Thursday, September 08, 2005

Storm help flows from 3D worlds | BBC NEWS | Technology


The virtual and the real. Where does one stop and the other start?

"Virtual worlds Second Life and There are using their community and technology to let players donate funds (for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort) from within the games.

Images from BBC

In Second Life, a virtual memorial has been created, where residents have been donating and placing virtual candles.

The companies behind There have also pledged to match gamers' contributions."

" 'The fact that people in Second Life interact [as] avatars seems to make them more generous, more compassionate,' (Second Life blogger, Wagner James Au) told the BBC News website.

'Perhaps because being together in an online world gives them the distance and abstraction not to be overwhelmed by the true horror of the event, while still feeling that connection, and that desire to connect, with others who are similarly galvanized by the tragedy.' "

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