A virtual world is a genre of online community An online community is a virtual community that exists online whose members enable its existence through taking part in membership rituals . An online community can take the form of an information system where anyone can post content, such as a Bulletin board system or one where only a restricted number of people can initiate posts, such as that often takes the form of a computer-based simulated environment A computer simulation, a computer model, or a computational model is a computer program, or network of computers, that attempts to simulate an abstract model of a particular system. Computer simulations have become a useful part of mathematical modeling of many natural systems in physics , astrophysics, chemistry and biology, human systems in, through which users can interact with one another and use and create objects[1]. Virtual worlds are intended for its users In computing, a user is a person who uses a computer or Internet service. A user may have a user account that identifies the user by a username , screen name (also screenname), or "handle", which is derived from the identical Citizen's Band radio term. To log in to an account, a user is typically required to authenticate himself/herself/ to inhabit and interact, and the term today has become largely synonymous with interactive 3D virtual environments, where the users take the form of avatars An avatar is a computer user's representation of himself/herself or alter ego,[citation needed] whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games, a two-dimensional icon or a one-dimensional username used on Internet forums and other communities, or a text construct found on early systems such as MUDs. It is an object visible to others graphically[2]. These avatars are usually depicted as textual, two-dimensional, or three-dimensional graphical 3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images. Such images may be for later display or for real-time viewing representations, although other forms are possible[3] (auditory[4] and touch sensations for example). Some, but not all, virtual worlds allow for multiple users.
The computer accesses a computer-simulated world and presents perceptual stimuli to the user, who in turn can manipulate elements of the modeled world and thus experiences telepresence Telepresence refers to a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance that they were present, or to have an effect, via telerobotics, at a place other than their true location to a certain degree.[5] Such modeled worlds may appear similar to the real world Reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or may be thought to be. In its widest definition, reality includes everything that is and has being, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible or instead depict fantasy worlds. The model world may simulate rules based on the real world or some hybrid fantasy world. Example rules are gravity Gravitation, or gravity, is one of the four fundamental interactions of nature , in which objects with mass attract one another. In everyday life, gravitation is most familiar as the agent that gives weight to objects with mass and causes them to fall to the ground when dropped. Gravitation causes dispersed matter to coalesce, thus accounting for, topography Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those of planets, moons, and asteroids. It is also the description of such surface shapes and features (especially their depiction in maps), locomotion Animal locomotion, which is the act of self-propulsion by an animal, has many manifestations, including running, jumping and flying. Animals move for a variety of reasons, such as to find food, a mate, or a suitable microhabitat, and to escape predators. For many animals the ability to move is essential to survival and, as a result, selective, real-time In computer science, real-time computing , or reactive computing, is the study of hardware and software systems that are subject to a "real-time constraint"—i.e., operational deadlines from event to system response. By contrast, a non-real-time system is one for which there is no deadline, even if fast response or high performance is actions, and communication Communication is a process whereby information is enclosed in a package and is channeled and imparted by a sender to a receiver via some medium. The receiver then decodes the message and gives the sender a feedback. All forms of communication require a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, however the receiver need not be present or aware. Communication between users has ranged from text, graphical icons, visual gesture, sound, and rarely, forms using touch, voice command, and balance senses.
Massively multiplayer online games A massively multiplayer online game is a video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on personal computers. Most of the newer game consoles, including the PSP, commonly depict a world very similar to the real world, with real world rules and real-time In computer science, real-time computing , or reactive computing, is the study of hardware and software systems that are subject to a "real-time constraint"—i.e., operational deadlines from event to system response. By contrast, a non-real-time system is one for which there is no deadline, even if fast response or high performance is actions, and communication Communication is a process whereby information is enclosed in a package and is channeled and imparted by a sender to a receiver via some medium. The receiver then decodes the message and gives the sender a feedback. All forms of communication require a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, however the receiver need not be present or aware. Players create a character to travel between buildings, towns, and even worlds to carry out business or leisure activities. Communication is usually textual, with real-time voice communication using VOIP Voice over Internet Protocol is a general term for a family of methodologies, communication protocols, and transmission technologies for delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. Other terms frequently encountered and synonymous with VoIP are IP telephony, Internet also possible.[clarification needed]
Virtual worlds are not limited to games but, depending on the degree of immediacy presented, can encompass computer conferencing and text based chatrooms. Sometimes, emoticons or 'smilies' are available, to show feeling or facial expression. Emoticons often have a keyboard shortcut. [6] Edward Castronova Edward Castronova is Associate Professor of Telecommunications at Indiana University Bloomington as of fall 2004, previously Associate Professor of Economics in the College of Business and Economics at California State University, Fullerton. He obtained a BS in International Affairs from Georgetown University in 1985 and a PhD in Economics from is an economist who has argued that "synthetic worlds" is a better term for these cyberspaces, but this term has not been widely adopted.
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History
The concept of virtual worlds predates computers and could be traced in some sense to Pliny Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian. Spending most of his spare time studying, writing or investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field, he wrote an.[7] The mechanical-based 1962 Sensorama The Sensorama was a machine that is one of the earliest known examples of immersive, multi-sensory technology. Morton Heilig, who today would be thought of as a “multimedia” specialist, in the 1950s saw theater as an activity that could encompass all the senses in an effective manner, thus drawing the viewer into the onscreen activity. He machine used the senses of vision, sound, balance, smells and touch (via wind) to simulate its world. Among the earliest virtual worlds to be implemented by computers were not games but generic virtual reality Virtual reality is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds. Most current virtual reality environments are primarily visual experiences, displayed either on a computer screen or through special stereoscopic displays, but some simulations include additional simulators, such as Ivan Sutherland Ivan Edward Sutherland is an American computer scientist and Internet pioneer. He received the Turing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery in 1988 for the invention of Sketchpad, an early predecessor to the sort of graphical user interface that has become ubiquitous in personal computers's 1968 virtual reality device. This form of virtual reality is characterized by bulky headsets and other types of sensory input simulation. Contemporary virtual worlds, multi-user online virtual environments, emerged mostly independently of this virtual reality technology research, fueled instead by the gaming industry but drawing on similar inspiration.[8] While classic sensory-imitating virtual reality relies on tricking the perceptual system into experiencing an immersive environment, virtual worlds typically rely on mentally and emotionally engaging content which gives rise to an immersive experience.
Maze War (also known as The Maze Game, Maze Wars or simply Maze) was the first networked, 3D multi-user first person shooter game. Maze first brought us the concept of online players as eyeball "avatars" chasing each other around in a maze.” (http://www.digibarn.com/history/04-VCF7-MazeWar/index.html, 29th Feb). According to the website this was in 1974, it was played on Arpanet (the initial internet), however it could only be played on an Imlac, as it was specifically built for this type of computer.
In 1978 MUD1 Multi-User Dungeon, or MUD is the first MUD and the oldest virtual world in existence. It was created in 1978 by Roy Trubshaw at Essex University on a DEC PDP-10 in the UK, using the MACRO-10 assembly language. He named the game Multi-User Dungeon, in tribute to the Dungeon variant of Zork, which Trubshaw had greatly enjoyed playing. Zork in turn, the first MUD A MUD , pronounced /ˈmʌd/, is a multiplayer real-time virtual world described primarily in text. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat. Players can read or view descriptions of rooms, objects, other players, non-player characters, and actions performed in the, was released. This game, text-based rather than graphical, began the MUD heritage that eventually led to MMORPGs.
Some early prototype virtual worlds were WorldsAway WorldsAway was an online graphical "virtual chat" environment in which users designed their own two dimensionally represented avatars. It was one of the first visual virtual worlds. In 1996 it was one of the top 20 most popular forums on Compuserve, a prototype interactive communities featuring a virtual world by CompuServe CompuServe, , was the first major commercial online service in the United States. It dominated the field during the 1980s and remained a major player through the mid-1990s, when it was sidelined by the rise of information services such as AOL that charged monthly subscriptions rather than hourly rates. Since the purchase of CompuServe's called Dreamscape, Cityspace, an educational networking and 3D computer graphics project for children, and The Palace, a 2-dimensional community driven virtual world. However, credit for the first online virtual world usually goes to Habitat Lucasfilm's Habitat was an early and technologically influential online role-playing game developed by Lucasfilm Games and made available as a beta test in 1986 by Quantum Link, an online service for the Commodore 64 computer and the corporate progenitor to America Online. It was initially created in 1985 by Randy Farmer and Chip Morningstar, who, developed in 1987 by LucasFilm Games for the Commodore 64 The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982. Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US $595. Preceded by the Commodore VIC-20 and Commodore MAX Machine, the C64 features 64 kilobytes of memory with sound and graphics computer, and running on the Quantum Link Quantum Link was a U.S. and Canadian online service for Commodore 64 and 128 personal computers that operated from November 5, 1985 to November 1, 1994. It was operated by Quantum Computer Services of Vienna, Virginia, which in October 1991 changed its name to America Online, and continues to operate its AOL service for the IBM PC and Apple service (the precursor to America Online AOL Inc. , formerly known as America Online and logo typeset as 'Aol.', is an American global Internet services and media company. The company was based in Northern Virginia from its founding until 2007. It is currently headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Quantum Computer Services, it has franchised its services to).[citation needed]
In 1996, the city of Helsinki, Finland Helsinki ( listen ; Swedish: Helsingfors, listen (help·info)) is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the southern part of Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, by the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is 579,016 (30 June 2009), making it the most populous municipality in Finland by a wide margin. The foreign- with Helsinki Telephone Company (since Elisa Group) launched what was called the first online virtual 3D depiction intended to map an entire city. The Virtual Helsinki project was eventually renamed Helsinki Arena 2000 project and parts of the city in modern and historical context were rendered in 3D.[citation needed]
The first virtual worlds presented on the Internet The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet Protocol Suite to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope that are linked by a broad array of electronic and were communities and chat rooms The term chat room, or chatroom, is primarily used by mass media to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing. The term can thus mean any technology ranging from real-time online chat over instant messaging and online forums to fully immersive graphical social environments. A chat room is a Web site,, some of which evolved into MUDs A MUD , pronounced /ˈmʌd/, is a multiplayer real-time virtual world described primarily in text. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat. Players can read or view descriptions of rooms, objects, other players, non-player characters, and actions performed in the and MUSHes A MUSH is a text-based online social medium to which multiple users are connected at the same time. MUSHes are often used for online social intercourse and role-playing games, although the first forms of MUSH do not appear to be coded specifically to implement gaming activity. Today's two major MUSH variants are descended from TinyMUD, which was. MUDs, short for “Multi User Dungeons,” are examples of virtual worlds that consist of virtual space inhabited by representations of data and other users [9]. Early virtual worlds were text-based, offering limited graphical representation, and often using a Command Line Interface A command-line interface is a mechanism for interacting with a computer operating system or software by typing commands to perform specific tasks. This text-only interface contrasts with the use of a mouse pointer with a graphical user interface (GUI) to click on options, or menus on a text user interface (TUI) to select options. This method of.
Virtual world concepts
One perception of virtual worlds requires an online The terms "online" and "offline" have specific meanings in regard to computer technology and telecommunications. In general, "online" indicates a state of connectivity, while "offline" indicates a disconnected state. In common usage, "online" often refers to the Internet or the World Wide Web persistent world A persistent world is a virtual world that continues to exist even after a user exits the world and that user-made changes to its state are, to some extent, permanent. The term is frequently used in the definition of the massively multiplayer online video games and can be considered synonymous with that class of games, including other narrative, active and available 24 hours a day and seven days a week, to qualify as a true virtual world.[citation needed] Although this is possible with smaller virtual worlds, especially those that are not actually online, no massively multiplayer game runs all day, every day. All the online games listed above[clarification needed] include downtime for maintenance that is not included as time passing in the virtual world. While the interaction with other participants is done in real-time, time consistency is not always maintained in online virtual worlds. For example, EverQuest time passes faster than real-time despite using the same calendar and time units to present game time.
As virtual world is a fairly vague and inclusive term, the above can generally be divided along a spectrum ranging from:
- massively multiplayer online role-playing games Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of computer role-playing games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world or MMORPGs where the user playing a specific character is a main feature of the game (World Of Warcraft World of Warcraft, often referred to as WoW, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment, a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994. World of Warcraft takes place within the Warcraft for example).
- massively multiplayer online real-life games or MMORLGs, the user can edit and alter their avatar An avatar is a computer user's representation of himself/herself or alter ego,[citation needed] whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games, a two-dimensional icon or a one-dimensional username used on Internet forums and other communities, or a text construct found on early systems such as MUDs. It is an object at will, allowing them to play a more dynamic role, or multiple roles.
Some would argue that the MMO versions of RTS and FPS games are also virtual worlds if the world editors A level editor is a software tool used to design levels, maps, campaigns, etc and virtual worlds for a video game. In some cases the creator of a video game releases an official level editor for a game, but other times the community of fans step in to fill the void allow for open editing of the terrains if the "source file" for the terrain is shared. Emerging concepts include basing the terrain of such games on real satellite photos, such as those available through the Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, free (for non-commercial use), that powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API. It offers street maps, a route planner for traveling by API or through a simple virtual geocaching Geocaching is an outdoor activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook. Larger containers such as plastic storage of "easter eggs A virtual Easter egg is an intentional hidden message, in-joke or feature in an object such as a movie, book, CD, DVD, computer program, web page or video game. The term was coined—according to Warren Robinett—by Atari after they were pointed to the secret message left by Robinett in the game Adventure. It draws a parallel with the custom of" on WikiMapia WikiMapia is a privately owned, online map and satellite imaging resource that combines Google Maps with a wiki system, allowing users to add information, in the form of a note, to any location on Earth. Users may currently use this information for free; however, contrary to popular belief, Wikimapia is not creative commons and they makes or similar mashups To be able to permanently access the data of other services, mashups are generally client applications or hosted online. In the past years, more and more web applications provide APIs that enable software developers to easily integrate data and functions instead of building it themselves. Mashups can be considered to have an active role in the, where permitted.
Boundaries
Virtual worlds are well-known as being fantasy spaces sealed off from the real world, but more careful analysis reveals that the boundaries between the real and virtual worlds are quite porous.
Economy
A virtual economy A virtual economy is an emergent economy existing in a virtual persistent world, usually exchanging virtual goods in the context of an Internet game. People enter these virtual economies for recreation and entertainment rather than necessity, which means that virtual economies lack the aspects of a real economy that are not considered to be " is the emergent property of the interaction between participants in a virtual world. While the designers have a great deal of control over the economy by the encoded mechanics of trade, it is nonetheless the actions of players that define the economic conditions of a virtual world. The economy arises as a result of the choices that players make under the scarcity of real and virtual resources such as time or currency.[8][clarification needed] Participants have a limited time in the virtual world, as in the real world, which they must divide between task such as collecting resources, practicing trade skills, or engaging in less productive fun play. The choices they make in their interaction with the virtual world, along with the mechanics of trade and wealth acquisition, dictate the relative values of items in the economy. The economy in virtual worlds is typically driven by in-game needs such as equipment, food, or trade goods. Virtual economies like that of Second Life Second Life is a virtual world developed by Linden Lab that launched on June 23, 2003, and is accessible on the Internet. A free client program called the Viewer enables its users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars. Residents can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities,, however, are almost entirely player-produced with very little link to in-game needs.
The value of objects in a virtual economy is usually linked to their usefulness and the difficulty of obtaining them. The investment of real world resources (time, membership fees, etc) in acquisition of wealth in a virtual economy may contribute to the real world value of virtual objects.[8][clarification needed] This real world value is made obvious by the trade of virtual items on online market sites like eBay eBay Inc. is an American Internet company that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide. Founded in 1995, eBay is one of the notable success stories of the dot-com bubble; it is now a multi-billion dollar business with operations localized. Recent legal disputes also acknowledge the value of virtual property, even overriding the mandatory EULA A software license agreement is a contract between the "licensor" and purchaser of the right to use software. The licence may define ways under which the copy can be used, in addition to the automatic rights of the buyer including the first sale doctrine and 17 U.S.C. § 117 which many software companies use to establish that virtual property has no value and/or that users of the virtual world have no legal claim to property therein[10].
Some industry analysts have moreover observed that there is a secondary industry growing behind the virtual worlds, made up by social networks, websites and other projects completely devoted to virtual worlds communities and gamers. Special websites as GamerDNA, Koinup and others which serve as social networks for virtual worlds users are facing some crucial issue as the DataPortability of avatars across many virtual worlds and MMORPGs. [11]
Furthermore, economical actors are interested by virtual world like 3D video games, instant messaging, search engines and blogs because these are places where they can display targeted advertising, adapted to the people who will see it. Projects about coming video games planned to include advertisements inside the 3D environment.
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IPhone owners, virtual world regular visitors, and frequent gamers are the heaviest virtual goods buyers, according to the study. ...
2nd Annual Survey on Virtual Goods Market Penetration and Growth in North America IGN
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Alicia Ashby
hu, 20 May 2010 00:34:54 GM
The West Virginia Department of Education has created a space within the . virtual world. Second Life for use in teacher training. The virtual space is being administrated in conjunction with West Virginia University's College of Human ...
Q. Do you know any fun virtual online world you can play without having to download anything? I'm looking for something like Second life or Kaneva but no downloads! Can you help?
Asked by Hershey bar - Tue Mar 23 21:35:13 2010 - - 7 Answers - 0 Comments
A. Hi Hershey Bar, I sooo dig your name btw : ) Have you heard of The Travels of Wiglington and Wenks Virtual World? I had tried it and I think it is great! It's a new virtual world for kids and tweens (some even say teens!). It has already received tens of thousands of sign-ups from over 140 countries. You can travel around the world, adopt all kinds of cool pets, build houses and islands, wear clothings from different countries, play tons of games and more. Best of all, it's free to play and you don't need to download anything to install. Here's a short description of it. "The Travels of Wiglington and Wenks promises an experience in which players would be able to travel to factual and mysterious places around the world, travel… [cont.]
Answered by Tricia - Wed Mar 24 00:27:13 2010
