Chapter . The Children of the Strange Migration

Is 2007 Second Life similar to a pre-WW2 Los Angeles? Are the experiences of today’s L.A. citizen also on the horizon for avatars? Is the freeway really eating its own tail?

In the coming five to ten years several problems may occur. Too many avatars could cause the sense of community to disintegrate, and physical, real-world accidents will happen more frequently.

Problem #1: Traffic jams

Too many avatars is as bad as too much traffic. Simple actions such as talking, exchanging items, moving, and seeing are all spatially organized activities—they all require space in order to operate. Possible problems from avatar traffic jams range from a simple inability to function, constant spam-like nagging, or ...

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