VR Research Experimentation

Scientists and other researchers have found an appealing environment in virtual worlds such as "World of Warcraft" and Second Life. The draw of these virtual worlds for scientists is that they can conduct experiments whose results are similar to the real world without the expense of travel and physical construction. Universities and government agencies are conducting all kinds of research, both scientific and sociological, in virtual worlds. While the allure of a game world is attractive in itself, the research conducted in virtual worlds is the end-goal of the play. Scenarios presented in virtual worlds mimic real life scenarios that provide researchers the opportunity to gain insight into real-world responses as well as human behaviour. Experiments, including modern adaptations of the ethically controversial 1960s psychological experiment provided confirmation of previous results. The test asks subjects to administer shocks of increasing voltage to an individual who incorrectly recalls a series of word pairs. With each incorrect recollection, voltage would be increased. In 60’s tests, the person being ‘shocked’ was in no pain and only acted out the suffering. But the person administering the shocks didn't know that. Results in the virtual world were just as startling as in the real world.

The study's conclusion: Test subjects made no distinction between real and virtual tortured victims. There's nothing virtual about real dollar costs in either world. Turns out, though, that going virtual is the same as going on the cheap. For example of the savings: Virtual worlds cut out all need for real-being travel and related expenses, and no one gets sued if the test subject dies. Virtual worlds also cut the construct of custom environments to the cost of a few hours of a coder's time, and if an existing game world will suffice, there may not even be an admissions fee. Certainly there are no costly regulations to meet. The creators of Second Life have enabled residents to do virtually anything which has ultimately led to a low-cost way to experiment in a virtual setting. While we do work with educators and researchers to help them get the most out of their Second Life presence, they don't need our permission to conduct research as long as they do so in a way that is respectful of our community standards. The experiments are easy to set up in Second Life, speaking in terms of code, of course. Second Life provides an open platform for creativity and experimentation. That makes it very popular with academics, who use it to research everything from urban planning to computer science to psychology. It all raises the question: When a game comes to life, is life still a game? Who knows these days, but the stakes are sure real.

More information:

http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/Virtual-World-Research-Part-1-A-Place-to-Experiment-65656.html