ABSTRACT
Virtual worlds differ from other imaginary worlds because one can see them, but not enter into them. The term was popularized during the 1980s when used by Jaron Lanier, whose company produced head-mounted displays and data gloves, the first virtual reality (VR) equipment to be commercially available. Virtual objects and worlds occupy a curious ontological status that is somewhere located between the actual and the imaginary. The earliest example of travel to a virtual world is the dreaming that occurs during sleep and is still the most vivid form of virtual world experience. While virtual images and mirror images depend on the divergence of light rays, computer imaging allows users to generate images of virtual objects and scenes that have no material referents. Since the rise of multi-user dimensions (MUDs), virtual worlds have become social worlds, where users can gather virtually regardless of their actual geographical locations.
