Virtual worlds, like Second Life and Entropia, are well… virtual. Avatars created in these worlds often have little or no relevance to their real life users. However, with the fairly recent creation of Kaneva, the line between the virtual world and the real world may begin to look rather blurry.

Kaneva, which is still in its beta version, was developed by Chris Klaus, who created Internet Security Systems (ISS) and later sold it for $1.3 billion. Since selling ISS, Klaus has directed his attention full-time to designing Kaneva and giving a very different feel than virtually any other world out there right now.

What sets Kaneva apart is that it combines the elements of a 3-D virtual world, a la Second Life, with a 2-D personal profile website, a la MySpace. When users first sign up, they can create their own 2-D profile page on Kaneva and add friends, send messages, and share photos and videos in much the same way that users on MySpace can. After signing up and creating their own profile, users can enter Kaneva’s 3-D virtual world and create their own avatar, just like users can in Second Life.

While many aspects of Second Life are obviously tailored only to the virtual world (many Second Life avatars have wings and sometimes look more like animals than humans), Klaus’s goal is for Kaneva to be a virtual world that mirrors the real world. Through its 2-D profile website, many users create avatars that are similar to the real-world personalities.

Another unique aspect of Kaneva is that it provides its users with a free virtual apartment once they create an account and enter Kaneva’s 3-D world. Users can then upload pictures and graphics from their Kaneva profile and place them as framed pictures in their new apartment. Users can change the style of the flooring and walls in the apartment. In addition, they can shop in-world and place their own furniture in their newly decorated apartment. Finally, if users choose to buy a TV in-world, they can then upload videos that they have put up in their real 2-D profile site, and then watch the video on their virtual TV in Kaneva’s 3-D world. Through all of these features, Kaneva has seamlessly bridged the distinction between aspects of the real-world and aspects of the virtual world.

Klaus also said that Kaneva’s goal is to reach a different user demographic than many other virtual worlds. “Unlike most companies in the gaming space, we are not pushing the latest and greatest graphics. Our world is about connecting with people in a very casual way,” said Klaus in an interview that he gave in February to Digital Arts Online.

Because Kaneva is still in its beta testing version, no companies have signed on and agreed to promote their brands in-world. However, Klaus believes that because so much of the Kaneva experience is rooted in the real-world, it’s an ideal opportunity for companies like Coca Cola and IBM to advertise. One of Klaus’s main business objectives is to design Kaneva such that it has many different purposes and is able to be redesigned so that other virtual worlds can be built on it. Klaus’s long-term vision is to have companies like Coca Cola use Kaneva’s world, and later on possibly create their own worlds for purposes of e-commerce. Klaus feels like this type of e-commerce could lend itself to companies using the virtual world for all different types of experiences, from virtual town hall meetings to virtual conference rooms.

Kaneva has published on their website that the has a world population of over 290,000 (remember, they are still in early stages of development). Comparatively, that’s about 4 percent of Second Life’s population of over 7.1 million. All of Klaus’s current ideas and plans are projections. No companies have officially signed on to advertise in Kaneva.

Regardless, Kaneva has perhaps changed the virtual world landscape. The line between the real world and the virtual world is a little less clear-cut. It is possible that in the future users may see other virtual worlds that combine aspects of the real world and virtual world in much the same way that Kaneva has. It may still be to early to tell, but one thing is certain, in terms of marketing it has a great deal of potential and upside.