You may soon find yourself attending a virtual meeting, staring at an avatar representing you on screen. Using state-of-the-art technology from companies such as Second Life, Qwaq, Tixeo and Multiverse, companies now can conduct online meetings and collaborate online using three-dimensional graphic characters, or avatars, standing in for actual employees. And it's not just cutting-edge Silicon Valley companies taking the plunge; even large companies like Raytheon, BP and Hewlett-Packard are experimenting with the technology. It's viewed as an effective and efficient way to interact in ways that aren't possible over the phone or via video conference. But meetings and conferences are just the beginning. Although it's too early to gauge the effectiveness of virtual technology on business, software vendors say businesses are showing a lot of interest.

Learn more about virtual meetings:
- read the article at BusinessWeek