Sky News will launch in Second Life on Sunday May 27 at the Hay festival, making the news channel the first to take up a permanent presence in the 3D virtual world.

A Second Life replica of the Sky News Centre is being built to give residents a unique behind-the-scenes, interactive look at its newsroom. Visitors to the virtual studio will be able to sit in presenter chairs, read the autocue and visit the gallery.

Other interactive features planned for the near future will allow visitors to create their own news reports, upload their own pictures and video clips of news events and even bump into and chat with Sky News presenters and reporters. Editors and correspondents will provide exclusive talks to Second Lifers on major home and foreign stories. Virtual residents can also take away television sets carrying a Sky News video feed with headlines and breaking news from the real world.

Sky News’ Sunday Live with Adam Boulton programme will come live from The Guardian Hay Festival on Sunday May 27, and segments will be simulcast on TV and on Second Life from 11am.

Second Life residents or ‘avatars’ will be able to attend the special event in a virtual Hay festival area with Boulton taking questions for his guests Mariella Frostrup, Clive James and Kathy Lette, live on-air.

Sky News, head of news John Ryley said: “Second Life presents Sky News with new and exciting opportunities to deliver news and information, by allowing people to get even closer to news events. We hope that through our virtual newsroom users will be able to connect better with the day’s news stories, leading to a greater understanding of the real world.”

Since it launched to the public in 2003, Second Life has grown to include 5,214,581 people from around the globe.