A virtual life

Today, I came across a really weird concept called second life. Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents.

Apparently, you can "visit" the second life by creating a highly individualised avatar or persona with any characteristics that you may choose. Once you enter the second life you can do almost everything that you can do in real life, but without the laws of physics applying to you. That basically means that you can fly, walk on water...anything. What do you do when you get there? You can meet people, even buy virtual land or just have fun visiting casinos, dance clubs, shopping malls etc.

When I first read about this, my first reaction was..who would want to do something like this? And the answer : 1,029,966 people from around the globe! And the big businesses are not far behind. According to the New York Times,

The Second Life online service is fast becoming a three-dimensional test bed for corporate marketers, including Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Sun Microsystems, Nissan, Adidas/Reebok, Toyota and Starwood Hotels.

I still find it a bit hard to digest..but I guess it is working!