ABSTRACT
Virtual Worlds are not only digital spaces for play or social interaction but are also increasingly developed for use in professional communication (for instance, medical training, conferencing, and production). For example, in the field of architecture and construction, individuals and companies are engaged in the innovation of advanced virtual models of buildings and cityscapes, using Second Life, the game engine Unity, or advanced simulation (nongaming) software. The idea behind such models is to give clients the possibility of entering a virtual world or environment and become active participants in the shaping of given projects. Some have visions of letting clients influence the building of their own properties; others have visions of user-driven innovation in connection with city development projects. Such uses of Virtual Worlds platforms in professional communication are not well established. Rather, they can be considered innovations in the making. It can be fruitful to talk about “cyber-hybrids” in order to capture how Virtual Worlds based on physical localities become altered virtually and materially as part of a developmental process. As emergent objects of study, it is a challenge to pin down their elements and to delineate what they are—but this is a feature they can be said to share with Virtual Worlds broadly that are not settled technologies but temporary outcomes of technological advances driven by collaboration across the gaming industries, academia, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industries, and so on and by increasing technological convergence between different platforms.
