The Reality of Virtual Worlds, Revealed
By Alma Freeman
Right now, roughly 0.3 percent of the global population is involved
in some sort of virtual world, said Indiana University’s
Edward Castranova at the two-day conference in February “Virtual
Worlds and New Realities in Commerce, Politics, and Society.”
If this rapidly growing percentage rate doesn’t seem overwhelming,
he continued, consider that the gross sales transactions that
take place in these virtual worlds already rival those of some
small countries.
Virtual worlds allow a person to create a digital character, or
avatar, representing him- or herself, who interacts with other
computer-generated avatars and virtually-run global businesses
and in-world institutions in real-time.
Through on-line communities such as Second Life, which according
to its website is “an on-line, 3-D virtual world imagined
and created entirely by its residents,” avatars interact
with millions of residents from around the globe to buy, sell,
and trade “virtual” property, furniture, and equipment.
A number of sales of goods in the virtual world have resulted
in demand in the real world for those equivalent items. Avatars
have the opportunity to engage in a multitude of entertainment
events such as fashion shows, St. Patrick Day parades, art exhibition
openings, nightclubs, and more.
Co-sponsored by The Halle Institute, Goizueta Business School,
and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the Emory forum brought
together academics, entrepreneurs, social scientists, and experts
on synthetic worlds as panelists to explore the potential influences
and possibilities the virtual world phenomenon can – and
already does – have on the real world. A Sunday afternoon
expert workshop brought more than 60 scholars and practitioners
together for informal discussions and debate. During the public
conference the next day, an audience of more than 160 scholars
and practitioners had the opportunity to engage on the topic with
nearly 20 panelists, including pioneering entrepreneurs such as
Chris Klaus, founder and CEO of Atlanta-based virtual world Kaneva,
and John Zdanowski, CFO of Linden Lab, creator of Second Life.
While there have been many forums on the topic of virtual worlds,
explained conference co-chair and George S. Craft Professor of
Business Administration Benn Konsynski, most have been made up
of either technical or current users who share their own, isolated
experiences. Emory’s conference, however, offered the rare
convergence of panelists and participants who offered a range
of backgrounds and areas of study.
“Through this conference, Emory has been able to assemble
a remarkable and unique mix of researchers from the United Kingdom
and North America, including social scientists, information systems
specialists, economists, bankers, lawyers, health care leaders,
media and military representatives, and academic researchers from
public and private institutions,” Konsynski said. “I
told the audience in the beginning that this event would look
like the bar scene from Star Wars. It was just the right
mix of backgrounds to generate many perspectives.”
The impetus for the conference grew from a paper published on
the history and growth of virtual worlds by Konsynski, who has
his own island in Second Life called “SIMsim,” and
PhD candidate David Bray. After generating significant interest
online, the idea emerged to offer a course for both political
science and business students on the topic. Taught by Konsynski
and political science professor Holli A. Semetko, with assistance
from Bray, the course was offered in fall 2007. Konsynski and
The Halle Institute are planning a similar conference for next
year.
Moderated by Cornell University’s Robert Bloomfield the
final panel, a mixed reality event, took place in three worlds:
the real world at Emory and the virtual worlds of Second Life
and Kaneva. Panelists at Emory were joined by Second Life CFO
Zdanowski live from Second Life. While his avatar, known as “Zee
Linden,” sat casually in a svelte, black suit, participants
discussed the future of virtual worlds and the challenges that
exist with technology, currency, and regulations. Konsynski and
Bloomfield were both in Atlanta and in Second Life with Zdanowski,
while Chris Klaus was both in Atlanta and in Kaneva.
“In a virtual world, anything can be created or imagined.
What we’ve seen is that there’s a big demand for that
type of freedom and flexibility,” said Zdanowski, who describes
Second Life as having “handed over the creation keys to
its residents.” Yet, this level of user-generated flexibility
comes at a cost, presenting unique challenges in regulation and
real world procedures, he continued.
Kaneva, which claims 750,000 users at present, serves mostly as
a virtual social world, with a touch of entrepreneurship. The
company uses entertainment as a hook to encourage people to adopt
the technology, said Kaneva CEO Chris Klaus. Kaneva partners with
a number of real world companies, including Atlanta-based Turner
Broadcasting, to create virtual world programs. Last year, the
company signed a one-year contract with Kaneva to build virtual
world spaces using an embedded video player to stream content.
As technology advances, Klaus predicts that an increasing number
of companies will catch on to the possibilities of virtual worlds.
Gartner, a leading research and technology company, predicts that
over 250 million people will be in virtual worlds by 2011.
What will virtual worlds look like in five years? It’s hard
to say, said Klaus. “It’s a similar parallel to asking
someone in 1994 or ‘95 ‘where is the web going?’
No one would have predicted an Amazon, a Google, or an eBay, but
ultimately those did manifest themselves using a new technology
platform. I think [virtual worlds] have the same potential,”
he said.
Alma Freeman is the communications specialist for the Office of
International Affairs and The Halle Institute.
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