Virtual gaming environments and 'we' within

Abstract

Since their advent, computer games have been getting more and more sophisticated, especially in terms of graphic granularity, due to fast-advancing computer and related technologies, and are expected to develop into the level of perfectly simulating the real world in the not so distant future. This paper addresses the issues of virtual world environments both at the current level and at the level of one presented in the movie Matrix in relation with the future of gaming environment and the future of our reality. In so doing, the current status of computer games as virtual worlds and some views of what they will evolve into are given. We then discuss what shape future virtual worlds ultimately will take and what implications they will have for future gaming environments. We also contemplate on what kind of impact these future virtual worlds have on our real life. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media.