VIRTUAL GAMING HAS been criticised for many things in its short life – but not often for this latest condemnation, that of encouraging adultery.

For years people have been getting it on, online, through dating agencies and, in more recent years, through virtual worlds such as World of Warcraft or Second Life – however some say this has been taken too far with a little help from a Florida plumber.

Kevin Alderman seems to have put a right spanner in the works with his virtual world program which moves away from the unrealistic relationships people have online, and brings them into an almost life-like experience.

Alderman’s software company called Eros, after the Greek god of love, lust and uglies bumping, for obvious reasons. Eros steps up the evolutionary ladder for cybersex - but worryingly for some, blurs the boundaries between what’s real, and what’s a game.

Using SexGen software Alderman explains that Eros "go the full spectrum from a kiss or caress, right through to all the positions of the Kama Sutra - anything you can imagine. You type, or say, what you want to do and the avatars do it. And they make a full range of noises."

Alderman has an online partner, who he says he is very much in love with, which is very nice – until you learn he has a real wife and kids on planet earth.

This brings us to the problem with this type of innovation, psychologist Dr Sarah Munwah explains that, “This is a situation where you have to be withdrawing some of your energy from [your partner] and your family in order to pursue another relationship. You wouldn't feel comfortable doing that in the real life, and it may not be skin to skin, but you're still doing essentially the same thing."

Even though there are already concerns for people being sucked into the virtual world never to return, Alderman is persistent, he wants to take this cybersex theme up a whole new level with a $40,000 sensor suit which converts real-life movements into digital ones, giving the player a sense of human touch.

"There are systems - haptic technology - that use electronic pulses to contract muscles. So by using this as an interactive device you can actually feel like someone is touching, or stroking, or caressing you. We're currently looking into them ... they're only a couple of years away."

It looks then, like the future of gaming may never leave the bedroom.

L'Inq
Guardian