访谈录 2010-04-20&04-23 虚拟现实

People leading their own alternative lives are at the crossroads between technology and imagination.

It sounds like science fiction but as Lindsay Davis reports these people have taken a head first plunge¹ into virtual reality.

Last year a man named SaL9000 married the love of his life in a ceremony that was streamed live on line. The 27-year-old groom² lives in Tokyo, and this is his bride, Nene. She lives inside Nintendo DS video game. Yes, Sal paid real money to marry a virtual woman, but he is not alone. Well, technically³ he is not.

All of the on-line environment is kind of a stage for people to live out alternative lives and stories.

Welcome to WeeWorld. Millions offer up their credit cards to create their own avatar in WeeWorld or explore, interact and travel in the virtual world: Second life.

An estimated 100 million people, that's more than 1% of the population of the entire world, roll up their sleeves and don their farming gear to manage virtual farms just like this one.

There is no more reality in the dollar than there is in a virtual island, than there is in the color of a car. Value is what society makes of it.

But according to the researchers at Leeds University in England, living out fantasies on line can take a toll⁴ on a person's well being.

People with a high level of dependence⁵ from the Internet show have much higher risk of depression.

But for some, the fantasy world offers something reality doesn’t.

What if you live in a small town and you’re a girl and you don't have the just so body type. You get ostracized⁶. You get marginalized. I am not ready to blame that person for trying to have a society and environment where she can actually get accepted.

Which brings us back to Sal9000, he says his avatar wife is better than any human relationship. She doesn't get angry of his late and he doesn't have to talk about his feelings. Again it’s all about perceived value.

Lindsay Davis, ABC News.

1 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

2 groom   

vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁

参考例句：

• His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。
• George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作，乔治已在接受专门的培训。

3 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

4 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

5 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

6 ostracized   

v.放逐( ostracize的过去式和过去分词 )；流放；摈弃；排斥

参考例句：

• He was ostracized by his colleagues for refusing to support the strike. 他因拒绝支持罢工而受到同事的排斥。
• The family were ostracized by the neighborhood. 邻居们都不理睬那一家人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》