Fans of the movie Clerks will remember a discussion of "the flying car" and its resuscitation several years ago with a late night television skit on Jay Leno (link opens to a YouTube video). In a nutshell, the debate relates to how we, as citizens of the 21st century, haven't quite lived up to our technological aspirations a la Jetsons-style.

I've had similar debates myself. What happened to virtual reality? Why aren't websites like Second Life more prevalent? And why aren't there a slew of virtual dating sites that merge the two? Well, technology is finally catching up with startup companies like Canada's OmniDate. Although still in beta testing, the site holds promise.

Still, virtual dating today is a far cry from what I had envisioned, which was a highly malleable avatar ready to date on a moment's notice, and in any locale the mind could create. Unfortunately, the "reality" of this virtual dating world (at this time) is that OmniDate only has ten avatars to choose from (five per sex) and that all hosted dates occur in a canned coffee shop environment. Not that any of those things will stop me from using the service and working through the bugs. In fact, I'm excited to see how virtual dates compare to face-to-face dates, and if the allure of meeting someone virtually will spill over into the real world. Then again, online virtual worlds carry the kind of social stigma that online dating sites used to about five years ago. There may not be enough of a user base yet, if ever.

How about you? Have you tried virtual dating? Would you? Why or why not?