The virtue of virtual interviews

I was reading Canadian Paul Shearstone's blog about job interviews and the importance of first impressions and it started me thinking about the recent Second Life recruitment fair (which the Guardian) sponsored, and how traditional interview preparation advice will need to be rethought.
In the Second Life fair, three companies held virtual interviews with candidates who had applied in advance. Candidates were interviewed in the guise of their Second Life avatars - personas which can be male or female, a strange mutation of gender or indeed animal, and don't necessarily bear any resemblance to the person behind them.
The response from both candidates and recruiters was positive. Both commented on the level of honesty enjoyed during the process - something they felt was unachievable in a traditional first interview. Both parties said they were able to ask direct questions and were not clouded by preconceptions based on accent, gender, or race. All that mattered were the responses to the questions.
It seems to me virtual interviews are the way forward. They provide the perfect solution to the nerve-wracking first meeting and also mean no travel costs, no time lost, and no commitment other than the time to answer the questions.
But if they do take off, careers advisers will need to take note. Advice about how to make a good first impression face-to-face will not be relevant in a virtual world. Indeed advice in general about our working lives will need to adjust especially if reports such as Getting real work done in virtual worlds are to be believed.
So how do you prepare for a virtual interview? Have you ever done one - if so, did you find it a good experience? Were you able to use anything you had learned from traditional interviews?