Ushiba, who spends part of his time working at a medical rehabilitation centre, hopes to have people with paralysis try the system next year.

Ushiba hopes the random element of Second Life will change the lives of patients immobilized by illness or injury, in a way that clicking buttons to send e-mails cannot.

"In ordinary life you go shopping and you might just happen to see a jacket you like and buy it," he said. "Or the cover of a book might catch your eye. Sometimes you chat with people you just happen to run into," he said. "This kind of chance encounter could enrich people's lives."

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