"Building a virtual engine is the only route of certainty to see the engine built in our lifetimes, " he said.

BBC: Campaign builds to construct Babbage Analytical Engine

Microsoft, for instance, in 2010 let FarmVille players explore various parts of its Bing search engine and gave people virtual currency for Liking Bing on Facebook.

FORBES: Meet The Company Behind Zynga's Fastest-Growing Business: Ads

Me completely reorganizes your home screen by acting as a search engine and Siri-like virtual assistant.

FORBES: Everything.Me Wants To Be The Google For Mobile, Hits 150K Downloads

In effect, it enables a real engine to be tested in a virtual car.

ECONOMIST: Car design

Instances (virtual machine instances) are the heart of Google Compute Engine.

FORBES: Google Announces Cloud Infrastructure Service: Google Compute Engine

The uncanny fusion of actual and virtual space utilizes dual stereoscopic projections, mirrors, a double-sided projection and game engine software customized by the artists.

ENGADGET: Museum of The Moving Image plans multi-million dollar updates with HD, 3D

For five years now the E2.0 platform provider community has argued the case for collaboration as a new engine of growth and efficiency and the case will be made again next week at Virtual E.20.

FORBES: Should Your Focus be a Collaboration or Innovation Platform?