Last year, University of Indiana economist Ed Castronova (Ted to his friends) opened the eyes of many Pop!Tech participants with his guided tour of the collapsing distinction between virtual and real-world economics. Ed showed how ‘real money trade’ — the exchange of virtual items in videogames for real dollars on eBay — is blossoming, and how the per-capita ‘GDP’ of some online games now exceeds that of many real-world economies. (We streamed the entire speech into SecondLife, into a virtual replica of the Camden Opera House.)

Now Ted has founded the Synthetic Worlds Initiative at Indiana U., a permanent institute to promote innovative thinking on all things virtual One of the Institute’s first projects is the creation of Arden, an immersive world built around the narrative, language, and culture of William Shakespeare. It will also “serve as a laboratory for research on macro-level social phenomena, and the impact of the technology on those who use it”.

To stay on top of the latest research into virtual worlds, read the SWI’s introductory research papers, and sign up for the announcements list.