Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds can be used in many ways. Virtual game and virtual business meetings online as well as school might be many of the famous reasons why many enjoy virtual reality. Many people prefer to jack into the virtual reality because they want to escape from the chaotic reality. These players mostly are anti-social game geeks who create news avatars with altered physical appearances and identities displaying more confidence, friendliness and extroversion in the virtual world, according to Stanford Alumni Bailenson (Bailenson). This, on the other hand, can lead to low self-esteem and self-confidence unabling them to interact and communicate with actual people. In other words, virtual world affects a user’s perception of the real world that there is no place for them and lead to the inability to connect with an actual person. The idea of a life lived online outside a regular society is seemly dangerous and unhealthy. According to Dr. Takahiro Kato, a psychiatrist working at a hikikomori support center, computer addicts hikimomori, a term used to describe estimated 500,00 to one million Japanese citizen who refuse to leave their homes, displayed depressive and obsessive-compulsive tendencies (Kim). As technology advances, virtual life becomes increasingly more lifelike and is applied across a broader range of fields from entertainment to medical therapeutics nowadays. A number of global communities leaning towards virtual world also suggest that we might be ready for the futuristic virtual world similarly unrestricted by the physical constraints of the Earth. Consequently, the 21st century better known as the era of Technology is ready to jumpstart the new era of Virtual Reality.

Infinite Reality: The Dawn of the Virtual Revolution. Perf. Jeremy Bailenson. Stanford Connects. Standford Alumni Association, 9 Oct. 2014. Web. 26 May 2016.

                  Kim, Monica. "The Good and The Bad of Escaping to Virtual Reality." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 18 Feb. 2015. Web. 26 May 2016.