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Virtual Girlfriends Updated
Tomb Raider Lara Croft and V-Girl Vivienne, much loved personality-constructs from Eidos and Artificial Life (respectively), have both been updated this past week.
(From Slimmer Lara Croft)
Lara Croft has undergone a virtual breast-reduction; according to creator Toby Gard "Lara's been on a diet and she's definitely gone down a cup size, but she's still quite well proportioned." Lara and her new look can be seen in the upcoming Tomb Raider: Legend.
(Artificial girlfriend comes to life)
Hong Kong-based Artificial Life, Inc. announced the immediate release of version 2.0 of V-girl(TM) - your virtual girlfriend, last week. Version 2.0 has many new interactive and innovative features such as: multiplayer contests, locked and secret scenes, interactive puzzles, real time based calendar events and game functions, and several interactive role play games within the game. The new game version also features six virtual female characters for interaction with the players. Version 2.0 of V-girl(TM) is currently available in Mandarin, Taiwanese, Cantonese and English language versions. German, Italian, Korean and Japanese versions are currently being prepared. V-girl is described as an interactive mobile movie, an evolving mobile sit-com and an innovative mobile dating role play game all in one. You can even chat with her via cellphone.
Many of us were introduced to the idea of a complete computer-based personality in Idoru, the 1996 novel by William Gibson. Idoru is not just a game character:
"What did Blackwell mean, last night, about Rez wanting to marry a Japanese girl who isn't real?" "Idoru," Yamazaki said. "'Idol-singer'. She is Tei Toei. She is a personality-construct, a congeries of software agents, the creation of information-designers. She is akin to what I believe they call a 'synthespian', in Hollywood."
(Read more about Idoru)
Read more at the Artificial Life press release and the Artificial Life website.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 7/25/2005)
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'She is a personality-construct, a congeries of software agents' - William Gibson, 1984
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Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
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