Sweden is the second after Maldives to have opened a virtual embassy in Second Life, the internet reality world inhabited by computer-generated residents, to provide information about Sweden to the world on May 30, 2007.
“Second Life is just beginning so we do not know its full potential. Ten years ago we didn’t know the potential of Google for instance,” Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said at a ceremony in Stockholm to launch the diplomatic mission.
The building, named Second House of Sweden, is located on an 64 hectare (158 acres) island and was inspired by the real embassy in Washington. It has large French windows, Scandinavian-style wooden trimmings and is furnished with Swedish design furniture. Exhibitions and cultural events that take place in the country will be presented in the virtual world as will businesses and famous Swedes.
According to the minister, Second Life is also a good way to reach a wide audience and especially “a lot of young people all over the world.”
The virtual embassy will not have a political function nor will it provide passports or visas. It will instruct visitors how to obtain such documents in the real world and act as a link to web-based information about the Scandinavian country.
You can visit the Swedish virtual embassy at http://www.secondlife.com/
