Under the Second Life programme, people can register using different names as “avatars”, customising their VR appearances and profiles. They can join online communities, VR townships, operate businesses, buy and sell real estate, just like in the real world. The users can even create their own content, like furniture, vehicles and buildings.

More importantly, Linden Labs, the creators of Second Life, has a currency exchange as well, where real world currencies can be exchanged for virtual currency called Linden Dollars and vice versa. At the current exchange rate, one US dollar is equivalent to 270 Linden Dollars.

The number of active Indian “residents” — those who build, trade and invest on the site — has shot up from about 3,300 in the beginning of the year to over 12,000. “We have been informed that the ratio of active residents to registered users is one of the highest in India and China,” said Joe Miller, vice-president, platform and technology, Linden Labs.

One of the more common ways of investing in Second Life is to buy virtual real estate. Then, like in the real world, the user can wait for property prices to escalate, before selling at a profit. The entire transaction is carried out in Linden Dollars, which can be converted into real world currencies on the exchange.

“Only estimated figures are available because of the confidential nature of transactions, but the number of users who visit our VR business solutions on the Second Life system has also shot up,” revealed Daniel Dias, director, Research Lab, IBM India, one of the companies with a massive presence on the system. “More than 90 per cent of the active users, mostly form the National Capital Region, are also investing in the currency exchange,” he added.

what is second life

• Second Life is an online virtual reality world, launched by Linden Research Inc in 2003. Unlike gaming sites, users don’t just play and win. Focus is on functioning like in the real world

• To register, users can log on to www.secondlife.com. Whie registration is free, transactions can be carried out through any credit card that supports international currencies.

• Users can create their virtual personalities called avatars, as well as clothes, cars, furniture.

• Active “residents’ can buy land and modify it, owning up to 512 sq m without paying any additional fees. The currency used is Linden Dollar (270L$=Rs 39). Further real esate purchases come with fees based on tier systems.

• Among those present are Reuters, Ford and IBM.