People have been getting it together online for years now, through dating and contact websites or virtually via their avatars in online worlds such as World of Warcraft and Second Life. But it took 47-year-old Florida plumber Kevin Alderman to develop a system that further blurs the line between the virtual and real worlds.
''I've been called the Hugh Hefner of the digital millennium,'' the Second Life entrepreneur said.
''I consider myself a facilitator and an innovator.'' Alderman was quick to sign up to the virtual world program when it launched in mid-2003, but there was something about Second Life that annoyed him.
''The characters on screen the avatars couldn't touch. There was a barrier in the coding and they'd bounce off each other.''
Alderman set up Eros, which is now a multimillion dollar software company. Using the SexGen software developed by Eros, users can ''interact'' with each other more fully. ''We 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.''
Eros also customises avatars so you can turn your onscreen representation into any type of anatomically correct stud or vixen you can think of. Alderman's own alter-ego the rugged lothario Stroker Serpentine is now something of a Second Life legend. ''And then I met Fyre Rain, who I love dearly and became my online partner,'' he says.
Which would be a fairytale ending to the story ... if it were not for the fact that Alderman is happily married with two children.
''I'm very honest with my wife about what I do, we have a strong relationship, and I couldn't do this without her support.''
His wife, Debbie, agrees. ''I absolutely don't think it's cheating because she's a cartoon character in my mind,'' she says. ''He might be physical with himself, but he's not actually physical with her, and that doesn't bother me.''
But what of the emotional connection he has with a woman who lives over 1000km away, with her own real-life husband and children? They claim to be in love with each other; doesn't that count as adultery?
''No [it's not emotional cheating], as you can have an emotional relationship with many people, but that doesn't make it adulterous,'' Debbie says. She also didn't have a problem when Alderman met Fyre Rain in the real world. (''It was very nice,'' Alderman says. ''There wasn't any sexual awkwardness, it was just like meeting up with an old friend, although it was a little odd when we went back to having sex online.'') However, Debbie does concede: ''If she was hot and 20 I might have to think again.''
Dr Sarah Munwah, a pyschologist from Berkeley University, doesn't agree. ''I think it is very much cheating, and I think they're kidding themselves if they don't think of it that way. This is a situation where you have to be withdrawing some of your energy from [your wife] 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.''
Aside from issues of adultery, Munwah admits she finds Second Life fascinating. ''It is a very interesting area in terms of psychology. Because of the barrier the virtual world creates, people feel less inhibited and will experiment with experiences and personality traits they would not normally consider.
''The real question this leads to is, which relationship is more honest? The real world, where people are often embarrassed to say what they really feel, or the virtual, whose mask allows relationships to develop uninhibited?''
A BBC documentary titled Wonderland: Virtual Love and Cyber Space which screened in Britain in January investigated both online infidelity and real/virtual world relationship development. The program followed ''Carolyn'' as she receded ever more into the virtual world, spurning her husband and four children, for ''Elliot''.
Things came to a head when ''Carolyn'' flew from Pennsylvania to London. Alas, it turned out that the real-world ''Elliot'' didn't quite match up to his muscle-bound, weapon-clad, topless online persona.
''I think I had more hopes that it [the relationship] could be carried outside of SL,'' a weepy ''Carolyn'' said, after returning home to rebuild her real-life marriage.
So what does the future hold for online lovers? Alderman sees the future becoming even more interactive. ''We sell products that remotely actuate, erm, ''marital aids'', from within the virtual world. I can have a device operated halfway across the planet.''
Alderman believes that his $US40,000 sensor suit which he uses for avatar development, converting real-life movements to digital movements, will be able to be used in real time when internet speeds quicken.
Many a Second Life addict may well never leave the house again.
Guardian
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