Five years ago director Daniel Moshel set out on an ambitious journey. His feat?

Login 2 Life, a new documentary that examines how engagement in the virtual world is not an escape from reality but rather an extension of our everyday human exi stence. Moshels motivation behind making the film emerged after an interaction with the W orld of Warcraft and a desire to get a glimpse of who was the human behind this new phenomenon. World of Warcraft (WoW) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMO RPG) created by Blizzard Entertainment. The setting takes place within the Warcr aft world of Azeroth and upon release in 2004 the game has acquired the title of being the most popular MMORPG in the Guinness World Record with over eleven mil lion subscribers. Moshel also had a fascination with the fact that there are more than twenty milli on people in Second Life (SL) who are engaging in places that dont physically exi st but yet they are able to have meaningful relationships, says Bernhard Drax, wh o was the creative genius behind the films music. He also wanted to show that in this world there are meaningful interpersonal interactions thats completely trans forming the way we live in a globalised world. Login 2 Life offers a day in the life glimpse of six protagonists who have found t heir place in online virtual spaces. Personally, I was unable to view the film i n its entirety during the live streaming due to lack of unlimited Internet access but the trailer definitely left me with a desire to want to know more about the se characters. Moshels subjects include a German singer who performs live to a host of online fa ns, several World of Warcraft players and an entrepreneur who has made a name fo r himself in the virtual sex industry while maintaining a life as a dedicated fa mily man. By far the most striking character was sixty-year-old Gentle Heron, with three a dult children who lives in a suburb of Denver. Living with Multiple Sclerosis (M S), which is a autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord or the central nervous system, Heron decided to explore the options the virtual worlds offered. As a result, she established Virtual Ability Island. The island was devel oped through a partnership between the Alliance Library System and Virtual Abili ty Inc. (VAI) with the goal of developing an orientation and training center for people with disabilities and chronic illnesses in SL. She uses this is an incredible tool for communicating despite her disabilities. T his isnt someone who wants to be alone. Technology enables us to stay active desp ite our limitations, adds Drax. Theres a lot of misunderstanding about these spaces. One is that many people think that this is a game and wonder why would I want to interact with a computer. I tell people that the other person or avatar is a real person and the interaction is real. Id have to say that my first encounter with SL was an enjoyable experience. At fi rst, I was a bit skeptical about the idea of virtual realities when the world th at we live in can be a bit of an optical illusion. However, during the course of my interview with Drax in his SL office I realized that the Internet has given many an alternate to traditional ways of going about business. I mean in the past communication and start ups required a lot of money and red t ape but now virtually anyone can established a presence online, market using the latest social media tools and now with SL you can create virtual office space a

nd with tools like IndieGoGo and Kickstarter one can raise capital through alter native funding routes. The Internet breaks down the barriers of where you do business. What this means f or our children is that they have to compete with the world, which sounds exciti ng because it means that they will be forced to create something unique. It also opens us up to a greater audience but if youre unaware of how to navigate these tools then youll get lost in this digital revolution, Drax concludes. We are now able to interact without any geographical border and people have to be ready for this but most are not. This has nothing to do with age but rather ide ologically because of fear of the Internet and technology, which causes a lot of resistance. Login 2 Life is now hitting the film festival circuit so if you comes to an area n ear you I would highly recommend checking it out as it offers fascinating insigh t into how online tools can reap positive affects in the real world.