The third stage of the world wide web, web 3.0, which mainly means a 3D interaction between the users, along with network computing, better connectivity and intelligent applications, could become a reality in the next five to seven years. From the static web 1.0, organized as a heterogeneous network of hosted personal pages, to the current web 2.0 that, indeed, brought interactivity and better speed, the move to a completely new experience is not that futuristic.

An analysis performed by Virtual Worlds Management shows that the companies that have virtual worlds-related businesses spent over $184 million for their expansion in the first quarter of 2008. The sustained efforts of the competitors on the market could lead to a brand new world for the users to navigate in. This idea, of making web 3.0 real in the near future, is underscored by Philippe Destoop, the Enterprise Architect for the Belgian and Luxembourg Developer and Platform Group of Microsoft, on the MSN architects' blog.

The "digital work environments that are seamless, contextual, visual, individualized, multimodal, social, and quick to create and modify" are what is desired for the next years. The developer quotes a study that describes the new type of web as a 3D paradise. The communication will no longer be text based and static, but instead realistic and personal. Tridimensional avatars, that are not only used for communicating in written words, but also in order to express more vivid emotions, through real-like animations, will no longer be sci-fi.

For those who consider the 3D web the ultimate achievement, there are many more surprises to come. In the future, the virtual reality will go beyond avatars. The virtualization will be taken further, as predicted, to the point where only a thin red line will separate reality from the web experience. The first step towards these achievements has already been made. The Second Life and the recently launched Google Lively can accustom users to what will certainly be a remarkable change in the Internet life.