Become a Guantanamo Detainee - In Second Life
Want to experience life as a Gitmo detainee without, well, experiencing it? Do you secretly admire Christopher Hitchens for having subjected himself to waterboarding?
Consumer technology and the war on terror have crashed into each other to make it possible. In this case, citizens of popular virtual world Second Life can willingly become enemy combatants at the Guantanomo Bay detention.
Even though Second Life participants -- their avatars -- become virtual detainees instead of real ones, the purpose of the experience is less video game folly and more high-minded. Peggy Weil, a digital media artist who created Gone Gitmo presented at a recent conference showcasing "new tools to expose war crimes and other serious violations of human rights and to disseminate this information in real time throughout the world."
Watch the video and let me know if you'd dare allow a black hood to be placed over your (avatar's) head.
View the full program at FORA.tv.
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See Blaise Zerega's Profile
Addendum: I received a note from Peggy Weil to let me know that she collaborated with Nonny de la Peña to produce the harrowing Guantanamo experience. Thanks, Peggy.
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