You must remember the Will.I.Am virtual interview with CNN when Obama won the presidency of the USA, could this be the vision for the next generation of poker website? It would make sense because it would transpose the problem of distance, anonymity and ‘the live question’.
Playing live will always beat playing online because the dynamics are different and more interesting due to the extra senses that are used. With virtual transportation the game will be heightened due to the visual sense being given more info. The sense of touch and smell may still pose a problem but maybe that is not a bad thing.
The major problem with this idea will be cost (the Will.I.Am interview cost about $50,000) and this will not be overcome in 2010, however, it will be done sometime and should be a spectacular.