Virtual worlds created today can be used for entertainment or they can be used for jobs. For example, in the article "Avatar II: The Hospital" by Stephanie Simon, health care facilities are utilizing the virtual worlds to practice real life simulation of emergency situations that can possible happen. It became more and more popular and universities began to pick up this method of training. They prefer this method of training rather than the traditional training where a real life trainer helps future employees with hospital practices because it costs less. It only costs about 1000 dollars to purchase the virtual land and only 300 per month to maintain it. Another reason that professors can be creative about what kind of real life situations can occur and add them into the virtual, improving the training experience over two times. But like we all know real world isn't perfect, the online virtual world isn't perfect either. For example, if a professor wanted to train the students to a particular patient with some sort of disease, the students would need computers that can support the Second Life virtual world system and a good internet connection; not all of us have that. But in the long run, it'll make the health care facilities more efficient.
According to the article, "Going to the virtual office in Second Life", another creative way of using the virtual world is by using these virtual worlds to have meetings at their computers without having to travel from country to country. This is rather convenient because travel budgets are tight in our recession now and by using the virtual worlds, it saves businesses time and money to create more innovative products. But sometimes there is a downside to it because a lack of human contact leads to isolation and lack of bonds forming. And it is also difficult to see a person's reaction to a statement if you can't see the person in real life. But virtual worlds, overall, can be more efficient when it comes to saving money and time.
In the future I would expect the virtual worlds to include something that is unrealistic. For example, we can experience the entertainments we have in real life such as movies, books and video games. I'm not sure if they have it or not, but they should create something that transports our mind into the virtual world to give us a full experience of it. There are other creative ideas but many people are out there creating ways to make virtual worlds foster a good experience for all of us.
I think more colleges and universities should begin using virtual worlds to help educate students. They provide a cheap and efficient environment for different simulations and situations. Of course though, performing something on a computer and doing it in real life may be completely different experiences.
ReplyDeleteI think having meetings in virtual worlds is a pretty advanced idea. However it may not be as efficient as just a telephone conference. I guess it depends on the company though.
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