(Somewhere around here, I noticed that my camera battery level was dipping precipitously low. Since I forgot to bring my charger, dy/dx(pictures taken)<0.)
Shiseido is a major Japanese cosmetics and hair care corporation, but they also run an experimental art gallery in Ginza that features installation pieces. I popped in to take a look and ended up watching a video on RMB City, a virtual city created by Cao Fei in Second Life.
Judging from the anime I've watched, I'd say the Japanese are big on wrestling with the boundary between the virtual and physical worlds, so this film will probably go over well with Tokyo audiences. It featured a female avatar named China Tracy and her son, China Sun, who travel to RMB City, where they explore the virtual world in Second Life. They meet a host of people, like Mr. Reality and Feng Shui Master Q. It was entertaining and thought provoking in that almost-too-cheesy-to-be-deep kind of way. Or maybe the English subtitles could have been better.
Some of the more amusing quotes from the film:
Mayor: Like a five-star hotel, I am here to serve you, to meet any of your needs.
China Sun: Can you change my diaper, or nurse me?
Mayor: My little citizen, yes of course, but I must discuss this with the programmer first.
Man on street: I am writing a novel. Some people say that Second Life is a novel, or maybe a novel is writing me.
China Sun: What is life in here?
China Tracy: Life in here is a reflection of what you see and who you are.
China Sun: I have the urge to poop.
China Tracy: I hope that is not in your programming.
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