Virtual worlds such as Second Life and Habbo Hotel are expected to boom in the next 10 years, with more than 1 billion folks expected to create their own virtual avatars by 2018.
It’s not hard to see why. While these worlds are fairly rudimentary compared to the real world, they still allow folks to see new places, meet new friends and explore different aspects of their personalities that might be difficult in real life. Granted, this sometimes manifests itself in sordid ways (it’s hard to walk through Second Life without being propositioned by a scantily-clad avatar), but this summer, a paralyzed man from Japan was allowed to “walk” through Second Life after scientists managed to tap into the man’s motor cortex. Just by thinking, the man was able to walk again.
Business folks, take note: Experts say there’s around $8 billion to be made on these sites during the next decade. (
Strategy Analytics)