Second Life

I found it interesting that Second Life was influenced by a novel, Snow Crash. It is remarkable that something which used to be science fiction is now becoming a reality. The concept behind Second Life seems to be significant. Snow Crash tells of a world called the Metaverse, a sort of successor to the internet. This virtual reality world functions in the novel much like a combination of a modern economy added to the internet. It is essentially a virtual-reality based internet.

SecondLife takes the concept in a slightly different direction, creating a product which is virtual reality in general. SecondLife seems to be a jump, as it does not consider itself to be a video game, nor is it a social networking community. Rather, it is a combination between the two. This step in the evolution of technology into the everyday lives of people might be significant in the near future.