The console war is full of very tough battles, with the top three manufacturers, Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony engaged in a bitter fight over each customer. Although this competition is filled with benefits for the people who buy these consoles, it seems that some of its results can also be used by the companies themselves.

Case in point, Sony's new online service, Home, which has been recently launched in an open beta stage at the beginning of December. It seems that the main target for this new system, which is to be an online meeting place for PlayStation 3 users, where they can socialize with old friends and meet new people, isn't the only thing that sparked an interest in the real-world society.

According to a new project, commissioned by Advanced Workplace Associates and led by Dr Nipan Maniar and Manish Malik from Portsmouth University, in the United Kingdom, it seems that the PlayStation 3's Home service can be used for virtual meetings. This new endeavor, which currently features a few companies, like Ernst & Young, Merrill Lynch and, most shocking of all, Microsoft, aims at providing a more effective alternative to the usual teleconferences, for companies that have offices across the world.

Andrew Mawson, the managing director of Advanced Workplace Associates, declared that: “Increasingly we are living in a world without borders where workers need to collaborate on a global scale. Audio and video-conferencing solutions have emerged but the use of virtual worlds may offer the next evolution in overcoming the tyranny of distance - a more realistic and learning-enhanced environment.”

Considering the fact that its own Xbox Live service does enable voice chat and avatar interaction, thanks to the New Xbox Experience, Microsoft's decision to partake in such a study might seem a bit weird. This also seems a bit contrary to the statements made by the company's group product manager for the Xbox 360, Aaron Greenberg, who stated that Home was still a gamer-oriented Second Life, highlighting the similarities to Sony's product and the popular online interaction application.