(CBS) Imagine being able to control someone's subconscious for a moment or two, grabbing their attention and reeling them into a virtual world you've created through an artistic illusion — a virtual mimic of life, a place that reflects the human element, with social interactions, daily activities and the capability to put your own spin on "reality."

Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Electronic Arts Inc. saw the appeal of merging the virtual and real worlds and ran with it.

"The Sims," created by EA game designer Will Wright, set the precedent as the first in its class of simulation games that let players participate in the daily activities of virtual people.

At first glance, it's easy to mistakenly classify "The Sims" as just another video game. Look closer, though, and you'll see that it's a creativity tool with endless scenarios.

"'The Sims' is really a digital canvas more than it's a video game. It's a chance for people of all ages, both genders, to express their creativity," says Steve Seabolt, VP of Global Brand Development for "The Sims." "It's a building tool and an artistic tool. It's a storytelling tool more than it's a game, like most people know a game."

According to Seabolt, when most people think about a game, they think of winning or losing — or about beating somebody up. "The Sims" isn't like that.

"There is no end to this game; it's like life; it's just keeps going on," he says. "There are no winners. There are no losers. You can make it as in-depth as you want, to either represent your current personality or create any alternate universe you want to."

What better way to expand the possibilities of this creative tool than by combining art students — during the peak of their artistic exploration — with an inventive platform that includes three-dimensional printing, painting, drawing and toy design, machinima (use of a game engine to create animations of films), physical computing and interactive media.

Students from the Communication Design, Design and Technology and Illustration programs at Parsons The New School for Design have gone beyond the realm of typical video gaming for an exhibit called, "The Sims: In the Hands of Artists" at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York.

The exhibit, organized by Parsons Communication Design and Technology Department and EA will run until May 12.

EA, based in Redwood City, Calif., chose three major metropolitan areas to have students showcase their work using "The Sims" — Parsons The New School for Design in New York, the Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles (July 14 -August 11) and the Gallery at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco (June 26- July 19).

According to Jack Lew, Global University relations manager for EA, the company is always looking for creative collaborations with users and schools, and this project was a perfect fit.

"We thought that this might be interesting to put it in the hands of artists, especially at this fertile ground where they're still art students, they're still exploring and trying different things" Lew says. "That was the concept — to give this tool to the students here and to let them go with it and see what they come up with very little limitation."

Instead of having digital media solely convey a virtual message, the genre is explored by traditional painters, illustrators and sculptors.

The exhibit lets viewers become a part of "The Sims" experience as they navigate through the array of creative variations on display. There are brief descriptions of each piece, and headphones are available for audio.

"Our users celebrate their creativity on TheSims2.com, where we often see our users put Sims buildings, machinima, anything that they have created with this creativity tool as well as game," says Marybeth Haggerty, EA's development director. "We recognized this and wanted to take it to art schools not only to bring our community together, but to have different ways of looking at our game. These artists are coming to us with some really beautiful work."

EA often has the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with the art community because of the abundance of artists already working for EA, Haggerty explains.

"Artists have loved this game forever. This was really more about, let's celebrate it for what it really is," Seabolt says. "We know that it's an artistic tool. People who have that bent know it. But we've never really gone to the public and said look at this in a very different way. Let's celebrate the people who use this tool — this sort of next-generation art form."

© MMVII, CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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