Vancouver-based networking company Utherverse Inc. plans to accompany Vancouver's New Music West Conference and Festival in May 14-18 with a virtual version of the festival in its online erotic virtual world, Virtual-Vancouver.

Advertised as "the first massively multi-user online music festival," the online event will provide audio and video of performing Canadian independent bands simulcasted in near-real-time. Adult users will be able to attend the festival by creating an avatar and visiting Virtual-Vancouver's ampitheatre.

In an interview with technology site Wired, Utherverse CEO Brian Shuster described Virtual-Vancouver's capability to host large-scale events for tens of thousands of users: "The trick comes in allowing hundreds or thousands of user avatars to appear in the same region of Virtual-Vancouver -- in this case, having thousands of users in a single amphitheater so that they can all enjoy a concert together. It is this problem that we have solved with a system that dynamically spawns new 'dimensions' of the amphitheater as needed, to accommodate as many users as necessary."

He continued, "In this way, the amphitheater will never be so crowded that anyone will have trouble enjoying the show, and users can move easily around the physical space, as well as between dimensions, so that they can meet, dance and interact with any of the other concert-goers from around the world."