Google (GOOG) has shut down Lively, a service where people log on to chat and explore 3D virtual spaces, after a few short months. The MBAs of Silicon Valley have a pat phrase for the arrival of a competitor on the scene: They say it “validates their space.” What does it say, then, that Lively is gone? It means that Second Life, the best known of these unreal universes, is doomed, too.

The notion of a metaverse has long fascinated geeks. The idea of “avatars”–three-dimensional representations of the self rendered in pixels, often fantastical or surreal in nature–wandering through a computer-generated environment has been explored in the science fiction novels of Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, and Bruce Sterling, among others. The Matrix trilogy introduced the idea at multiplexes from coast to coast.

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We’re going to have a veritable galaxy of virtual worlds soon. Investors put $184 million into 23 virtual-world companies during the first quarter of 2008, according to Virtual Worlds Management. That may sound like a lot, but the froth in this sector is actually down from the past.

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On April 17, 2008, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office published Apple’s patent application titled Enhancing Online Shopping Atmosphere. Apple’s patent generally relates to improving the experiences that online-shoppers may have at an online Apple Store, sometime in the future. While Apple points to the obvious advantages of shopping online, such as being continuously open for business 24/7, allowing consumers to quickly use search functions to find multiple items and of course the best of all, never having to leave the house to shop. However, Apple acknowledges that they have a long way to go before delivering a more interactive experience that could match that found in the real world.

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