Virtual Woman

Virtual Woman is a software program that combines elements of a chatterbot, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, a video game, and a virtual human. It claims to be the oldest form of virtual life in existence, as it has been continuously running or in use since the late 1980s. Recent releases of the program can update their intelligence by connecting online and downloading newer personalities and histories.



Program play
When Virtual Woman starts the user is presented with a list of options and then may choose their Virtual Woman's ethnic type, personality, location, clothing, etc. or load a pre-built Virtual Woman from a Digital DNA file. Once the options are determined the user is presented with a 3-D animated Virtual Woman of their selection and then can engage them in conversation. In most versions of Virtual Woman this is done through the keyboard, but some versions also support voice input.

In popular culture
Virtual Woman's current publishing company, CyberPunk Software, claims that over one million copies of Virtual Woman are in existence. Software sales and usage statistics from private companies are notoriously difficult to verify. However WinSite, an independent Internet shareware distribution site that does publish public download counts, has for some time now listed some version of Virtual Woman in their top ten shareware downloads of all time with over one half a million downloads.

The Washington Post reported on April 6, 2007 that two bank security guards who had been distracted from their duties by playing Virtual Woman and then tried to cover up that fact allowed 52,000 US$ to be stolen. The bank manager refused to say whether they would be fired, but did say, don't think they are getting promoted."

Compadre
The group of beta testers and advisers for Virtual Woman are referred to as Compadre and have their own beta testing site and forum.

Criticisms
As Virtual Woman has developed the ability to conduct longer and more realistic interactions, particularly in recent beta releases, criticism has arisen that this may lead some users to social isolation, or to use the program as a substitute for real human interaction. However, these are criticisms that have been leveled at all video games and at the use of the Internet itself. A company representative, Nancy, indirectly responded to such accusations in an interview with ABC News reporter Mike Martinez in 1998 by pointing out that Virtual Woman played a valuable role by allowing some form of social interactions for people who may not normally be able to take part in them. She cited a user who wrote to thank them because the program had relieved his boredom and isolation while he was recovering from a crippling accident in the hospital. In a similar vein, in recent years, Virtual Woman has been seen being used by presumably isolated members of a Polar stationed research team and has a high registration rate among members of the military serving in remote posts.

Some people feel that systems such as Virtual Woman will never, or only in the distant future, consistently achieve realistic interactions because of the effects of the Uncanny Valley. It could be argued that Virtual Woman is particularly vulnerable to this problem because, among other things, it incorporates a graphical virtual human, a synthesized voice, and responses based on virtual emotional states or personalities. In fact, there are some users of the game who prefer the older, more cartoon like versions because they feel more empathetic to the Virtual Women in them. However, when conversations between users and Virtual Woman go well, the effect can be an uncanny sense that you are talking to a "real" human being. Some users, if for at least a brief period of time, are convinced they are actually chatting with someone else over the Internet via an Instant Messenger. Company representatives point out that they often get email from people wanting to continue conversations they had with a Virtual Woman they created, not realizing that they were talking to a virtual human. Because of this Virtual Woman is one of the few systems that can, in a sense, bridge the Uncanny Valley, if only briefly. The quick acceptance of the "realness" of Virtual Woman in some users points to possibility that the sharp upswing in familiarity postulated by the theory is correct. The effect can be heightened by the emotional state a user brings to the experience; such as a search for romance or companionship, a desire to share a common interest, searching for entertainment, or a strong need to unburden oneself to a stranger.

Another criticism of Virtual Woman was that the premise of early versions of the program was sexist. In response CyberPunk Software hired a female head of beta testing and development to oversee game play and user feedback. Since that time sales of the program to women has risen from 15% in 1998 to over 40% today. This is an unusually high female registration rate for a software program or game. Whether this is due to increasing realism of the program's social interactions, expanded use of the Internet by women, or for some other reason is unknown.

Release history

 * Versions of Virtual Woman with rough release dates and PC platforms for which they were designed:
 * Virtual Woman (1987?) (DOS)
 * Virtual Woman for Windows (1991) (Windows 3.0)
 * Virtual Woman 95 (1995) (Windows 3X, Windows 95)
 * Virtual Woman 98 (1998) (Windows 3X, Windows 95)
 * Virtual Woman 2000 (2000) (Windows 95+, First 32 bit version)
 * Virtual Woman Millennium (2002?) (Windows 95, XP)
 * Virtual Woman Net (No release date, presumably in beta. Windows XP/Vista specific)
 * Specialized versions of Virtual Woman are sold in some markets under the names Virtual Girl, Virtual Human, and Virtual Man.

External link

 * Official website