Another world

Article Abstract:

Willisville, an online interactive game prototype created by partners Allee Willis and Prudence Fenton, has received seed funding from Intel. As envisioned, Willisville will be a 24-hour 3-D community on the Internet, featuring animated characters, music and video. Players will be able to participate in bulletin boards, chat rooms, contests and games with Willisville's eccentric characters, as well as interact with Willisville characters in continuing storylines. According to Willis, Willisville will be financed by advertising. The advertiser's product will be positioned in the storyline and animation. Willisville is scheduled for an important test in Apr 1997. As Intel business development VP Avram Miller contends, Willisville is a epoch-making event in the new field of PC broadcast entertainment.

Internet service providers, Intel Corp., INTC, Internet service provider, Entertainment industry, Computer games, Computer game, Multimedia systems, Interactive media, Interactive technology, Multimedia Technology

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EToys to join Web-retailer parade with IPO

Article Abstract:

Internet retailer of toys EToys Inc. plans to sell 8.2 million shares, an 8% stake, at an expected $10 to $12 apiece. Although still a small firm, EToys has been growing rapidly and now has a customer base of 365,000. Nevertheless, the firm still operates at a deficit, even while pursuing intense growth. Toy makers do not view the online market as a threat, but rather see it as a boon, given that Toys'R'Us Inc. has made sharp inventory cutbacks which hurt toy manufacturers. EToys' largest shareholders include partnerships associated with idealab!, Highland Capital, Sequoia Capital, Dynafund and the venture capital part of Intel Corp. Industry analysts see EToys and other online retailers as providing additional distribution channels for toy makers, which is of net benefit to the toy industry.

United States, Hobby, Toy & Games Stores, Hobby, Toy, and Game Stores, Hobby, toy, and game shops, Securities, Toy stores, eToys Inc.

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Creating a community: a virtual world in Phoenix has allowed inner-city students to cope better in the real world

Article Abstract:

An experimental Internet-accessible virtual community called Pueblo has been created at Longview Elementary School, Phoenix, AZ, enabling students to interact with elderly people and patients in long-term care facilities. Longview Elementary is an inner-city school that mainly serves low-income children, and Pueblo, which is a joint venture involving Xerox Corp's Palo Alto Research Center and Phoenix College, aims to encourage educational progress that might otherwise be thwarted by lack of guidance, poor role models and high dropout rates. According to Jim Walters, Pueblo's director, the original idea was to make it fun to practice reading and writing on the computer, and additionally, the arrangement provides mentors for students who lack a strong support system at home.

Analysis, Usage, Telecommunications systems, Schools, Education, Educational innovations, Technology in education, Phoenix, Arizona, World Wide Web, Elementary schools, Educational technology, Experimental education

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