Centrino 'Duo' Effort Merges Real and Virtual Worlds

Intel has placed a “Second Life” programmer in a Fifth Avenue store window for 72 hours with the charge of creating a virtual version of her own settings. The “Live without boundaries” event promotes Intel’s Core 2 Duo processor.

“People are virtually living on their laptops,” said Intel Mobile Marketing Communications Manager Jodi Geniesse. “To take that to the extreme, we have someone living on her laptop.”

The person living on her laptop is Versu Richelieu (at least that’s her name in game space), a virtual builder with a company called Millions of Us, which works with businesses that want to participate in virtual worlds like Second Life. Richelieu is in the midst of a 72-hour stay in the narrow storefront of DataVision in New York City. The event coincides with the Digital Life consumer show run by Ziff Davis. Through the show and overall promotion, DataVision is offering $100 off any Centrino Duo notebook.

Richelieu’s exploits, both online and off, are being streamed to nyclivewindow.com. In addition to hosting side-by-side streams from a Web cam focused on the window and her avatar “Second Life,” the site links to Intel technology information and other relevant sites.

In the confines of a store window and three days Richelieu used her Centrino Duo to virtually build the street, buildings, cars, people and even details down to the litter on the streets that she saw outside her window. She called in help from other members of the virtual world; a DJ played music, a few helped program the scene, others congregated by the window much like in the real-world Fifth Avenue location. A group also showed up to dance to the music as the buildings and other scenery went up in the background.

Richelieu also ordered food on the Internet and could talk to her friends using Skype. The Centrino Duo laptop in her possession will handle all these tasks until Sunday at 8 am, when the stunt ends.