A couple of news items caught my attention last week as they relate to virtual worlds.

Firstly, a short news item that Japan Travel Bureau has decided to launch a travel guide in Second Life.

And secondly, the more interesting – what if – item that the creator of Second Life and IBM are talking about how to make the virtual world a borderless universe.

This would mean allowing “avatars” to roam freely from one world to another, without the need for passports or border control. The coming down of the Virtual Wall – Ich bin de Second Lifer.

This, to me, would be heaven-sent. Right now, “Coyote Xinhua” is trapped in one world. It’s like she’s all dressed up with nowhere to go. And so I have taken her nowhere.

But imagine if I could take her places beyond her imagination (or intelligence) – Gaia to learn to speak Japanese and Entropia to meet some young, handsome Swedish blonde men.

Her life would be so enriched.

Says Linden vice president of business affairs, Ginsu Yoon, “You spend an enormous amount of time on your avatar’s appearances and the things it uses to interact and you want to take those with you.”

The other thing that would also enrich her life is if she were not so dependent on me. Imagine if she could be programmed in such a way that she could move about independently, between worlds, and do the things she likes without having to rely on me – my alter ego would then truly live a Second Life for me.

According to Gartner Research, by 2011, 80% of people using the Internet will have alter egos in virtual worlds.

Planet Earth 2.0.

After this, I think someone should create After Life, a virtual hell where you could interact with other “ghosts”. “Unleash Your Inner Spirit, Be The Ghost You’ve Always Wanted to Be” would be a good slogan.

I volunteer to help with the design of the Chinese “After Life”. Takers, anyone?