Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

The topic of virtual world is very appealing because it fosters creativity and social interactions. Virtual worlds can stimulate the real world or even a fantasy world. Virtual worlds has many uses including training programs, video games, experiments, and business. In "Going to the Virtual Office in Second Life", the article talks about how IBM created a virtual world where businesses can meet, share ideas, and collaborate in a 3D setting. Pilots use virtual worlds so they can fly planes in simulators and practice before they actually fly a real plane to lower the chance of casualties. In games, people can connect with one another across the globe and socialize.
There's an endless amount of things you can do in a virtual world and for this reason, virtual worlds can foster creativity because there are certain things you can do there where can't do in real life. This means that you have more control and freedom allowing you to go above and beyond with your imagination.
Virtual worlds has its benefits as well. In "iReport: Naughty Auties battle autism with virtual interaction", the author describes how "Naughty Auties" a virtual world designed for autistic people, was created in order to teach them how to be social by interacting online using symbols and chat rooms. However, virtual worlds also has it's downside. Through personal experience, some people may get caught up in these virtual realities and may spend too much time staying home and less time actually socializing with others in real life. I've met people who spend all their time at home playing games such as World of Warcraft and similar games. Many people who do spend so much time in these virtual worlds may forget what it's like to interact with others in reality and may not know what's going on around them.
The future of virtual reality and worlds is very unpredictable. The only way to tell is how regulated it will be in the future as it becomes more prominent in our lives. It has both its benefits and downsides but overall, it will definitely have a great impact on our lives for generations.