Virtual Worlds

What Is A Virtual World?

The term virtual world isn’t strictly defined, it’s used in a large number of ways. Almost any large scale virtual reality (VR) simulation can be described as a virtual world. However virtual worlds usually have some of the following attributes:

Large Scale
Simulating a whole world is beyond our current capabilities, many so-called virtual “worlds” are perhaps better described as virtual “neighbourhoods”. Some virtual worlds such as Second Life consist in effect of numerous virtual neighbourhoods created by different people.

Multi-User
In theory you could wander round a virtual world on your own – but there wouldn’t be much point. Single user VR is more often used with very small scale simulations, for example for training. Virtual worlds tend to be multi-user, the more the better, with users represented by avatars. MMORPGs are a simple form of virtual world.

Highly Interactive
A true virtual world should simulate a large range of user-environment and user-user interactions beyond just moving and shooting. This is one of the things that distinguishes a simple MMORPG from a more advanced virtual world.

Persistent
A virtual world continues to exist even when you’re not there. If you’ve done something to change the world then that change will (usually) still be present when you return. Some laws of nature and/or physics might also have been at work whilst you were away – for example a plant might have grown or died. Persistence is one of the most convincing ways of making a virtual world feel “real” in the long term.