Life: Coming to a Screen Near You

Abstract

Today, hundreds of thousands of people across the globe are regular participants in online virtual worlds such as Second Life, Google Lively, Twinity, and There. Twentyfive years from now, the hundreds of millions of participants in such virtual worlds such as these will come to regard them as a primary medium through which their normal daily transactions are carried out. At that point, these fantasy-filled virtual worlds will, like the imaginary world of Borges' scholars, become, for all intents and purposes, real. For today's casual participant, entering one of these virtual worlds feels very much like joining a multi-player video game. The participant designs a three-dimensional cartoonish character, commonly called an avatar, from a set of possible characteristics. The avatar can be tall or short, with any color of hair and any number of other features and qualities selected from a range of available options. The participant then controls the avatar just as they would a character in a video game, only with far greater means of communication and expression. The avatar can enter buildings, interact with other avatars by text, speech, or gesture, visit restaurants, bars, schools, churches, and nightclubs, stroll through art exhibitions, attend balls, and go to press conferences. All of these structures and spaces are created by other participants in the virtual world.