Fancy taking part in an exciting aerobatics competition against real-life pilots – although you have never been behind the controls of a plane in your life?

Well, now that’s possible thanks to a new technology that merges real and virtual worlds in a way that allows exactly this to happen.

Sky Challenge, being developed by a company in New Zealand, means that real-life pilots can tacke a course of virtual obstacles – alongside gamers who are simultaneously playing.

Is this the next big thing to follow World of Warcraft, Second Life and the Nintendo Wii?

Watch the video showing the planes in action here >>

Here’s an earlier BBC story explaining the concept more fully >>