The United States Congress has finally gone virtual! A subcommittee meeting of the House of Representatives was held yesterday on children's safety in virtual worlds. However, this meeting is a first for Congress as it was also simulcast on Second Life. People that logged in on Second Life to watch the meeting were able to be seen on television screens scattered around the meeting room by the people that were in DC, while the people from Second Life could watch the meeting through a screen in the room.

This meeting wasn't entirely serious, however; the people watching from their computers were chatting away about various topics while the representatives in the meeting were joking about trying to figure out how to reach the next level in World of Warcraft.

A virtual depiction of the Rayburn House Office Building meeting room was projected on television screens on the wall, so that real-world attendees could take a look at the small virtual crowd that logged on for the event. Attendees logging in from Second Life, meanwhile, could watch the proceedings in a video screen projected on the wall of the virtual room. The real-world guests included executives from Linden Labs, IBM and a tech firm that helps nonprofit organizations take advantage of virtual worlds.

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"They should really move the x and the c away from each other on the keyboard." (this following a warning that the video might freeze for "just a sex.")

Avalith via blog.washingtonpost.com »