CHICAGO TRIBUNE -- May 11 -- Paula Weisz's favorite place to take her dates is the Millennium bar. For her dates, she doesn't get dressed up, doesn't put on makeup, and doesn't even need to leave the comfort of her living room sofa. Weisz is among the growing number of people who are exploring virtual dating. "The gap can be filled by this simulated world that's safe, virtual and fun," said Ravit Abelman, who, with her husband Igor Kotlyar, founded both the OmniDate.com beta (showcase) site and the OmniDate program. "People can move from the online world into the real world and not be strangers." Through OmniDate, users choose avatars, that will represent them on their dates. Virtual dates can include touring a museum gallery, going to a bar, listening to the user's choice of music or even going to the beach. In 2006, researchers at the MIT Media Lab found that people who interacted with each other in the virtual world through avatars had better chemistry in face-to-face meetings than people who had only viewed profiles. Many sites, such as Woome.com and Speeddate.com, are using video chatting to make the online dating experience more realistic. But for some daters, being on video may be intimidating. FULL ARTICLE @ CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Also in COLUMBIA NEWS, THE TORONTO STAR and INDIANA GAZETTE .
Mark Brooks: Igor and Ravit have done a great job building a dating app that really gets daters more emotionally involved and connected. It's a lot more interesting than flat IM. OmniDate is a client of Courtland Brooks and sponsor OPW, btw. Let me know if you'd like a demo, or email Ravit directly.
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