Second Life Gives Avatars Real Voice

Extending its reach into real-world communications, virtual reality hoster Second Life said today it will provide users with VoIP connections allowing them to receive calls from devices outside Second Life itself.

Called “AvaLine,” the new service enables “residents” (the Orwellian term for Second Life users) to receive voice calls “in-world” from outside land lines, cell phones, or VoIP applications. In addition, the "Dial an Avatar" will let users call other Second Life characters from a mobile device, even when not logged on to Second Life.

Second Life parent company Linden Lab says that since its introduction 18 months ago, the Web voice feature in the virtual world has carried 15 billion minutes, and now averages more than 1 billion minutes per month.

For Second Life’s 700,000 users, “voice has become an integral component of the Second Life experience,” the company said in a statement.

Since its creation in 2003, Second Life has become a popular alternative reality where avatars, designed to emulate (or disguise) users’ real-world personalities, interact in real time. Several businesses now use Second Life for virtual meetings and training, but Linden Lab is looking for ways to make money off the virtual world.

“The rapid adoption of voice services we’ve seen over the last 18 months demonstrates that we have a significant opportunity to evolve our offering while further strengthening our business model,” Joe Miller, VP of platform and technology development at Linden Lab, said in a statement.

Text messaging will also be a component to the new virtual-to-real communications services. Second Life is clearly targeting Skype, which has some 405 million registered users. Adding voice service outside the virtual realm is a way to attract more users while continuing to find new ways of getting them to spend money.

Perhaps highlighting the questions raised when avatars interact with real-world human beings, later this year the company will enable users to adopt different voices and accents, such as “French woman,” “sports announcer,” and “elf.”