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=Innovation of Virtual Worlds =

=**Overview **=

Innovation is defined in the dictionary as ‘something new or different introduced’ Dictionary.com, (2010). When applied to eLearning tools innovation can refer to the development and implementation of new eLearning tools or the implementation of an existing eLearning tool in new ways. The act of innovating is defined as ‘introduction of new things or methods’ Dictionary.com, (2010).

One of the current innovations in technology and education is the use of virtual reality. Virtual reality is a technology that allows a person to interact in real-time in a simulated 3D space often using an alter identity known as an avatar. A virtual world is a genre of online community that often takes the form of a computer-based simulated environment, through which users can interact with one another and use and create objects. Virtual worlds are intended for its users to inhabit and interact, and the term today has become largely synonymous with interactive 3D virtual environments, where the users take the form of avatars visible to others graphically. (Wikipedia, 2010).

Virtual worlds as a tool for eLearning may not be considered innovative by some as virtual worlds have been used for education since the early days of the internet. However, the new hardware and software that is developed for the creation of the virtual world can be considered innovative if it has a new method of delivering content to the user. The Gartner Research Group predicted in April 2007 that by 2011 80% of internet users will use a virtual world in one way or another.

Over the past few years the educational value of virtual worlds has seen an increase in the use and development of education content within virtual worlds and the development of innovative ways to use this multi-user three dimension platform to provide a more interactive, social learning environments across all levels of education. In this report we will explore and evaluate some of the latest innovations in this area of elearning and look at how this technology is changing the pedagogy of elearning and the way educators are using it now and how they will use it in the future.

**Examples of hardware innovation**

 * = **The use of the mircrophone for voice chat** ||= [[image:edit521:microphone.jpg caption="microphone.jpg"]] ||
 * = **The development of virtual reality tools** ||= [[image:edit521:VR_tools.jpg caption="VR_tools.jpg"]] ||
 * = **The development of sensing controllers** ||= [[image:edit521:motion_sensing.jpg caption="motion_sensing.jpg"]] ||

Examples of software innovation

 * = **The use of 2D and 3D Graphic** ||= [[image:edit521:3d.jpg caption="3d.jpg"]] ||
 * = **Lighting effects** ||= [[image:edit521:lighting.jpg caption="lighting.jpg"]] ||
 * = **Realistic Artificial Intelligence** ||= [[image:edit521:artificial_intell.jpg width="132" height="167" caption="artificial_intell.jpg"]] ||

The above innovations can consist of elements from both hardware and software. For example some lighting effects used today require certain graphics cards with the capability to produce the lighting effect as well as the software that creates the effect.