Business opportunities of the virtual worlds

Virtual Reality (or VR) refers to artificial ambience created on the computer that provides a
simulation of reality so successful that the user can get the impression of almost real physical presence,
both in certain real places and in imaginary places.

Most ambiance or surroundings represented with VR methods usually offer a certain visual
experience of a common reality, displayed either on a computer screen, or on special 3d (stereoscopic)
displays. Some simulations also include additional information for other human senses, such as sounds,
forces exerted on the user's body perceived by tactile sense, etc. Some more advanced technologies
also provide mechanical feedback on certain movements, especially in medical applications as well as
computer games, so that the mental "immersion" in the VR world becomes almost encompassing. Other
applications offer not only images but also the possibility of verbal communication; So they can even
create a "presence" or a "microexistence"

Just about any process that can be carried out in the physical world – and in business that would
range from customer services to marketing, finance, HR and production – can be simulated in VR. In
general, tasks that it can carry out can be split into one of two categories– training, or practical
application.

For training purposes, VR offers the potential to immerse ourselves in any situation that can be
simulated on a computer. Increasingly photorealistic visuals “trick” our brain into believing, to varying
extents, that what we are seeing is real, allowing us to monitor, and learn from, our interactions. A great
example is the public speaking training systems which have been devised using the tech, such as
Oculus’s VirtualSpeech.

As for practical applications, they are virtually unlimited – key factors here are the potential for
enabling humans to carry out tasks without being present and the possibilities for modeling and
interacting with simulations of real-world objects that wouldn’t be feasible in real life.

For example, the clothing store of young Kasi Nafus, in the United States, has pastoral
surroundings, with art painted in the colors of autumn and a brook that purl smooth and unfortunate. If
any buyers arrive on foot they have to get wet a little in the creek water to get into the store, but none
of them seem to mind. The water is not real. In fact, Nafus's shop doesn't exist in reality either.

As CNN informs, all of these objects exist only in a three-dimensional representation, in a virtual
world called "Second Life". Thus, the clothes marketed by Nafus do nothing but cover the virtual bodies
that users choose when they are four in Second Life.

The store, called the "Pixel Dolls", offers the young American a full-time job, from which she can
support herself. "It's not a business to rich you, but it can live decently from something like this," said
Kasi Nafus, 27, from Seattle.

According to the source quoted, it seems that nearly 20 million people worldwide spend some
of their time in such virtual worlds or MMORPG's (N.R. – massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing
Game).
 "Second Life" has its own currency that can be converted into American dollars at a fluctuating
rate. Users can buy the virtual currency using their credit cards or sell this currency by means of checks
or transfers of "PayPal".

The 60,000 users trade nearly two million dollars a month, making the economy of second Life
the size of the island of Tuvalu, south of the Pacific. It's not much, but it's enough to support 100 virtual
jobs, according to Philip Rosedale, CEO of Linden Research, who created "Second Life".

Some of the occupants of these jobs realize virtual buildings, others create new motion schemes
that make virtual bodies dance or perform other complex activities. There is even a virtual journalist
who is employed by Linden Research.

In conclusion, businesses are already keenly embracing the opportunities created by this
amazing technology. That isn’t surprising, given the possibilities it creates for freeing our minds from the
physical shackles of our body and allowing us to “see” into places that only exist in the digital world.

Esey created by Tamasi-Klaus Adrian

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