By way of the internet, the project Karlskrona2 from 1999 aimed at creating a digital version of the Swedish city Karlskrona. The copy was accessible to Karlskrona citizens via the internet. Here, digital representations of themselves (avatars) and the streets and buildings of the city centre created a virtual replica of the structure and personal relationships in the actual city of Karlskrona.

Photo: Superflex

Karlskrona2 Karlskrona2 will initially be a exact replica of the city but as the virtual citizens meet and interact things will change, buildings will redefine their function, social hierarchies will alter, laws will be reconstituted and renewed. The virtual Karlskrona will be visible to the real city through a large-scale video projection in the mail square. Here citizens can gather in real space to follow the activities of their avatars and consider the divergences between Karlskrona and Karlskrona2 The project is designed as a research experiment, using the internet as a local network rather than a global communication tool. Karlskrona2 is a "free space", in the sense of not having to obey the legal, economic or social rules of Karlskrona. at the same time, it is inhabited by at least part of the same community of individuals as the real city, bringing the challenge of virtual reality into the lives of neighbours and friends. To what extent will there be a fulfilment of individual or collective fantasies? To what extent will it conform to the pattern of Karlskrona? What new possibilities does the internet's "free space" offer to an existing community? Karlskrona2 is perhaps a model for other places and other situations. Wolfsburg2 A similar project was also implemented in Wolfsburg, Germany

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