Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds can be used in many ways, as its popularity continuously grows. People use them for their own personal pleasure as well as the business world uses them to help improve their technology. Along with the idea of different ways the virtual world is being used, there are the advantages and disadvantages of it. The advantages of it, is that you can escape from reality and use your own creativity to make your own world. It is very similar to the real world and that’s why companies you it to improve their technology. In the medical field it helps with medical procedures, in the military it helps with weapons, it can also be helpful for those experiencing stress. The advantage in a medical is shown through the article “Avataar II: The Hospital” by Stephanie Simon, where a virtual hospital full of nurses is made in order to help real nurses figure out how to handle any disaster. The instructor will come up with the sick avatars and the nurses are put into this world for practice. They each have their own character that is dressed in scrubs and that they can fully control. It is a great way to learn new ways of handling situations without actually having them happen for the first time in real life. The disadvantages of this is that it takes a lot of time to create these worlds and it can defy the laws of physics. The visual effects might not be as good as the real world either.  In the virtual world, it is very easy to be creative. You create your character that you can make whoever you want. You dress them how you want, you create their world how you want; everything in the virtual world comes from your creativity. It is a way to express yourself when you cannot in the real world. It is a way to be who you want to be without people stopping or judging you. I believe in the future, the virtual world will be used in more business like settings, for example like in the article “At Hearing, Real and Virtual Worlds Collide” where the hearing is based in real life and in the virtual world. The virtual characters log in and can watch what is going on through the virtual world. They then discussion their feelings on the hearing amongst each other. I also think the virtual world will come to the classroom, more likely in collages. Instead of going into class, you will have a virtual classroom where you will be learning from. The virtual world is only going to get more and more popular as time goes on.