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The avatars in the Second Life world will be even more realistic, thanks to the addition . of the player's own voice.

Emerging technology firm Vivox in Massachusetts, USA, claims its technology will allow three-dimensional avatars to represent Second Life players to "talk to each other".

Space sound

This "speaking" capability will blow new life into Second Life, a virtual world with more than 4 million players from more than 100 different countries, as of now. In that world, people can build houses, shop for cars, trade in nightclubs, open shops, design fashion and even develop games.

Opened four years ago by Linden Laboratories, USA, Second Life allows characters to communicate with each other via IM. But thanks to new technology, they will no longer have to "sound" anymore.

" Voice integration is a natural extension to the virtual world ," said Linden Vice President Joe Miller. " Voice will open new opportunities for community development and stimulate the virtual economy ."

Moreover, this voice technology is superior in that it is built on the basis of "spatial sound", allowing a clear sense of source of speech.

" Second Life is an ideal platform for business and social interaction ," Vivox CEO Rob Seaver said. " The lively voice will promote the sleeping potential of this environment, especially for academic, economic and cooperative purposes ."

Excitingly squeezed into the virtual world

Seeing an attractive market, many of the world's leading corporations competed to join Second Life to promote their brand. Many firms even sell products online.

Shops in the virtual world sell all kinds of goods, from clothing to hair and skin to decorating their avatars. They can also shop for virtual homes and participate in virtual real estate markets.

Simple tools that allow Second Life residents to use computer code to create anything, from movies, fashion to buildings and even spaceships. Players have the right to own things they create and are allowed to freely sell these creations.

Of course, players still tend to buy more than create virtual goods themselves, just like in real life. The currency used in Second Life is Linden Dollar. The exchange system allows transfer from USD to Linden and vice versa.

At a basic level, players don't have to pay. They only pay taxes when upgrading to higher priority. This fee, plus "virtual real estate" taxation is believed to be the main source of Linden lab income.

Trong Cam