Virtual world technologies are also being used in some interesting ways by the U.S. military. America's Army is being used as a tool to recruit potential soldiers, while companies like Forterra Systems are working with military groups to develop training simulations.
And this is just the beginning. As these technologies develop further over the next several years, virtual worlds will be used for all types of purposes as more people begin spending more time in them. If you're new to the«world of virtual worlds» we hope that Virtual Worlds Review will serve as a user-friendly, informative place to learn a bit about them. For those who are already familiar with virtual worlds, we hope the site will let you know about other types of worlds you may not have heard of before. In either case, welcome and enjoy the site.
A team of researchers at California's prestigious StanfordUniversity has found that for one in eight Americans, excessive Internet use is a growing problem. Close to 14 percent of US Internet users have shown signs of cyber-dependence according to the study, which involved 2,513 people across 50 states and is believed to be the first large-scale look at the effects of prolonged websurfing. Of those surveyed, 68.9 percent described themselves as regular Internet users. Just under six percent felt their relationships suffered as a result of spending too much time on line, while nearly 14 percent found it hard to stay from the Internet for several days at a time. Around 8.7 percent of respondents attempted to conceal non-essential Internet use while 3.7 percent felt preoccupied by the Internet when offline. Just over nine percent used the Internet as a way to escape problems; 12.4 percent went online longer than intended very often.
