While we're on the subject of so-called 'serious virtual worlds' (I think Entropia Universe users would express they take their world very seriously), it's a good time to point out the latest in-depth coverage by The Guardian's Aleks Krotoski from last month's State of Play conference. She interviewed Coventry University Serious Games Institute's David Wortley on serious virtual worlds (Krotoski's questions in bold):

What do you feel is a particularly good example of a serious use of a virtual world?

One of my favourites is the Wheelies site in Second Life. The reason for this is not the site per se, but the empowering effect the development of this site has had on its owner, Simon Stevens. Simon suffers from cerebral palsy and is a very intelligent young man who has endured discrimination and hardship from birth because of his speech impairment. Developing the Wheelies site (where his avatar is in a wheelchair) has had a marvellous transforming effect on his life.

They're not a global panacea - what are some of the criticisms for using virtual worlds for serious ends?
The main criticism is lack of security and control in environments like Second Life. Just as in real life, the human imagination knows no bounds for good or evil and the insecurity and unpredictability of some environments limited their use for business purposes. In a social context, they can also have a negative effect if they become a substitute for human contact.

Like John Brecht and Lee Wilson in The Education Business Blog's EdNet2007 coverage, which we recently highlighted, Wortley also offers his own suggestions for platform alternatives for serious virtual worlds and education:

Second Life has been grabbing most of the headlines lately, but which future platforms do you see with great promise on the horizon?
At the Serious Games Institute in Coventry, as well as working with Second Life, we are developing a relationship with the Forterra Olive platform which has the attraction of a more open interface to industry standard tools like 3D Studio Max. We also like the drag and drop capabilities of Visual 3D which should provide some very interesting applications and we are working with Giunti Labs in Italy and Cisco to explore augmented reality applications.

Closer to home, Blitz Games and PixeLearning have developed their own platforms and companies such as Caspian Learning in Sunderland and Immersive Education in Oxford have provided good platforms for the education sector.

Farther from home, I expect to see some challenges from the Far East.

[Via The Guardian]