Linking the Virtual and Real in and out of Second Life

I do not enjoy roaming around Second Life since I feel that when I'm in Second Life I become too detected from reality (or the Real Life). However, I have found a wide variety of examples where the lines become blurred between Second Life and Real Life.

The Phone


The Vodafone InsideOut allows users to make phone calls and send text messages to and from Second Life Vodafone InsideOut to Real Life Vodafone InsideOut phones.


Video Streaming

Real life solar eclipses have been broadcasted via streaming video into Second Life enabling Avatars to witness these events within the context of their virtual world.


Linking Virtual E-Commerce to E-Commerce
A new site, hub.eu.com, has claimed to develop "...a groundbreaking on-line community featuring a secure and fully functioning internet shop, tightly integrated into a unique three-dimensional virtual high-street in Second Life" [http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/02/prweb2172984.htm]. Essentially, it is a virtual mall that front-ends the Internet based websites. Other examples include promotional note cards in Second Life directing the user to a website to purchase the real life version of the product.


Court Cases
Does the current US law apply to Virtual Worlds, such as Second Life? This article discusses how the letters combination "SL" and "SL " are subject to carious types of US trademark laws.

To me, the most interesting linkage is the ability to call and text between the two worlds. None of these cases, though, change my overall excitement about being a part of Second Life. I'll admit, though, that the Lamp Example below is rather interesting and thought provoking. This example provides the ability to still be cognizant of actions occurring in Second Life, even while not physically logged into Second Life. How frightening!

I do wonder if in the future there will be more linkages between Second Life and the Real Life or if these instances will remain few and far between. I suspect though, that US Law will eventually be adjusted to apply to Virtual Reality.


And Finally, The Long Lamp Linking Example
Lamp created in SL and "linked" to a lamp in the home. When the state of one lamp changes (i.e., turned on or off), the other lamp also changes. How it works:

The Avatar touches the virtual lamp object, initiating the "on_touch" event.

The lamp object script emails my home address with the touch event (off or on).

Home email (MS Outlook) recognizes the message sender as from Second Life, then executes the appropriate rule.

The Outlook rule executes an external program (batch file) and passes a variable (off or on).

The Windows batch file calls an executable with a variable that sends the appropriate command to an X10 home automation device on the serial port.

The X10 home automation device emits an RF signal with a digital code [ID, address, code].

A commercial X10 receiver between the real lamp and the wall socket recognizes the digital code and executes the command, causing the lamp to turn off or on.

In the other direction, the X10 devices can be programmed to send an email to the Second Life virtual lamp object, which has code to recognize the event and turn off or on the virtual lamp.
[The entire Lamp section was quoted directly, word-for-word from a PowerPoint Presentation that was not mine.]