Not only would such a free, public, high-profile project have practical applications for sim-projects on Earth, but as the public plays with such a plugin it could also allay concerns some space enthusiasts might have about settlers leaving friends and family to live "in isolation".
A Skype plug-in could offer the ability to record video messages in an ongoing stream of conversation over an artificial time delay, enabling video chat in the same way SMS chats may not necessarily be real-time....
