Virtual worlds for kids

2008-03-16 @ 8:08am

Virtual worlds are 3D computer simulated environments where users can interact with other users and their shared environment. The genre reached heighten popularity fueled by massively multiplayer games such as Ultima Online and EverQuest in the late 90s and early 2000s. In the early days the market catered to teens and young adults under thirty.

Virtual worlds which are designed for younger kids were struck by the media spot light when Club Penguin was picked up by Disney in a deal worth $700 million. It wasn't uncommon to hear: "They paid how much?"

Soon other virtual worlds garnered attention, such as, Build a BearVille and Webkinz where kids take home a store bought stuffed toy and use the code displayed on the attached tag to enter a website which promises lots of fun and adventures. Like many kids, my daughter Kaitlyn (10) was hooked, and nearly a dozen webkinz later she's still a member. At $16 dollars a pop, WebKinz must be making a bundle!

Last Sunday, The Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo aired a segment entitled, "Cyber Playgrounds and Your Kids" on CNBC. In the segment, Maria interviewed Paul Yanover, the Managing Director at Disney Online. Bartiromo raised questions concerning online safety and questioned what values kids take away with them. Yanover responded by explaining that the extent of online chatting is controlled by parents and that chatting is monitored and filtered. Disney uses speed chatting which restricts what a child can say to a selection of pre-canned phrases. Yanover also pointed out that virtual worlds offer great social experiences and great collaborative environments. Some of the game play requires kids working together.

Yanover also said:

"The sheer amount of broadband high speed homes has led to the Internet as entertainment"

Disney is no stranger to virtual worlds having created ToonTown, a massively multi-player game world back in 2003. During my brief time with Disney Interactive in 2000, I had the pleasure of speaking with engineers working on pre-toontown technology. Two problems that plagued early efforts were limited bandwidth (most users were on dial-up connections) and slow 3D video cards. The industry has come a long way now that high-speed connections and fast computers have reduced the barrier of entry leading to virtual worlds.

Today, Disney continues to have big plans for cyberspace. They've released Pirates of the Caribbean Online and Pixie Hollow, a game based on Tinker Bell's fairy world, and Disney plans to release Cars next year.

The lure is easy to understand, virtual worlds offer what video games have provided for decades – escapism! In Second Life, virtual inhabitants can do things (like flying) that would be impossible in the real world. Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Online offers an opportunity to enter the world of Jack Sparrow and friends. Which, incidentally extends profits well beyond box office earnings.

Virtual worlds are still relatively new and their potential is very much in its infancy. So naturally there's both controversy and an opportunity for good.

Virtual training grounds for consumerism
A common complaint against virtual worlds is that they teach kids consumerism. Kids learn that they "get stuff" by "doing stuff". In Webkinz kids earn virtual tokens by doing various jobs, such as helping out in a doctor's office, arranging shoes in a store, and painting fences.

Learning that you have to work for the things you want in life is a good thing right? Well, yes and no. The issue is that online spaces are criticized for promoting frivolous and irresponsible spending habbits.

Keeping little Timmy busy
For many parents, online entertainment offers an opportunity to pull little Timmy or Jane away from television and onto an interactive platform that requires reading, problem solving and safe social interactions. While the old Atari 2600 of the late 70's became the equivalent of a digital pacifier (keeping kids busy so that parents could get a moment) the new virtual worlds address the same concern without the same level of guilt. After all, kids these days are learning online and not just destroying the bad guys.

Education: Learning in virtual worlds
Progressive, tech-savvy educators have experimented with the use of virtual worlds as a platform for education. Virtual worlds offer educational opportunities in the same way that school field trips do. The change of scenery can serve to put a child's attention in a semi-conducive state for learning.

Barry Joseph, a program director with the non-profit Global Kids Foundation has explored exposing kids to Second Life in a science class in Brooklyn, New York. The Global Kids Foundation has been involved in a number of cyber related projects under the MacArthur Foundation and has offered a virtual summer camp with support from UNICEF where teens had an opportunity to learn about the world wide human rights of minors.

Virtual World Mashups - Playing with digital media
Some users are recording interactions in virtual worlds using desktop video capture software and combining music tracks to create music video mashups. YouTube hosts a number of these, see Pirate Ship and Party Like a Rockstar using Club Penguin as a stage and Triller which was shot in Second Life.

Before the end of this decade we'll see both controversy and promise forging a newly evolved online experience. Like it or not, there's no turning back. It might just help bring the world closer together.

Hit the road Jack!

2008-03-15 @ 8:47pm

Took a break from hacking the future to reconnect with the present. Actually I got kicked out of my home and ordered to take a break, soak in the fresh air. So after saying my good byes to a freshly opened bottle of Grolsch I set out on a two mile walk. See... that's what happens when you have people who care about you.

Note to self: nature can be amazingly realistic