Working Through Synthetic Worlds

Working Through Synthetic Worlds explores different tasks that might benefit by being performed within a synthetic world. The term 'synthetic world' refers to a subset of virtual environments, having a large virtual landscape and a set of rules that govern the interactions among participants. Currently, their primary motivators appear to be fun and novelty. If synthetic worlds are to prosper the non-game-oriented worlds will need to facilitate business processes to a degree that exceeds their substantial costs for development and maintenance.