I’ve often thought that there’s a set of things that become interesting if you work in virtual worlds that collectively might comprise an aesthetic. Things like avatars, anime, dolls, theater, economies and reward systems, cosplay, gachapon and Burning Man. This is evidenced often for me in the Flickr feeds of my friends and colleagues
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My Son Theo looking very "virtual world"
I’m not sure what any of these have in common, but clearly there’s a shared set of principles, both aesthetic and rules-based that are predominant in virtual worlds but are beginning to assert themselves in the real world. As a father, what I find fascinating is how much these principles have to do with very childlike impulses for role-play. Also, as a father, I must confess that we are using virtual world principles to raise our children. Most of this is done by all parents (”If you pee in the potty you can have a candy”). The question is really how much you raise the bar. Right now, Theo has a whole economy that he’s defined, which measures his good deeds (sharing, being a good listener, etc.) and gives him stars. He can spend these stars as he wishes. Last week he traded in 20 for a $14 skateboard. Anyway, does anyone see these linkages? Is there a virtual world aesthetic?
