“Exploring Human Factors in Virtual Worlds” by Poornima Padmanabhan

“Exploring Human Factors in Virtual Worlds” by Poornima Padmanabhan discusses the effects that virtual worlds have upon the minds of its users. The author takes a relative neutral stance on the topic of virtual use. She keeps the article informative by neither condemning its use nor encouraging it. Virtual worlds are unique because it doesn’t just provide content to users; it provides an environment in which users can collaborate and compile their own content as citizens. This article is broken up into three sections: human performance efficiency, health and safety and social implications. She concludes that many of the perceptual and safety problems with virtual worlds stem from these three human factors.

A participant’s view of a virtual world can directly be linked to his personal experiences in that specific environment. This means that he will view this environment as being real and his experiences as real occurrences. He will neglect the presence of the supporting technology behind this environment and continue to participate as if it was invisible. I completely agree with this logic because of the increased users that has been attracted to virtual worlds. It is predicted that by the end of 2011, 80% of active Internet users and Fortune 500 companies will be participants in a virtual world. Also, the average video gamer plays a mind-boggling 22-23 hours each week, representing 52 days each year spent in virtual worlds. Possible adverse reactions that can stem from prolonged existence in a virtual world include repetitive stress injury, immersion injury, transmittable diseases, cyber-sickness, neural effects and psychological effects.

I think the effects that a virtual world may have on social interaction will be very significant. For example, if an individual is self-conscious about their appearance, a virtual world will be extremely beneficial regarding social interaction. That individual will be interacting using an avatar which will cause less social stress as if that individual would have to interact face-to-face. The use of avatars will cause an individual to participate in a virtual world environment to his/her full potential by creating a type of anonymity that will free them of any social anxiety.