Habbo Hotel & Online Messaging
Another example of a virtual reality based system is Habbo Hotel, following on from what Lauryn and Emma discussed, it is another form of interacting with people all over the world. This time with less emphasis placed on reality, and more on a fun, enacted environment

Habbo Hotel: The Friendliest Hotel Around

For those who are unaware, Habbo Hotel is a virtual 'hotel' whereby people from all about the world can chat to people with the same interests as them, or to chat to their mates.



The user creates a character through many different configurations, and then enters into a virtual lobby whereby they wander around as if it were a real hotel, although the graphics are very cartoony, it is very easy to work out what everything does as it is based on what would happen in a real hotel. There are then many differenet rooms that you can visit, all with people from different parts of the world, and with different interests.

Primarily this site is intended for kids, and using the Hotel analogy, gently introduce them to the concept of online virtual chatting.

Even more 'adult' forms of instant messaging have been influenced by the hotel analogy. When a user first logs in on any chatting server they are taken to the 'lobby' whereby they can enter various different 'chatrooms', and although there are social implications of it being too easy to create a false image, it is undeniable that this similarity means that people can acclimatise to a new surrounding quickly. This is the main reason why online messaging has taken off in the 21st Century.

Next generation systems could be complete 3D interactive chat rooms where by people will actually physically be able to see and possibly even interact people from all around the world, through many more means such as touch, smell etc.

- posted by Adam @ 10:39 pm 0 comments