Disruptive technologies wreak havoc with the evolutionary path of existing technologies (Thornburg, 2009). Ever since the invention of the printing press newspapers have been rolling down the track of power, prestige, money, and resourcefulness, and then, Boom! along comes the Internet, giving people access to news and events almost as quickly as they occur. People no longer receive the news, they help create it; they contribute directly to the process. Newspapers around the world are rapidly dying. My brother-in-law, editor of a statewide, daily newspaper, has had to take furlough days along with the rest of the staff. Disruptive, indeed. From the dry plate to the Polaroid and flexible rolls of film, photographers have depended upon the evolutionary path of film technology to make their still images come alive. Yet, Kodachrome, once the film of choice for photographers everywhere, is no more. Digital photography, quite literally, killed the film industry.
Today, we are seeing similar disruptions caused by Second Life and other virtual world sites. According to Noor (n.d.), writer for ASME, “Virtual worlds may rival the movie industry in the next five to ten years” (¶ 8). Whereas movies generate content for the viewer to receive, virtual worlds allow the viewer to create their own imaginative space. Do you, perchance, remember the late 70s television show starring Ricardo Montalban called, “Fantasy Island”? It was based on the premise that visitors could go to a resort island and fulfill, literally, any fantasy requested. Or, perhaps you have played Dungeons and Dragons, a fantasy game existing in mental constructs formed by the players. Second Life has shifted the imagery of the television show and the game into 3-dimensional animation sequences. Virtual worlds lie at the intersection between our imagination and online reality.
Philip Rosedale (2008), creator of Second Life, described the virtual platform as a space where people can build products and scenarios that were previously housed only in the imagination. It is a place where a dream can become more than a fleeting, nighttime snapshot; it can become a real, online, shared experience. Second Life has the potential to not just disrupt the movie and gaming industries, it could potentially disrupt our social networking sites, our traditional classrooms, our textbooks, and, for that matter, the World Wide Web, as we currently know it. In all the above examples, information and content is generated by one and received, on an individual basis, by another. The words and images employed in the classroom, the textbook, or on the Web still assume a single, expert creator. For the most part, in each of the venues listed above, you can respond and react to the content presented, but not interact with it. Virtual worlds disrupt this. These sites allow you to work with others to collaborate and create new ideas and new environments. It is a bottom-up gathering of resources where you stand in the presence of others, not as an isolated recipient.
Perhaps this is premature and a bit grandiose, but I predict that some day, virtual worlds will end the power of oppressive, governmental regimes. As people experience free, democratic cultures, as the handicapped and impaired are given legs to walk with and voices to speak, as people come to understand the potential for global collaborations, as international problems are resolved through multi-national interactions, and as economies become driven by virtual inventiveness, then local, tyrannical governments will become less effective. What will replace Second Life? International Life will be the next, logical step down the path toward cultural awakening.
Given the current state of affairs in the Gulf, I thought this virtual world image (above) was fitting and timely. Burning oil, gas, chemicals, and fighting these fires can be studied in a virtual world without risk to people or the environment (Noor, n.d.).
References
Bakioglu, B. (2009). Spectacular Interventions of Second Life: Goon Culture, Griefing, and Disruption in Virtual Spaces. Journal Of Virtual Worlds Research, 1(3). Retrieved from http://journals.tdl.org/jvwr/article/view/348/421
Davis, C. (2010). Second Life avatars give disabled at Inglis House new experiences. Retrieved from http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magazine/20100727_Second_Life_avatars_give_disabled_at_Inglis_House_new_experiences.html
Noor, A. K. (n.d.). Disruption from the virtual world. Retrieved from http://memagazine.asme.org/Articles/2009/November/Disruption_from_Virtual_World.cfm
Rosedale, P. (2008). Second Life [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/the_inspiration_of_second_life.html.
Thornburg, D. D. (2009). Disruptive technologies. Laureate Education, Inc. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4199715&Survey=1&47=5797856&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1
