Cycosmos is a chat forum that allows you to let your cyber imagination run away with you, creating whatever character you want and even allowing you to change your sex. techTrader was given a guided tour of Cycosmos.com at the BBC Tomorrow's World Live show and wonders if this is going to set the trend for the chat forums of the future? The process of registration and creating your avatar is lengthy but fun. Firstly you design your appearance: do you see yourself as a naked skeleton smoking a cigar, or would seductive lingerie suit you better? When it comes to your cyber character's interests you can choose anything from a secret passion for body painting to a more sophisticated passion for cocktail drinking It is your avatar that does the talking for you online. To 'make it real' there is a variety of chat rooms to hang out in. For the more mellow surfer there is the blue room, although the flirt room currently seems to be the most popular! Within these rooms, cyber characters float around, and speak through speech bubbles. On a visual level this is very appealing, but the novelty value soon wears off once you realise the difficulty of keeping track of who you are talking to. The site: Cycosmos.com
What it does: Allows you to be who ever you want in the virtual world of Cycosmos
How it works: After designing your cyber avatar -- get floating!
Who it's for: People with too much time on their hands!
Why the net?: Where else could you change your sex in a matter of seconds for free?
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