Running for president -- in a parallel universe

Mark Warner is a very real contender for the world's biggest job, but part of his campaign is in virtual reality, as Lance Crossley reports.

Lance Crossley, The Ottawa CitizenPublished: Friday, September 01, 2006

Presidential hopeful Mark Warner used an animated version of himself to answer questions about his political ideas online yesterday.

Members of the public could log on, and, like Mr. Warner, were represented by "avatars" -- animated figures -- while a moderator-avatar asked questions about issues ranging from abortion to Iraq.

It all took place online in the hugely popular parallel universe, Second Life.

Mr. Warner, expected to give Hillary Clinton a run for her money in a bid to become the Democratic candidate, has become the first big-name politician to exploit the possibilities of a virtual campaign.


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Gov. Warner is breaking new ground by flying onto the stage and into the world of virtual reality.

»» Read how the "Second Life" interview came about

»»Read the "Second Life" Interview:















What exactly is "Second Life?"
According to CAMILLE DODERO, a writer on The Phoenix--it is "a three-dimensional virtual environment created by Linden Lab, a seven-year-old San Francisco–based company. In this pixelated alternate world — a mainland surrounded by islands that spans more than 42,000 acres in real-world scale, bigger than metropolitan Boston — account holders aren’t users, they’re “residents.” In this world, you can fly. You can “teleport.” You can’t drown. You do not age. You can have an awkward version of cyber-sex. You can tailor your “avatar,” an endlessly customizable 3-D representation of your Second Life self, in any imaginable shape. You can be an emerald dragon, a horned devil baby, a furry fox, or a lumbering gingerbread man. But most avatars you’ll encounter are idealized human shapes. And in this world, real people spend real money (yes, actual US dollars) on make-believe skate boards, T-shirts, and islands like Zephyr Heights, which cost $1250 US Dollars to purchase from Linden Lab with a USD $195 monthly maintenance fee — possessions that can’t be ridden, worn, or visited outside a computer screen. "