Virtual Worlds

Although virtual worlds are still developing, they will have a substantial effect on our future life. Virtual worlds are already used in the business of commercial designs, and it is predicted to have a tremendous impact on everyday life as well. A virtual world is technology that enables users to enter computer generated worlds with three dimensional objects. A virtual world has various uses ranging from recreation to communication. According to the article "After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get a Reboot", users can feel the human interactions they might be missing. They also allows returning soldiers to be psychologically healed.

Virtual worlds can be used for personal, educational and professional discussions. It lets users interact socially with others and do things that they would like to do or cant do in the actual world. According to the article "No Budget, No Boundaries: It's the Real You", virtual worlds allow users to style themselves in many ways that they cant in the actual world free of cost. Users are using real money to buy virtual currency to purchase items in the virtual worlds.

However, a negative side of virtual worlds is that it can also lead to privacy and security issues. Many people on the virtual worlds try to make their avatars resemble their real life personality. There are also the problems of hacking and make users do something they don't want to do. The following is a scenario that I studied in CIS 3270 of a virtual rape.

In a virtual world called LamdbdaMOO there was a virtual rape by a user called Bungle. Bungle designed a subprogram, Voodoo doll, which could attribute actions to other characters. Using the Voodoo doll subprogram, Bungle took control of two other characters Legba and Starspinner, and manipulated these characters to appear to engage in sadistic and sexually explicit actions. Legba and Starspinner were helpless throughout the entire incident. The community was stunned and has no idea on how to handle the situation. So did Bungle do anything wrong and how should he be punished? Should anyone suffer real world consequences?

References:

•  La Ferla, Ruth. "No Budget, No Boundaries: It’s the Real You." The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Oct. 2009. Web. 23 Mar. 2015. .
• Mehta, Diane. "After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get a Reboot?" Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 30 Apr. 2013. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.