Welcome to a new hi-tech virtual reality Belfast! A local arts group has designed a remarkable representation of the city on the smash hit Second Life fantasy website.

You can dander around the docks and visit the Rotterdam Bar, nip into St George’s Market, catch a movie at much-missed Curzon or even dance in the ballroom of the Titanic.

Visitors create an ‘avatar’ — an alter ego character — who can roam the world and meet other users on www.secondlife.com.

The North Belfast Musicians’ Collective is behind the virtual world.

Since it became part of the massively successful Second Life fantasy phenomenon Belfast has been visited by 3,000-5,000 people every month.

NBMC web designer Stephen Thomson said virtual Belfast had been inspired by a campaign to save The Rotterdam, an historic music venue.

“This all started about a year ago because they were going to knock down the Rotterdam and Pat’s Bar,” he said.

“We helped to run the campaign to save the Rotterdam.

“As part of that we came up with the idea of building a simulation of the bar and followed that up with live music broadcasts from the actual Rotterdam into the virtual one. The reaction was totally massive. So, we decided to expand and give a good impression of Belfast and the great music talent here.”

Since then the NBMC has given platforms to acts such as Driving By Night, Joe Echo and Davy ‘Ludwig’ O’Neill.

Today Second Life users can visit legendary blues venue The Maritime Club to see and hear performers pay tribute to Van Morrison’s classic Astral Weeks album.

They can also visit virtual art galleries displaying work by local artists and buy pieces online!

Other Belfast landmarks depicted in this 3-D world include the Harland & Wolff cranes, North

Street Arcade, Maddens Bar and murals around the city.

Second Life hit the headlines last month when an English woman initiated divorce proceedings against her husband, after catching his avatar having an affair in the virtual reality world.

Linda Brinkley (55), known on line as ‘Modesty McDonnell’, revealed that since her online fling with David Pollard the couple had become engaged in real life.

But she denied her internet love affair with Mr Pollard had led to the break-up of the 40-year-old's marriage to wife Amy Taylor.

As well as having its own social life, the webworld has its own economy where you can make business deals or buy goods.

But for Stephen and the NBMC, Second Life is all about the music.

“There is that sort of sleazy side of it, but our focus is totally on live music, local artists and old Belfast,” he said.

Although Stephen has his own avatar on Second Life, he keeps a healthy sense of reality about it!”

“What we do with Belfast on Second Life is about as close as you can get to a live gig on a computer,” he added.

“At the end of the day, if you are chatting up somebody beside you, you are chatting up a cartoon, it is not a real person. And the pints are virtual as well, which is another disadvantage!”

jmcgurk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk