Virtual Worlds - GTA 5

An immersive education summit is an event that takes place every year and is basically a conference, with many speakers where they discuss the impact that certain kinds of technology are having, and how they can be expanded. Topics covered feature all state of the art technologies such as wearable computers and 3D printing. Learn more at http://summit.immersiveeducation.org/

Here are two highlight screenshots which show in more detail what this conference is, and more specifically who and what universities are involved, because I could not remember them all. Some of my favorite topics discussed are Google Glass, 3D printing, personal robotics, and virtual currencies. The subject of this report is virtual worlds, and how we are involved with them more so than we even acknowledge.

This is a photograph of a nice river at sunset running through beautiful California taken by... just kidding! This is a screenshot of Grand Theft Auto 5, a record breaking video game that includes the most impressive and exquisitely detailed virtual world I have ever seen. GTA is a fun, popular game series that has been around since the beginning with Playstation and Xbox. Jump ahead a generation or two and we have this; an enormous detailed world in which you can do literally just about anything you could ever think of doing.

GTA 5 is modeled off of Hollywood, California. Names are changed so things that resemble real life for copyright reasons, as seen in this screenshot in which the player has taken a helicopter (wasn't lying when I said you can do just about anything) and is flying it over the Hollywood, or should I say "Vinewood" sign. This virtual world is incredible, even those mountains way in the back of this picture, you could feel free to fly, walk, drive, or take a taxi over there and every single foot of ground would be explicitly detailed.

Here is another incredible shot of Los Angeles, named "Los Santos" in this game (keep in mind every single building, street, traffic light, airport, etc are all 100% responsive and detailed, it is literally a virtual WORLD. The only downfall I see in a virtual world this impressive is not much of a downfall, it is just the nature of the game itself. This is a very violent game, and the range of doing "whatever" you want does not exclude killing people, robbing stores and banks, stealing cars and things of that nature. Although this certainly adds to the realism of this virtual world, it is a shame that more people are not able to experience it, whether that be because it is not fit for a younger person, or too complicated for an older person.

Below is a video that shows a player moving his character from one end of the gameplay map to the other, and even in a very fast car, this takes well over 10 minutes, check it out!