On a university’s future use of virtual worlds
Hypothetical situation: You fire up your web browser and surf over to Google. You’re looking for information about the University of Colorado and may even attend in the coming year. Pulling up CU’s site you select the option to visit their virtual campus and fire up the standard Second Life plugin. You appear in the middle of the campus clearly labeled as a prospective student. You are greeted by a student who offers to take you on a tour and assist in answering questions about the university. Poor guy, I hope they pay him well or at least give him extra credit for his class load.
You attend a virtual physics lecture and experience the consequences of getting too close to a black hole. Quantum mechanics never seemed so exciting! Next you attend a showing of Romeo and Juliet put on by the drama department. Finally you visit Norlin Library where you learn about the history of the university in one of the many holodecks.
How soon before universities put these types of tools into wide use?
Figure 1: CU’s Virtual Campus
Figure 2: Virtual Theater
