Bored, I was watching a rerun of CSI: New York this morning. The show’s latest murder victim was wearing a sexy costume and a green wig – but it wasn’t Halloween. As it turned out, the victim was dressed-up to look like her Second Life avatar.
The show quickly captured my attention as Gary Sinise’s character created an avatar and investigated a real life murder in Second Life. He ventured to different places, and he talked to, fought with, and deceived various avatars in Second Life. Ultimately, Gary Sinise made Second Life look cool!
I’ll admit until I enrolled in a Virtual Worlds course, I had never given much thought to virtual realities such as Second Life. If you had asked me about Second Life a few weeks ago, I would have supposed it was a form of entertainment and social networking for a very small group of people interested in computer programming and virtual realities. But the appearance of Second Life on CSI: New York made me see this virtual world in a whole new way.
My own limited experience with Second Life has left me feeling frustrated and uninterested. I have had such difficulty navigating through this new reality that I have not been able to enjoy myself. Learning about Second Life through the eyes of a CSI investigator allowed me to see the variety of Second Life users, and the fun that can be had in this virtual world.
On this episode of CSI: New York, Second Life users included a crime scene investigator, a professional assassin, a young man hiding from the world, and a politician, amongst others. The avatars visited strange and interesting places, including a Roman Colosseum. The avatars flew, fought, changed their appearance, and fell in love. The world of Second Life was portrayed as a place where people can transform themselves into anyone, and create places others have only dreamed of.
At last, I was convinced that Second Life could be a fun place! A world I could enjoy exploring and learning about. And so, thanks to an episode of CSI: New York, I find myself looking forward to further ventures in Second Life and other virtual worlds.
