Google creates Lively virtual reality that will rival Second Life

Google has dipped its toe in the virtual world launching an alternative reality website similar to Second Life.

The plug-in service, called 'Lively', allows users to assume online characters known as avatars and wander around different settings from a coffee house to an exotic island.

They can also create private rooms and decorate them with a wide variety of furniture, including virtual picture frames that hold digital pictures and large-screen televisions that can play different clips from YouTube.com. Users can also upload their own music files to play.

Lively users, who must be over 13, can welcome their friends and family into their virtual realities, where they chat, hug and interact as if they were characters in a video game.