The Coming Virtual Web
In the future, the Internet is almost certain to look more realistic, interactive, and social - a lot like a virtual world.
Robert Hof, BusinessWeek.com, April 16, 2007
"Three-dimensional virtual worlds will, in the near future, be pervasive interfaces for the Internet," says Bob Moore, a sociologist who studies virtual worlds at Palo Alto Research Center, or PARC, the legendary Xerox lab in Silicon Valley.
Above all, virtual worlds hold the potential to transform social interaction online: In contrast to the Web, where there's almost no assumption of a human heartbeat behind the Web page, virtual worlds are inherently social settings.
If virtual-world visionaries have their way, those are just the start of a coming Big Bang of potential applications. Take shopping. It's no secret that the same efficiency that drives e-commerce also makes it a boring and lonely pursuit. "What's missing from online shopping is the social and recreational experience," says PARC's Moore. "That's exactly what you get with virtual-world shopping."
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