Clone Yourself for Play?

Here's a story from CNN about a company, 3Q which is setting up booths that allow you to capture 3-D images of your face. For $25, they turn your mug into a VRML document that can be injected into Start Trek Voyager Elite Force, Quake III Arena, and Counter Strike. Soon The Sims, Duke Nukem Forever and Unreal Tournament will be added to the list. So you'll have an avatar that looks like you shooting its way through each of these game worlds.

The interesting implication is that in multiplayer games on the net, you can be shooting AT something that looks like the kid next door. This takes the game violence discussion to a new level, I think. Some will worry that shooting your friend Kenny's avatar repeatedly will desensitize you to the point that shooting the real Kenny seems thinkable.

On the other hand, especially for mostly non-violent games like The Sims, this could be a lot of fun. One could also imagine some applications for psychological counseling.