For all my talk of immersive, virtual and mirror worlds, the future is in some combination of the quadrants outlined in the Metaverse Roadmap:

“True” virtual worlds are primarily games – intimate simulations of a space, with intimate defined as meaning that users are agents “either through the use of an avatar/digital profile or through direct appearance as an actor in the system.”

But even games are starting to slip into augmentation – the ability to port ecomomies and group/social information into the wider world. Emerging products are building social sites that mimic the success of mySpace or Facebook – only this time your profile is for your avatar.

But imagine immersive worlds that you can then take with you – carry in your pocket, view on your iPhone, slip into through a Google Earth gateway, use as a way to rapidly socialize with “in world” and “real world” peers, or maybe even take a virtual tour of the neighbourhood you’re in so you can browse restaurant listings before choosing a place to eat?

A hint of the future is in the hands of kids.

Amazon.com is advertising Barbie Girls:

Barbie Girls are ready to play in a whole new way! Girls can use their Barbie Girls at www.BarbieGirls.com to create their own, personalized online space–everything from designing a “room” to creating a character. Then, they can play games, chat with gal pals, watch videos and even shop with earned virtual money. It’s even an MP3 player. Barbie Girls take an old favorite into the future of play.

Check out the video on the Barbie Girls home page.

So imagine now girls who grow up with their Barbie mp3 players, who hook them up to their computers to create virtual worlds, chat with friends. Now imagine those same girls a few years from now. Their portable ‘avatars’ will synchronize with their in-world messages, friends lists, virtual wallets. They wil use them to post an update to their avatar profile, take a photo at a local restaurant using the device which they post to Flickr (geotagged to a location within Google earth along with a comment on the food), be reminded to attend a virtual conference call with other avatars, some of whom she knows in the ‘real world’ and some of whom she has only ever known as virtual representations (their anonymity has been protected but their identity held “in escrow” by an identity verification holding company in case of legal disputes, which can be arbitrated in a virtual court of law that has jurisdiction over in world issues)….well, you get the idea.

We hear a lot about mash-ups. Mash-ups of SketchUp and Second Life. Mash-ups of mySpace and virtual rooms. But what about mash-ups of virtual and real world identities? Or mash-ups of virtual and augmented reality?

This can only get more interesting.