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Finland Opens a New Virtual World to the Internet
May 22, 1997
Nokia Research Center, the MTV3 Channel and Digital Media Institute of The Technical University of Tampere together have developed an interactive virtual world. The project is a part of the Finnish Multimedia Programme, a national consortium whose purpose is to build up infrastructure for multimedia, create new services and conduct user trials. The virtual world connects new technology and media services in an open manner and allows third party service providers to create an additional virtual presence within the world.
The virtual world presented in this project is based on the Finnish archipelago in the Gulf of Bothnia. Users can chat with others, play networked games, go for virtual boat rides, do virtual fishing, and meet service providers. Every action within the world can instantly be seen by all participants in the virtual world. The results of peoples actions remain unchanged until further action is taken by the participant. For example if one sails a virtual boat into the open sea, it will remain there until someone steers it elsewhere. These shared experiences enhance the attraction of the world, together with realistic soundscape and greater levels of graphic detail.
“Virtual reality worlds offer a new way to communicate and can be as expressive as video conferencing”, describes Hannu Nieminen, head of the Video Laboratory at the Nokia Research Center in Tampere, Finland.
The world is ready for testing and has been opened for limited test use. The first 1000 test users will be selected from a pool of applicants that have filled out a form via the Internet on MTV3’s web pages. The service will be open to the general public later in autumn. Individuals wishing to participate in the virtual world will need an Internet connected personal computer with Netscape Navigator and a plug-in for VRML 2.0.
The service runs on a platform called Invent!, recently developed by DMI. It enables platform independent multi-user communication, shared experiences and netgames with no plug-ins or installations. The Invent! client is thus transparent to the end user. The Invent! client uses VRML 2.0 and Java.
MTV3 Finland is the most popular TV-channel in Finland and with its 42% (1996) share it is also among the most popular TV-stations in Europe. MTV3 Finland’s Internet service is also the most frequently visited site in Finland with 40 - 50.000 daily visitors (April 1997).
The Digital Media Institute is a research unit of the Tampere University of Technology in Tampere, Finland. There are about 150 researchers from 20 different countries at DMI. It has been nominated as a top research unit by the Finnish Academy. It also coordinates activities of VR-SIG Finland. (http://www.dmi.tut.fi.)
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