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The Real Opportunities of Virtual Worlds
Jane McGonigal,PhDResearcher ~ Game Designer
GoalsI. Getting real about the opportunities in virtual
worlds – why become immersed?II. A “long zoom” on virtual worlds – how do we
define them now, and how might we define them differently in the future?
III. The larger landscape – alternate approaches to virtual worldness
IV. Future learning - innovation skills and abilities emerging from virtual worlds
V. Discussion; Q & A
Part I Getting real about opportunities in virtual worlds – why become
immersed?
Choosing to become immersed in a specific virtual world is a major investment: it means buying in to someone else’s framework.
– New rules of engagement – Non-negotiable interactive limits– A particular visual style and content– Social conventions and other players
Why accept a new, external framework? Why would an individual, or group, or organization choose to become immersed in the new limitations of a virtual world?
Why Virtual Worlds?
Early explorers and recent observers often focus on the “irrational” appeal of virtual worlds. We share vague notions about:
– the power of immersion – “fun”– “novelty” and “cutting-edge”– “community”, and so on.
But virtual worlds are now engrained enough in global culture to start talking about their rational appeal and specific powers.
Why Virtual Worlds?
Why Virtual Worlds?How do we explain the mass migration to
second lives, simulated environments, and alternate realities?
As we move beyond novelty vague hopes, we can adopt a more utilitarian way of thinking about virtual worlds.
Given a specific context, goal, user, or community, what can we hope to do better in a virtual world?
Why Virtual Worlds?Better Sociability – communications, sense of
social connection, and community are improved
Why Virtual Worlds?Better Visualization – new opportunities for
navigation, sense making, visual expression
Why Virtual Worlds?
Better Dynamics – more easily and vividly observed impact, better coordination, more engagement, more clearly understood opportunities, more power, more pleasure
Why Virtual Worlds?Better Sociability – communications, sense of
social connection and community are improvedBetter Navigation – new opportunities for sense
making, discovering and exposing meaningBetter Dynamics – more easily and vividly
observed impact, better coordination, more engagement, more clearly understood opportunities, more power, more pleasure
The decision to move any part of traditional business or team building to virtual worlds
should be oriented toward maximizing one or more of these benefits.
Part II A “long zoom” on virtual worlds
– how do we define them now, and how might we define them
differently in the future?
Goals Virtual worlds are persistent, immersive
environments that are inhabited, explored, and acted in by their users.
Cory Ondrejka suggests: A virtual world is a place that allow many
simultaneous users to experience consistency, persistence, complex player interactions and many forms of player expression.
- Consistency allows players to predict the consequences of their actions- Persistence means that players’ actions have meaning over longer time periods than their individual sessions- Complex interactions include communication, combat, and trade- Players expression includes avatar and environmental customization, their behavior in-game (including griefing), role playing
What is the “long zoom” trajectory of virtual
experience?Virtual Reality (1990s) …
Virtual Worlds (2000s) …
Alternate Realities (2010s) …
What is the “long zoom” trajectory of virtual
experience?Virtual Reality sensory immersion
Virtual Worlds social, algorithmic immersion
Alternate Realities data, network immersion
7 Dimensions of Virtual Worlds
In the next decade, we will witness explosive variation and diversification in the purpose, platform, and experiential aspects of virtual worlds.
1. What is the purpose?
2. What kind of interface?
3. How do users interact with each other?
4. Who produces the content?
5. Is it fiction or non-fiction?
6. Does it reference real space, or not?
7. Is the experience in or out of place?
7 Dimensions of Virtual Worlds
In the next decade, we will witness explosive variation and diversification in the purpose, platform, and experiential aspects of virtual worlds.
1. Social, Communications Gaming, Productivity2. 3D Graphical Environment Everyday Information
Environment3. Synchronous Experience Asynchronous Experience4. Content Consumption Content Creation5. “Accurate” data (informative) “Fantastic” (mythological) 6. Geo-referential (real world) Sui generis geography 7. Out of place (context-blind) In place (context aware)
Part III The larger landscape –
alternate approaches to virtual worldness
Security Challenges
“Cognitive Load”
Alternate Approaches
• Asynchronous virtual worlds
– example: CyWorld
• Virtual economies without the mythology
– example: Seriosity’s Attent
• Non-graphical virtual worlds
– example: World Without Oil
Alternate Reality Fiction
“Alternate reality fiction is a hybrid of Urban Fantasy and Alternate History... A genre that not only alters this world's history, but also its dynamics.”
- OED for Science Fiction
“An alternate reality is another — equally valid but not always attainable — way of experiencing existence.”
- G. S. ELRICK Sci. Fiction Handbk. 30, 1978
Alternate Reality Fiction
“If we're not bound by the same limitations, we can become aware of alternate realities.”
- L. TUTTLE Lost Futures 95, 1992
Alternate Reality Fiction
“When they returned, they discovered that … their excursion had created a new alternate reality.”
- G. A. EFFINGER in Isaac Asimov's Sci. Fiction Mag. Feb. 120, 1989
Alternate Reality Fiction
Part IV Future learning - innovation
skills and abilities emerging from virtual worlds
Invitation Graphic Goes Here
Supersized – working at a new
scaleSuperimposed –
managing a hybrid scenario with both
real and virtual elements
Supercomputing – massively parallel
efforts Superheroic – pursuing goals
defined by the good
the evolution of everyday superheroes:
Virtual World Powers for Real-World InnovationMobability Open Authorship
Influency Emergensight
Ping Quotient Longbroading
Multi-Capitalism Signal/Noise Management
Protovation Cooperation Radar
Mobability• the ability to perform real-time work
in large groups• a talent for organizing and
collaborating with many people simultaneously
Influency• the ability to be persuasive in
multiple social contexts and media spaces
• an understanding that each context and space requires a different persuasive strategy and technique
Ping Quotient• measures your responsiveness to
other people’s requests for engagement
• your propensity and ability to reach out to others in a network
Multi-Capitalism• fluency in working with different
capitals• natural, intellectual, social, financial,
human, e.g.
Protovation• fearless innovation in rapid, iterative
cycles • an understanding that the cost of
short-term failure has been lowered
Open Authorship• ease and savvy in creating content
for public, or open, consumption – through peer 2 peer citation, circulation, and modification
Emergensight• ability to prepare for and handle
surprising results and complexity
Longbroading• thinking in terms of higher level
systems, massively multiple cycles, and a much bigger picture
Signal/Noise Management
• filtering meaningful info, patterns, and commonalities from the massively-multiple streams of data
Cooperation Radar
• the ability to sense, almost intuitively, who would make the best collaborators on a particular task
Virtual World Powers for Real-World InnovationMobability Open Authorship
Influency Emergensight
Ping Quotient Longbroading
Multi-Capitalism Signal/Noise Management
Protovation Cooperation Radar
Part V Open Discussion,
Q & A