What happens when your virtual life becomes your reality? That is the question posed in this critically acclaimed documentary ‘Life 2.0’. The movie follows several people whose lives are dramatically affected by their involvement in Second Life. Second Life is an online virtual world where users (called Residents) can interact with each other through their avatars.  Here, they socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and construct and trade virtual property and services with one another. They basically create (as the game is called) a second life.

Some of the Residents featured in the documentary are a young woman living in Detroit who is a virtual star designer of clothes and houses with a contradictory reality, an American and a Canadian who fall in love in the game then struggle to build a real life together, and a man who creates the avatar of an 11-year-old girl who he believes is an expression of his subconscious. Director Jason Spingarn-Koff examines the lives of these Residents and attempts to find out what draws them so intensely into this game that it blurs the lines of reality and insinuates itself into their own lives. What makes this movie compelling is that he created his own avatar and immersed himself in the worlds of these Second Life Residents giving the movie a more intimate feel.

‘Life 2.0’ makes us question the notion of reality, of who we are and the impact virtual worlds have on society. The results of this documentary are surprising, unexpected and often disturbing.  To see a clip of ‘Life 2.0’, you can visit the Life 2.0 official website .

The broadcast premiere of ‘Life 2.0’ will be August 25 at 9pm E/P on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).