Actiview.com

The tutorial task for Friday was to enter one the virtual 3D worlds available on the Internet that looks like a console game. I found the graphics a bit like Morrowind on my XBOX. It is in fact more like a chat room were you are given an avatar (a caricature of a stereotypical tourist) that can move around and interact with the surroundings. You communicate with the other avatars via text typed in to the keyboard. Your chosen name is displayed above your avatar so that you can chat with people you meet and recognise them (and they you). Whilst I was on there were avatars being driven by players, or chatters I'm not sure, who were in America. Funnily enough though I tended to only talk to my class mates who were all well within talking distance in the real world. Admittedly I spent more time on my own just having a look around. There was a bit of deliberate product placement around, obviously paid advertising. If advertising in the real world meant I could ride a Sea-Do as I did in Actiview, I would have a completely different opinion on it. I'm not sure that I could get hooked on it but this experience certainly piqued my interest.