Imagine a world where a person can fly, teleport, and interact with people around the world from the comfort of his or her living room sofa. Well, now it’s possible in a virtual world.

Marshall University has a new Second Life island – MUOnline. Second Life is the Internet’s largest, 3-D virtual world community, created by Linden Lab, a San Francisco-based company.

In Second Life, participants (called residents) can socialize and build homes, businesses, and entire islands for fun and recreation, as well as for business and educational purposes.

“Several higher education institutions are already utilizing Second Life to offer classes, provide information, host conferences, and allow prospective students to tour campus facilities virtually,” said Kelli R. Mayes, director of the Marshall Technology Outreach Center.

Marshall University has recently developed an island – MUOnline – in Second Life that will allow students, alumni, and anyone interested in the university to visit the Huntington campus virtually and to experience some of the attractions Marshall has to offer. In addition, visitors may also find information about the university and online courses via interactive kiosks, video walls, in-world chat, and e-mail.

Some of the fun things available on the MUOnline island include climbing the rock wall and swimming in the pool at the new Marshall Recreation Center. Persons also may check out the new residence halls and visit the MU Bookstore, where they can get a few virtual freebies as well as search for and buy textbooks online.

To explore Marshall University’s island, participants need to set up a Second Life account and create an avatar, a 3-D representation of oneself, which can be altered as desired.

“To get started, just go online to www.secondlife.com, create your avatar and download Second Life,” Mayes said. “You will then be ready to begin exploring this virtual world. You may visit the Marshall University MUOnline Island by searching for MUOnline in Second Life.”

For more information on Marshall University’s Technology Outreach Center, go online to www.marshall.edu/mtoc, e-mail mtoc@marshall.edu, or call 304-696-7084.