Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds
Virtual worlds can have many purposes. In one example, they can be used as an outlet for creativity. In a game called Minecraft, people are able to create all sorts of designs that they can imagine by using blocks that they mined in the game. There are Youtube videos of people creating places like Hogwarts and New York City by playing Minecraft. Virtual world games like Minecraft are "a space for kids to exercise their imagination and to connect with others to also want to build and create things" (Mehta). From an early age, kids playing Minecraft can express their ideas through the virtual world game.
In another positive example, virtual worlds can provide training for certain occupations. Surgeons can practice their skills in a virtual world game, engineers can test their designs, and astronauts can simulate a flight launch and what to do. Being able to practice their profession while not actually practicing it can save organizations a lot of money. It reduces the chance for costly errors by giving these professionals practice in their fields.
Virtual worlds can have a negative side. They can create a false sense of reality. In one case, David Itzkoff from the New York Times writes, "Despite knowing that its real-life inspiration exists right outside my door, I have spent the last few months making such visits to the Virtual Lower East Side (vles.com), a three-dimensional, Internet-based social network fastidiously modeled on a small but influential swath of Manhattan real estate". Itzkoff would rather spend time playing a virtual world game instead of actually experiencing things for himself. The physical aspect of actually seeing and doing things with your own eyes and body is something that is way more important than your computerized avatar experiencing it.
In another positive example, virtual worlds can provide training for certain occupations. Surgeons can practice their skills in a virtual world game, engineers can test their designs, and astronauts can simulate a flight launch and what to do. Being able to practice their profession while not actually practicing it can save organizations a lot of money. It reduces the chance for costly errors by giving these professionals practice in their fields.
Virtual worlds can have a negative side. They can create a false sense of reality. In one case, David Itzkoff from the New York Times writes, "Despite knowing that its real-life inspiration exists right outside my door, I have spent the last few months making such visits to the Virtual Lower East Side (vles.com), a three-dimensional, Internet-based social network fastidiously modeled on a small but influential swath of Manhattan real estate". Itzkoff would rather spend time playing a virtual world game instead of actually experiencing things for himself. The physical aspect of actually seeing and doing things with your own eyes and body is something that is way more important than your computerized avatar experiencing it.
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