Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Modeling reality with virtual worlds could be used by certain companies to give an indication of how the end product may look like. Take, for instance, a building company may want potential investors to finance/buy into. In order to do so, these companies may lay out a visual idea of how a finished project may look like. If it is potential hotel financiers, companies might want to give them a virtual tour around the hotel. They may provide the layout of what the front desk may look like, location of the pool, fitness center, how many rooms (small or large) there will be in the hotel and anything else that might draw these potential financiers in. This is a great way for companies to sell themselves without having to use a sales agent. The dark side to this would be that not everything you see in this virtual world will turn out as planned in months to come. There may by an unexpected situation or disastrous consequences that may not allow the company to complete the project as planned.

Aside from companies utilizing this virtual technology, there are people who go on to these virtual sites using characters that they have designed to interact with other virtual users. These "virtual" users are then realistically interacting with others in these virtual cities. What is normally done in real life can now be played out in these virtual worlds too! In this "virtual" world, you can be whomever you what to be. If you are a man and want to live and act out as a woman, it can be easily done in this virtual world.

An article in The New York Times talks about life in the virtual world which, to be quite frank with you, is quite frightening. When I read that a multimedia artist who was interviewed states that "you've experienced it as if it were real, because, in fact it is real" (NYT). Would you agree that this world is becoming a sad and pathetic place when people want to sit at home and pretend that they are at a bar instead of actually being in a bar socializing and interacting with other "real" people!?!?!? Where is the sense of joy and excitement in that? Or the thrill to be able to really sit next to someone and feel them and look directly into their eyes instead of pretending you are doing so in these virtual worlds. The real world can be difficult to deal with, but that is what makes us human. is it just me or is this world becoming a place for total one-dimensional losers!?!?!?