Search engine giant Google is entering a new space, with the introduction of Google Lively, a 3D virtual world.

Google has established itself as a leader in providing technological tools, but Google Lively will serve more as a form of entertainment and expression for users.

Lively users create their own 3D "rooms," and customize them with furniture and other accessories. But these "rooms" don't have to be "rooms." During a quick test-run, we visited one user's room that was modeled after an Ewok village, complete with tribal Ewok music. Another had a Wild West theme, and another was modeled after a little girl's bedroom.

Users can also create their own customizable avatars to represent themselves digitally (see the Next-Gen rodent in the pic).

Virtual rooms are displayed within web browsers after installing a small, free downloadable file. Users can browse these rooms at the Lively website, or embed them on their own blogs or sites.

Even in beta form, a quick tour shows a surprisingly robust and flexible virtual world. However, it's only available on Windows XP and Vista for now.

Niniane Wang, engineering manager for the project said in a blog post that Google had been working with Arizona State University on the Lively project.

Wang said, "Based on feedback from ASU students and with help from the Google Desktop team, we added support for playing YouTube videos in virtual TVs and showing photos in virtual picture frames inside our rooms. Better yet, the gadgets you have in your Lively rooms can also run on your desktop."

A video displaying some of the features of Lively can be found here.