Interactive Rich Media

Activeworlds Inc., headquartered in Newburyport, Massachusetts, provides software products and online services that permit users to enter, move about and interact with others in a computer generated, 3D virtual environment using the Internet. A 3D virtual environment enables users to move in three dimensions and  to create objects and structures which other users can see and move in real time.

The “Active Worlds Browser” runs on Windows and Linux. Active Worlds has two ways of entering its universe: as a free tourist or as a paid citizen. Tourist mode is Active Worlds’ version of a free account with several limitations. You can pay for a citizen for the price of $6.95/month or $69.95/year.

On June 28, 1995 AlphaWorld was renamed Active Worlds and officially launched as version 1.0. On June 16, 2008, Activeworlds, Inc. released the first major update to the browser in two years, version 4.2. The update was considered smooth and painless, being completed in a matter of only fifteen minutes, compared to the several days of version 4.1’s initial upgrade in 2006. Version 4.2 includes an enhanced graphics engine, captured web pages on objects, and, most notably, customizable avatars on a scale more complex than that of Second Life.

In 2008, Alphaworld is 429,025 km2 large, has more than 360.000 paid citizens, more than 200 million objects, more than 100 shops selling a wide variety of products and more than 1000 unique worlds to explore

In 2005, SEGA Toys introduced a small robot dog called i-dog in Japan which played about 70 stored children’s songs and other favorites. A sensor on top of the dog was used to control the tempo of the song playback. The i-dog was also able to mimic the owners voice with sound that had similar wavelengths. The i-dog was licensed to Tiger Electronics, a subsidiary of Hasbro Inc for distribution in the United States. Today, a complete series of robotic music loving pet’s is available in different colors and looks. i-pet’s can wear clothing and they react to music from an external source, such as an MP3 player. They feature seven flashing LED lights on its face and have the ability to ‘dance’ to the beat of the music. They also have a number of switches to react to user input. They have various emotions (which change based on user interaction) that provide different color patterns on its LED lights.

I-CAT, the musical feline is fond of rock, punk, rap, hip-hop, dance, techno and more! I-DOG entertains you with electronic lights, movements and sounds based on the music you play.  I-CY, the performing penguin, loves to dive into music and flap its flippers to your tunes. You make him happy with lots of music and interaction! I-CY communicates moods through musical riffs, movement and tons of blinking light patterns! It even squawks to let you know when it needs more attention! I-FISH dances by swishing it’s tail and spinning around.

To switch the I-DOG off, press the nose button more than 5 seconds.

In 2007, a basic version of the i-dog was manufactured for the McDonald’s corporation, with reduced functionality, different styling and without speaker or movement. The toy has a switch on its underside that turns it on, subsequent pressing of the nose button causes the lights in the head to flash varying colours.

The latest creation, I-DOG AMP (Automated Music Personality), is aivalable in four colors.  Plug it into your music player and get stereo sound – louder than before – when he plays your music through his built-in speaker! Control the volume with his tail and rock out! And with cooler moves than ever before, this doggone-good dancer taps his paw to the beat, bobs his head, wags his tail and gets his ears movin’ and groovin’!

A virtual I-DOG (digital representation of the new I-DOG AMP’D) can be downloaded from the Tiger Electronics website for MAC’s and PC’s. Virtual I-DOG dances in synch to the MP3 music files stored on your computer. Browse for a song using Virtual I-DOG’s interface and play a tune to watch him groove.

Blink 3D®, a platform for creating multi-user Web based virtual worlds and 3D environments has been developped by Pelican Crossing. Blink 3D can be used for: Virtual Worlds, Games, Education, Virtual Heritage, Business, Online Stores, Machinima, Product Marketing and 3D chat.

Blink 3D is available in different editions including a free Ultra Lite edition. Blink 3D’s drag and drop, point and click interface makes it is easy to learn and you don’t have to program if you don’t want to. You can use 3D primitives to quickly build your world or you can import your models from a wide range of modeling products. If you are a programmer Blink 3D has the most extensive API available on the market today.

Version 2.0 of Blink 3D was released on June 27th, 2008.

Pelican Crossing was founded in 2001 by Clive Jackson. The companies initial focus was add-on products for Adobe Atmosphere. However with the demise of Atmosphere in Dec 2004, Pelican Crossing stepped into the resulting void with Blink 3D.