Virtual Reality

Program/Initiative: Exploring Application of Virtual Reality (VR)/Virtual Worlds (VW) in a Variety of Domains Including Organization, Team and Individual Assessment, Development, Learning, Collaborating, Planning, Decision-making, Relationship Building, Understanding Culture, and Knowledge Management. VR/VW can also be utilized in domains such as Education, Health Care, Individual and Group Therapy, among others.

The purpose of the research and study program is to increase our understanding of the ways in which Technology can promote, facilitate and assist, in a cost effective fashion, creative learning and development in a wide variety of domains.

Virtual Reality is a form of computer interaction in which a real or imaginary environment is simulated and users interact with and manipulate that World.

Technology is on the verge of creating virtual worlds and simulations that will become increasingly able to reflect and replicate reality. The virtual environments will enable the creators to experiment with changing paradigms, models and theories that will disrupt and transform societies, cultures, systems and economies.

In the most well-developed and evolved virtual environments, the individual feels truly present in the simulated world and that the experience in the virtual world matches what they would experience in the environment being simulated. The sensation is referred to as identification, engagement, immersion, or presence, and it is this quality that distinguishes virtual reality from other forms of human-computer interaction.

Among the more developed virtual worlds is Second Life. The users employing the development and simulation software provided by Linden Labs, the creator and operator of Second Life, have developed this simulated environment. The Second Life world has grown one simulator computer at a time, all linked together through a network referred to as the “grid.” More than 35,000 computers, located in San Francisco and Dallas, support the Second Life grid.

Corporations, universities, governments, and nonprofits are using the Second Life Grid today to enhance their productivity. Some organizations focus on internal uses, such as training, education, and simulation. Others engage with their customers or students through interviews, recruiting, and product research. Some create simulations of equipment or business processes quickly and inexpensively.

The Second Life Grid enables participants in different environments and locations to collaborate in real time in a 3D space. For example, you can walk through a new piece of equipment, engage in a scripted training simulation, or cooperatively design a new workspace.

University educators use the Second Life Grid as a platform of choice for a range of distance learning options from entire virtual campuses, to classes, office hours, meetings and presentations.

No longer are teams and individuals constrained by time and distance when needing to gather to view information and focus their combined knowledge and experience on issues, opportunities and problems being addressed.

We believe this technology is advancing rapidly and will continue to evolve as bandwidth, programming, infrastructure, and experience increase and develop.

Areas for research and study include:

• Virtual Assessment (Leadership, Teams, Individuals)

• Virtual Assessment Centers

• “Test driving” an executive before promotion to a higher or broader level of responsibility

• The development and implications of cross-cultural collaborative behavior and tools in the global environment

• Team building, development and collaboration

• Decision making processes

• Knowledge Management, Information sharing

• Competency Development (Cognitive, EQ, Business Acumen, Interpersonal)

• Skill training and development (leadership, sales, technical, project management)

• Crisis Management

• Virtual Reality Therapy (Phobias, Support Groups, etc.)

• Health Care Diagnoses and Delivery

• Education

What the Summit Discovery Institute can contribute to organizations wanting to use virtual worlds such as Second Life:

1) Helping organizations learn about Second Life and what it can bring to real life business practices, processes and results,

2) Advising senior management and stakeholders regarding investments in Second Life applications,

3) Helping clients evaluate how Second Life simulations can be used for education/training,