Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds

Virtual reality allows individuals to interact within a computer-generated three dimensional virtual image environment. The environment itself looks real and can be interacted with physically to an extent. It can be used for entertainment purposes, educational purposes, professionally and even for medical purposes as well. In the Wall Street Journal article, "Avatar II: The Hospital", virtual reality in the online community Second Life has shown health care facilities the benefits of practicing potential medical situations in a virtual world. Individuals in the game are able to build their own virtual clinics and stage any type of training situation they can think that is possible. One example is a health care facility filled with dozens of sick patients and all of a sudden the hospital experiences a blackout - in which chaos erupts. This chaotic scene can be made into a simulation so that nurses or health care practitioners can practice how to make quick and efficient decisions in case of emergencies. It enables the ability for nurses to practice working under pressure. Since virtual reality settings can be controlled and maintained, it allows the participants be in a safe environment to practice in which the game can be restarted if mistakes or accidents were made - something you can't really do in real life. It allows the individuals to practice and prepare beforehand in case an actual emergency happens instead of learning through mistakes. While learning through mistakes are good, it is more beneficial to make the mistakes without the expense of people's lives on the line. Additionally, virtual reality can be used in an professional setting. Companies can conduct meetings and conferences remotely using avatars on a private Second Life browser according to the article, "Going to the Virtual Office in Second Life". This can be another pro of virtual reality, companies finding new and innovative ways to interact online can save both costs and time.

While virtual reality can have many benefits through the various innovative ways they are used, there can also be drawbacks to using them. It is possible that virtual reality may impact real life behavior of individuals. How you may represent yourself in the virtual world may affect how you behave towards others in real life. In the article, "Virtual World May Impact Real World Behavior" individuals who played the villain in a video game tended to punish anonymous strangers when they were given a supposed unrelated study. Additionally, virtual realities may diminish the quality of human connection. Like with any online activity, you will face a lack of interpersonal connection - no body language, eye contact, etc. This can cause a detrimental effect in terms of human connections. 

Virtual Worlds still foster creativity however in the sense that it can be versatile and can be used in multiple fields of study. It makes people think of innovative ways to use it in order to combat potential negative effects that may occur in real life if they didn't have the technology. In the future, virtual reality may actually become more popular, with the introduction of new VR googles and games especially. Additionally, VR companies may be finding new ways to market this concept or product to get more people interested in it - such as the Virtual Reality exhibit that opened last year in Manhattan. There seems to be a lot of room for growth for this industry.

Sources:

"Avatar II: The Hospital" by Stephanie Simon, The Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2010http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703909804575124470868041204.html?KEYWORDS=avatar+ii+the+hospital  

Going to the Virtual Office in Second Life, CNN.com: Nov 5, 2009http://www.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/11/05/second.life.virtual.collaboration/index.html

“Virtual World May Impact Real-World Behaviour.” Health24, 10 Feb. 2014, www.health24.com/Mental-Health/News/Virtual-world-may-impact-real-world-behaviour-20140210.