Phil Torrone sent in this bit of “news from the future” from MTV.com about virtual U2 concerts in Second Life:
Since 2005, four members of the U2inSL crew, living in locations as distant as California, Connecticut and Germany, have logged onto their computers and into the shared landscape of “Second Life” in order to steer digital replicas of Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. Running their characters through a series of stage moves and piping in audio recorded from an actual concert, they are able to create a virtual performance. Other “Second Life” citizens can attend as members of a character-packed audience.
Where “hackers” go today, will the band themselves go tomorrow? Seems likely. What’s more, we really are entering, bit by bit, into the virtual reality metaverse of books like Neuromancer and Snow Crash.