Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

According to the article "After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get a Reboot?", Mehta interviewed a virtual world designer, Jacki Morie that stated the different ways virtual worlds can offer to people: education, delivery services, telehealthcare, social connectivity, and businesses, etc.

The advantages of these virtual worlds are: it provides disability people with an ideal community where it meets those people's wish of being able to be flexible with their bodies and doing things that they always expect to do, like riding a horse, swimming underneath the sea,  dancing with other people, and being one's own boss to take care others. It also improves or cures interpersonal skills for people who have a social anxiety disorder, and after entering the Second Life to build their confidence they become outgoing and will to interact with others in their real lives. Virtual worlds help worldwide e-commerce developing and expanding so that consumers that are in all over the world could experience various foods or services in different countries, etc.

The disadvantages of it are: The usage of VR in education is not mature enough, and many professors who get used to the traditional teaching style have difficulties in adapting it. Earle reveals it in the article "The Virtual World Moves into the Classroom". In this article, despite the cheaper expenses on VR compared with the real field trips expenses, students will lose the opportunities of the real feeling experiences. A behavioral neuroscience professor declares that "students remember what they've encountered in the virtual world... but the whole thing is about applications. It's not about having experiences".

I remember the video "A Second Life on Second Life"'s scenes. In one of them, the narrator stated that the virtual world is literally established from the real needs and wishes of different people. The creative social places and activities in the virtual world are from the real world. Reversely, the virtual world may facilitate those needs and wishes to be realized in the real world. Creativity is about coming up with an idea that has not existed yet but will be realized in the future. For example, currently, the virtual world can only let people visualize those activities on the computer. In the future, I believe it can let people truly experienced through their bodies' feelings.

References:

1. After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get A Reboot. April 30, 2013. http://www.forbes.com/sites/dianemehta/2013/04/30/after-second-life-can-virtual-worlds-get-a-reboot/ 

2. The virtual world moves into the classroom Posted by Joe Earle | Sep 14, 2018 https://www.reporternewspapers.net/2018/09/14/the-virtual-world-moves-into-the-classroom/