We all know robots are going to take over the world. It’s simply a fact – tried and true. Someday, someone is going to make a machine that is so advanced, it realizes it can enslave us all, and that will be that. The obvious scenario for a robot-dominated planet is a human race that is kept immersed in a virtual existence, blissfully unaware of its own bondage. With creations like the PS3 Home, we are one step closer to happily plugging ourselves in and ignoring the woes of reality. We won’t even put up a fight.

Unfortunately, nobody can be told what the PS3 Home is; you have to read about it in The Wake. The soon-to-be-released PS3 Home is Sony’s answer to Xbox Live. It does more than just allow you to play games – it is a game in itself. Home offers the same features as Xbox Live, but does so in Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game style (that’s MMORPG for short). Before you get onto Home you design your avatar, which is the graphical equivalent to the Xbox Live “nickname.” Instead of CockSniper69, you have an actual, graphical character. Home allows you to change your character’s general appearance to best resemble your own. Obviously, everyone will appear as 21-year-old models in peak physical condition. This feature will become progressively more important as players’ real, physical bodies will deteriorate over time.

Your avatar is what you use to explore Home. Instead of chatting with your friends over a chat client, as in Xbox Live, you meet with your friends and talk over a headset. Each player has an apartment, which, in a nod towards The Sims, is fully customizable. Your apartment allows you to invite friends over and throw parties. Want to have music or a movie at your party? PS3 allows you to stream files from your PS3 over your virtual television or stereo, providing entertainment for all your guests. Of course, you’re also able to play your favorite video games with anyone you meet while exploring.

This is just the beginning – take this technology to a marketable standpoint and the end-result is both exciting and scary. Just as Xbox Live allows users to download movies for a fee, players of Home can meet at a movie theatre in the virtual city and watch a film together. The makers of Home are planning on providing events like concerts as well. There’s an auction feature, which allows players to sell their items in true eBay style. Businesses will have the ability to buy an in-game store and sell merchandise the same way any online retailer does – only in a 3D environment that allows players to virtually walk around their store. Did I mention the Home service is free?

You don’t have to be a geek to appreciate the potential impact this design will have on the future of technology. The techniques used in PS3 Home can be applied everywhere on the Internet. Instead of typing in a web URL, maybe one day we’ll hop on a virtual motorcycle. What’s scary about this technology? If it advances enough, people might become fully integrated in the new “Internet.” World of Warcraft addicts literally spend the majority of their time in a surreal universe – what happens when that lifestyle has practical applications? And let’s not forget the shitty side of new technology. With the PS3 Home, Sony is creating an entirely new form of marketing. Instead of pop-up ads, maybe a sexy blonde avatar will follow me for hours telling me how much size matters or inviting me to chat with her hot friends. We’ll just have to wait and see.