Black Rose: Love, Digitally

SINGAPORE: Can technology play Cupid? This Valentine's, TODAY brings you four true love stories orchestrated with the help of modern technology.

IN VIRTUAL, AND REAL,MATRIMONY, I WED THEE

Their wedding was set in virtual stone four years ago.

Ms Marina Noordin, 30, and her Italian husband, Mr Roberto D'Andrea, 45, got "married" in the 3D world of Second Life within a month of meeting each other in 2004. And their romance crossed over to the real world when they married here last December.

The pair met as newbies learning the ropes in the virtual world of Second Life. In Second Life, users are represented by onscreen avatars. Avatars can interact with another by waving or hugging, and create virtual objects and homes.

"Second Life helps a lot in the sense that we are able to spend time together interacting and bonding," said Ms Marina. "We took about a month to build our Second Life house together and experiences such as that make it comparable to spending time together in real life."

"I admire the way that she is not afraid to approach the unknown," said Mr D'Andrea, a software programmer.

In keeping up with the virtual, the wedding was streamed live on Ms Marina's blog (rinaz.net) so friends the world over could join in.

Ms Marina could well have been one of the first locals to wed on Second Life. She has since relocated to Rome to stay with her husband.

"To finally be living together has been very comforting," she said. "As much as Second Life was a useful tool to bring people together, it was definitely not a replacement for real life."

HOPELESS ROMANTIC SEEKS MYSTERY GIRL

The afternoon of January 8 was a revelation of sorts for a certain bus passenger on service number 74. It was the day Dylan (not his real name) would settle his gaze on a mystery girl who stole his heart.

Too shy to approach her on the bus, the lovestruck business undergraduate then did the digital equivalent of handing out flyers by creating www.girlonbus.com, a site dedicated to finding the girl.

He set up the website with the help of his close friends, choosing to remain anonymous to avoid drawing unwanted attention from his parents and his school.

The site features a sketch of the girl, with "porcelain skin, and a rather defined jawline". She wore a pair of "slim-cut white pants" and a "sheer yellow sleeveless top".

Some bloggers noted a similar incident where a 21-year-old New Yorker created a website and successfully got in touch with a girl he was too shy to approach on a train (www.nygirlofmydreams.com).

Dylan hasn't received a reply from the girl, but several people have emailed him to wish him luck and other bloggers have posted his website on their blogs to help him. But the website hasn't convinced everyone. Some netizens have classified it as a hoax or an elaborate viral marketing plan.

"I know a lot of people might get the wrong idea. But all I want to do is to get to know her, that's all," Dylan said.

And what if the mystery girl has decided to keep mum?

"I don't want to pressure her," he said. "I'm okay with that, but tell me why. I don't mind if she tells me to stop."

LOVE, LONG-DISTANCE

Each time their hearts pine for each other, the lovers would arrange a tryst over the weekend — with a difference.

Mr Aaron Wong, a business undergraduate in Los Angeles, allocates a time slot every weekend to video-chat over Skype (a peer-to-peer voice and video chat software) with his girlfriend, a Singaporean architectural designer based in Hong Kong.

"I can sit in my apartment in LA and find myself very much in love with someone in Hong Kong. I'm painfully aware of the difference in geography and time but this helps to kill the distance until we meet again," said Mr Wong, 23.

Chatting over an instant messaging application might miss inflections that a voice or a person's body language could easily convey, he added.

"It's easy to get drawn into an argument when you're texting or if you send an email because sometimes, you get misunderstood. And it's far too expensive to settle things over a long-distance phone call," he said.

But there are drawbacks.

"You might feel close after chatting online for a few hours but in the end, you can't give a hug and you can't watch the sunrise together," he lamented. "But it's taken our relationship to another level. Without the physical, our relationship is very much distilled to its essence. It's almost spiritual — making us thrive on text and moving images alone."

ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE AND WARCRAFT

It could only be destiny if you meet your intended in a popular massively multiplayer online world populated by more than 11.5 million players.

"I felt like I married my best friend," said shipping officer Afnindah Senin, 29.

Ms Afnindah met her American husband Virgil Goucher, 31, a product coordinator, while she was learning the ropes on World of Warcraft in 2005.

"He had already been playing for six months when I joined and he taught me everything I needed to do in the game," she said. "There's a certain friendship and bond when you keep doing things together on Warcraft."

Said Ms Afnindah: "You have to communicate in the game all the time so we've become really good at that. Even though he was far away, I didn't feel it that much."

The pair got married in January 2007 and they now have a three-month-old son, Aidan Rizq. Ms Afnindah plans to relocate to Tennessee with her husband.

"He took care of me in the game, now he's taking care of me in life," said Ms Afnindah.

Black Rose

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