Right now, we have to create avatars - virtual characters - for each different game or virtual world that we explore. One avatar for World of Warcraft. Another for SecondLife. And another for EverQuest. Wouldn't it be great if you could just teleport between worlds with the same character, just as you carry your own sac of bones between towns? Such persistence would be a massive evolutionary leap for the veracity of online worlds - and also, of course, raise a ton of really interesting problems.
Case in point: passports. Reuters says that, in light of Linden Lab (creators of Second Life) and IBM's plan to develop avatar transport, pioneers are lobbying for open borders.
