Have Avatar will travel

Retail gets a second life

What?: Soon you will be able to roam the virtual world just as easily as you do the Internet:

* IBM and Linden Lab, the developers of Second Life, have combined forces to develop “universal avatars”. The enhanced 3D characters will enable users to roam between virtual worlds. “There is a lot of business value being derived from these worlds,” said Colin Parris, VP of Digital Convergence at IBM, adding that, “with interoperability and integration, that value would expand tenfold.”

* Taking the notion a bit more literally is the avatar machine, a new concept for all those virtual world enthusiasts who need to get out more. The device and suit replicate the feeling of a virtual experience in a real setting via a mounted camera headset.

So what?: Gartner research firm predicts that by 2011, 80% of the people using the Internet will have alter egos in virtual worlds. This should radically change music consumption, as users become pedestrians within the Internet.

Web 2.0 and the rise of digital may have halted the sale of the humble CD, but once a user can go virtually anywhere the 3D internet puts bricks and mortar stores back onto the agenda. Whether high st music stores will miss the boat on this new wave of consumer by burying their heads in the sand once again remains to be seen. Either way avatar footfall is soon to be thefuture, as the video of the creation of the unofficial Apple store below highlights.

Build it virtually and they will come.

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