“REAL LIVES,” CREATED in 2001 by software developer Bob Runyan, is an interactive simulation that enables users to experience the life of an individual from any country in the world. “Real Lives” animates different cultures, political systems and economic vitality by providing an opportunity to virtually walk in someone else’s shoes. The program made such an impact on middle school students that they chose “Real Lives” as the first place winner of Computers for Youth’s Family Learning Software Award.

The simulation begins by assigning users a randomly chosen identity. A textbox superimposed on an image of planet Earth describes a temporary fate. The screen says where the user was born (“You are a male, born in Indonesia”), provides a map and demographic and historic information, and lists the names and ages of family members. “Indonesia is currently at war in the Aceh province,” for example. “You have been born with a congenital heart anomaly.”

“Real Lives” then takes users year by year through their lives: “You get whooping cough. Your father’s tour of military service ends and he returns home from war. Your sisters move out and get married. Your mother goes blind from glaucoma. Your mother dies from tuberculosis when you are 17 and she is 60. You develop clinical depression.” A fairly grim picture of early life in modern Indonesia; nonetheless, the simulation is realistic—the temporary biographies are based on a variety of sources, including the U.N. World Report—and gives students an intimate look at life in a developing country.

In addition to experiencing life milestones, users also face simulated decisions that may coincide with their real lives. “Some of your friends smoke cigarettes,” the simulation says. “It seems to be common in your peer group. Will you join them, yes or no?” Users are also given the options of taking up drinking and using illicit drugs. But the choices are up to the users.

The program takes a user chronologically through this assumed life, progressively doling out information about career options, the fates of family members and eventually describes the user’s death. But as soon as one life is over, the virtual reincarnation program lets users choose to pursue a new identity with new possibilities and living conditions.

It is surprising the students chose software that requires reading, sustained concentration and patience. Once living a temporarily assigned “real life,” users cannot skip to a later stage of life—they must progress in yearly increments. This makes the software’s win unexpected, even to its creator. “I’m...intrigued by the fact that the students chose ‘Real Lives,’ a simulation that involves a lot of reading, over some other great software titles that are more game-like and feature sophisticated graphics. This bucks the conventional wisdom,” says “Real Lives” creator and developer Bob Runyan, of Educational Simulations.

It is also noteworthy that middle school students who chose “Real Lives” as the award winner prefer a lesson in humanity to more “entertaining” programs.

“Real Lives” was selected by inner-city middle school students and national educational
technology leaders. Every middle school student who participated in the event lives in one of New York City’s high-poverty neighborhoods and comes from a minority background—African-American, Caribbean-American and Latino.