Knowledge Aventure World Inc’s upcoming World Fair (CI No 2,533), which will be a kind of electronic on line three-dimensional DisneyWorld that the user can navigate in real time using the computer mouse will be divided up into different areas, called pavilions each with its own themes. Some will be ‘chat rooms’, where you can communicate with other people using the system and other sections will feature fun and games or educational material. There will also be scope for business and advertisers to use the system. People accessing the park will be aware of the other people who are also using it at the same time, so the fair will get busy like a real theme park. The company will be using its own technology and that from multimedia software developer Knowledge Adventures Inc, the company from which it was spun off. The Zoom Scape software from Knowledge Adventure is being used to create the three-dimensional environment that the participants will walk through in real time and the Life Forms software from Knowledge Aventure Worlds itself is a three-dimensional technology that provides the articulated characters in that environment. Rob Schmults, sales and marketing manager, says that both technologies are licensed to third parties, but it is keeping the Life Forms software a bit more under its belt. Knowledge Adventure World will develop some of the content for the system itself but it will largely be carried out on a partnership basis. The company is not at liberty yet to discuss who it is working with because discussions are still the early stages, but Landmark Entertainment Group, the independent developer of theme parks will be working to make the Fair graphically realistic and appealing, as well as advising on sociological factors that occur in real theme parks, such as the fact that most people turn right when they enter them. Anyone with Internet access will be able to link into the system, but they will need a CD ROM costing about $20 to $25 that will be distributed by Knowledge Adventures among others. It will contain information on the fixed infrastucture of the Fair, such as the buildings and surrounding scenery because it would not be practical to down-load such vast amounts of information while using the system. Positional information of where you and other people using the fair at any particular time will be down-loaded from the Internet in real time. Information on the weather will also be updated in real time. Some of the fair will be free and some of it will be charged for, such as games. The CD ROM may contain ‘time bombs’ as well. This means that on October 31, for example, special environments may appear on screen relevant to that particular festivity.
