Brave new worlds beckon
SOFIA GHORI SALEEM
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As technology makes virtual worlds like Second Life more sophisticated, it opens up whole new worlds of possibilities — for businesses, for education and for personal fulfilment. But they raise important social and economic issues too…
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Graphics by K.G. RANGARAJAN
Everyone has indulged in a little escapism sometime in their lives. The need for an outlet from the relentless glare of reality is felt by many and the possibility of an alternate lifestyle hidden from public view can be a powerful attraction. This a
lternate role-play starts at childhood with girls playing make-believe games with dolls and boys dreaming up war games with their action heroes. As age advances, the need for fantasy it seems, does not always diminish, it sometimes gets hidden under the wraps.
In the past, people’s fantasy world went as far as books or movies could take them. Today the Internet can transport you to worlds beyond your wildest imagination.
Different realities
People dabble with social networks at different levels. While Facebook and Myspace are “reality” social networks, there is a huge virtual world out there beckoning you to venture in. The virtual world arena opens tremendous opportunities for being whoever you want to be, meeting people from across the globe, living the lifestyle you always dreamed of, performing the feats that you are otherwise incapable of performing. People who participate in it live, not as who they are, but who they would like to be.
The synthetic world therefore offers you a virtual life which is not a product of your circumstance. Most of all, it may make some of you feel like you have erased everything in your past and started all over again. Kind of like a second chance at life.
Paraplegics can finally experiment with the idea of leaving behind their wheelchair and taking to the sports track. Young adults love the idea of changing the way they look. To the human mind, which is wired to respond to sensory perception signals, this virtual game can be gratifying, stimulating and addictive. You may be a speedy motorcycle racer or a swimmer in shark ridden waters — the element of risk does not exist.
Intrusions
Relationships are another key feature here. People who are having difficulties with relationships due to the breakdown of traditional communities in today’s societies, find ways to form friendships in the virtual world. Conversely, there is also an increase in breakdowns of real-world relationships caused by the virtual world relationships they have created.
One very popular virtual world is called Second Life. Initially it met with the same euphoric reception that Twitter enjoys today. Second Life is neither a game nor a show; it offers a platform for wish fulfilment. Each player may choose an avatar which can walk or fly and interact with other people.
Second Life creator Linden Lab provides you with building tools for creating objects and allows Second Life residents to retain full ownership of their virtual creations. In addition, Second Life offers commerce — it’s part of a half a billion dollar a year economy. It has its own currency called Linden Dollars, which trade at over L$250 per real dollar. Players can convert that play money into U.S. dollars, by using their credit card at online currency exchanges. There is virtual real estate for sale that you may buy, build or rent. There are shopping districts here, where people actively engage in trade and sell everything from virtual clothes to virtual drinks and haircuts all created by the residents themselves. This has generated significant income for some and there do exist, albeit a few residents, whose profits exceed one million USD per year.
Then again, the virtual world is perhaps not so virtual after all. A lot of other real-world businesses are sitting up and paying attention. That’s because virtual worlds could transform the way they do business by providing a new paradigm for getting work done. Seeing this as a powerful business trend, many large corporations such as IBM, Motorola and Intel have created communities in Second Life for advertising, as online venues for holding meetings and for experimenting with new ideas for collaborative learning
Opportunities
The University of Texas recently launched a one year funded project which will bring its 16 campuses into Second Life. UT joins a long line of universities such as Harvard, Princeton, Cornell and Stanford who have all set up programmes within Second Life.
Health Officials in Spain have used the virtual world to advise teens about the dangers of drug use. This past April, the American Cancer Society held its 3rd annual relay for life virtual event in which it raised more than quarter of a million dollars. And on May 16, the popular Irish rock band, U2, conducted a Virtual Music Concert to benefit War Child Charity.
Synthetic worlds have proven to provide sustained platforms for human rights and acts of charity. Amnesty International owns a large virtual island dedicated to spreading human rights awareness. The virtual island is home to large buildings filled with information on human rights abuses, and awareness podcasts which are made available to virtual visitors.
Second Life is one of many virtual worlds — ten million are now signed up to World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft and other online worlds, are extremely popular in China and South Korea. India too has caught on to the fever, with the first World of Warcraft Indian server launched this past April.
Another very popular online world is “Maple Story”. Maple Story creates a virtual world that mimics real life. The game boasts more than 50 million subscribers who can shop, play and get married virtually.
These are however unregulated playgrounds for economic and social issues. Second Life has rules against offensive behaviour in public, such as racial slurs or overtly promiscuous acts. Yet, since virtual worlds are still in their infancy, many questions remain unanswered on financial regulation and law enforcement. The legal and societal implications of working and living inside an imaginary world are yet to be understood. A Maple Story resident recently made headlines for killing her online husband. The man, who was married to her in the virtual world but not in real life, abruptly broke off the relationship. This enraged the woman so much that she signed on to his profile with his identification and password and terminated his avatar. She faces prosecution with fines and a possible jail term.
Though the frenetic pace at which virtual worlds were embraced two years ago has somewhat abated and people have turned equally frenetically to newer social networks such as Twitter, virtual worlds are a growing phenomenon. With the hype diminished and the picture clearer on what’s achievable and how powerful the medium can be, the virtual universe has many dedicated followers.
Scary situation
Studies have indicated that a person’s virtual personality could bleed and spill over into that person’s real life. This worldwide schizophrenia is quite overwhelming if a bit scary. If Dr. Jekyll had a presence in a virtual world, Mr. Hyde would not have to walk the dark streets of London’s night life. He would simply slip into the virtual world and live a life totally different from his alter ego. In that personality battle, Dr. Jekyll lost control to a dominant Mr. Hyde. Likewise, after prolonged periods of reality to virtual world context switches, there’s no telling how befuddled the brain could get over what is its true identity and who we truly are at any given moment.
Our current young workforce is a generation that grew up on video games and its consequent blurring of lines between games and real life. This is also the generation that grew up on Star Trek and the notion that Space is the final frontier. Our timeline for the occupation of Space seems to be preceded by a more immediate time line — building settlements in the vast imaginary space created by the Internet.
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