth of the video game community such as in the genre of MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) allows for a high level medium that enable individuals to create small factions and perform social interactions. According to Bishop, "The existence of such communities is often brought about by people who share similar goals, beliefs or values, with such commonality forming the basis of an agreement to form and sustain a virtual existence" (1). Having shared similar goals...
Definition of virtual reality is "A technology that assures participants that he was actually in another place by replacing the main sensory input with data received by the computer" [6] [10]. One of the key elements of the virtual reality of cyberspace; it is a space fantasy or simulation environment. Which is always linked here is a virtual world and immersion virtual reality, perception is born into the world of alternatives such as ethereal or other point of view of our world