The Kids Get It

STARWOOD HOTELS AND RESORTS opened a prototype of its aloft brand hotel in SL last fall. The first real aloft properties open in 2008. Later this winter, the company plans to hold in-world focus groups with hotel developers and others after an upgrade of the property is complete. Visitors were invited to submit design improvements.

REUTERS news agency launched an “in-world” bureau in October, dedicating a full-time reporter to the goings on of Second Life.

THE U.S. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION has a spot in SL and held a health fair to educate residents last fall. The government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also has an impressive presence.

The AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY held a 24-hour walkathon in-world in 2006, raising $40,000 and attracting more than 1,000 participants.

THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS, operates a Virtual Hallucinations facility in Second Life. The simulation is based on what schizophrenia patients say they experience and can be viewed by medical students, family of patients, or others to better understand the disease.

MARK WARNER, a former governor of Virginia and a possible Democratic candidate for president in 2008, last August became the first politician to give an interview in Second Life.

Today's employees might find the concept of meeting in a virtual world a bit off-putting, but you can be sure that tomorrow's workers will be well-versed in immersive environments — even those who aren't hooked into World of Warcraft and other high-profile online games.

Consider the little Webkinz stuffed animals flying off the shelves this Christmas. Kids register their real-life toy online and are given a virtual “pet” that matches it, as well a cyber home to keep it in and Webkinz cash to buy things to personalize and expand the home. They can earn more money by playing games. Friends' virtual pets can visit, and a chat program is built in so friends communicate online.

Other, education-focused examples of multi-user virtual worlds for kids include Whyville (www.whyville.net) by Numedeon Inc., population 1.99 million; Quest Atlantis, developed by Indiana University's Center for Research on Learning & Technology (atlantis.crlt.indiana.edu/start); and Harvard Graduate School of Education's River City Project (muve.gse.harvard.edu/rivercityproject/). In the Harvard world, middle and high school science students work together in a multi-user virtual world that simulates an imaginary late 1800s town called River City, where the population is becoming ill. Students take on the role of in-world scientists, gathering data, conducting experiments, and drawing conclusions. In spring 2006, approximately 60 teachers in North America and Australia worked with almost 4,000 students on River City