Among the many activities in which are involved the “residents” of Second Life, the virtual world created and managed by Linden Lab, next to fashion, role playing, creations of digital artworks and thematic meetings there are even some editorial productions, spanning various fields, including literature, poetry, essays on themes of current affairs. Mondivirtuali asked Volando Amat to tell us what has pushed her to create the Edizioni Volando, what target she has and what kind of business model she follow. For Volando (who in RL is Sofia, a girl of Spanish origin with a passion for books) in SL “we talk a lot of cross-media projects, invitations to read through the internet, libraries and virtual worlds. If you read a book you like, this is the place to talk about it, if you have any frustration in your RL, here you can turn into rewards. Edizioni Volandohas sought to identify and create and (why not?) even invent an evolution towards something else not yet explored in RL”.

In virtual worlds, notes Volando, “we are far ahead in the art: sculpture and painting have reached a quality and thickness that has nothing to envy the RL art, because we have the tools to achieve the unachievable”. Rather, “where we fail to take off is in the culture of thought, in philosophy, literature ... I might even say that we are at the lowest level. This is why I am against online import, which continues to hinder the possibility of a birth of virtual thought and makes impossible a real communication between us, unless you speak trivially than in RL already own or have reached”.

The goal is ambitious: to get to define “a new philosophy of “avatar’s” thinking. Discover a new Aristotle, a Plato, a Pythagoras, a Kant or a Popper, a Pascal ... I thank the authors who have agreed to write in SL about SL, and so step by step to lay the foundation of true, perhaps impossible (but why not dream it?), second chance”. A “game”, as the avatar, “very seriously, a game very exciting and different”: how often you hear someone say, proudly, “I’ve always been myself”. Volando “is to say: Stop! Tell me in plain and round words, what about is yourself? You have always given answers confused and imprecise, nobody told me about what is himself. But I can tell you who I want to be: an avatar. Which,thanks to my mind, is able to use this technology that allows me to not be afraid to reinvent myself and be able to finally say: I am something better of myself, besides myself and in flux. Because the avatar is not born from a womb, is the result of a desire to birth, by choice”.

What kindof space has been Edizioni Volando in all this? “I fought right now to be able to grow, I had overwhelming experience, more or less strong: some made ​​mewobble, some others just made me slow down, but everything was useful to convince me to become in the making. Maybe I will not make a scene and go out, perhaps a simple cell of this avatar called Volando Amat let live cells that are able to multiply, will be called by other names, will have other tasks, new vitality and new multiplication yet. Who knows”.

“I came when people only spoke about camping, disc and escorts and occasionally other things. I went in on tiptoe, loved or hated for interests and conflict of interests, for what I said, mocked, for what I have had the courage to denounce and to strive to change, every day. Knowing, as I understand it “living” really here, that a large part of avatars society, for various reasons, attempts to “truly and fully live” an avatar’s life”. I am now convinced “that after a while that I lived in this world, Volando has taken freedoms and has sometimes gone beyond what were my intentions. The first few times, when I saw her walking, choose, discuss and angry, did not recognize myself a lot”.

Certainly “there have been changes in behavior but also of ideas, knowledge, a comparison with others in RL I’d never reach a certain level, they were high or low, either because in RL I never found in certain situations, either because the context in which I moved was different and gave me more or less likely to act through. I am well aware (otherwise I’d be crazy) that Volando and Sofia are one, but I hope that with the one and the other I’m able to better know what stuff I’m made ​​andhow are others. I think it can be (and is) interesting to try to “play” to believe to be an avatar in SL, and move and react and defend yourself and fulfill or fail as an avatar. So as I go in search of the foundations upon which to give birth to an avatar culture, a thought, a first word”.

Space is limited, as well the time and it’s... time to end this article. Volando has not explained to us the story of Edizioni Volando, but she will in the next episode where we will tell you how ended our conversation at a distance, do not worry. And in the meantime continue to follow us on our  group on Facebook to keep in touch of the latest news from virtual worlds with just a “like”.

PS: Our article has generated a following on the Virtual Worlds Magazine's blog, which seems very interesting so we suggest you should to read it. The author, Serena Dominici, moving some interesting criticism of the concepts expressed by Volando Amat. The discussion that we hope can be born could lead to a greater understanding of virtual worlds as tools whose use is still much to discover and develop properly. Have a nice reading.