The Coming Age of Virtual Worlds : How Immersive, Interactive, Identity-Based Technologies Can Change Online Life

This paper is built on two grounds. The first is the reality of current virtual worlds and social forms of Web usage are already here and in mass use. The second is the prospect that, given the buffeting waves of virtual worlds we are seeking, some may be here to stay, and will transform the way in which the Internet is used, and will lead to an integration of our real world. We highlight the lessons that virtual world developers (and companies using them) are learning, and a way by which we can better frame these lessons. While our perspective is framed by the primary activity that the majority of users (or what we call players) currently engage in on virtual worlds - that of play - we also develop our framework in a general way to encompass other non-play activities (e.g. business functions)