Second Life

Second Life is an online three-dimensional virtual environment developed by, San-Francisco based, Linden Lab. Users can create an avatar that will interact with other avatars, places, and objects. It also incorporates three-dimensional based user generated content. The users are able to live in this virtual world through the avatar by exploring the world, meeting other avatars, socializing, participating in activities created by the developers and the community, and trade virtual property.

Philip Rosedale formed Linden Lab in 1999 with the intention of creating a virtual world that people could immerse themselves into. "“In its earliest form, the company struggled to produce a commercial version of the hardware, known as ‘The Rig’, which in prototype form was seen as a clunky steel contraption with computer monitors worn on shoulders”."That effort was improved on and became a software application known as “Linden world”, which gave birth to the Second Life environment.