View source for Conference with WorldsAway Executive Director, Tony Christopher - November 1, 1995

 <pre>CompuServe Convention Center Transcript

**WorldsAway Executive Director, Tony Christopher 
**in a live CompuServe Convention Center Conference.

Fujitsu Cultural Technologies, 
Fujitsu Open Systems Solutions, Inc 

     joining Mr. Christopher:

Sophie Kim, Group Product Marketing Manager
Diane Bancroft, Public Relations Manager for Cultural Technologies


Mary Madaras, WorldsAway Member Support - Moderator
Hunter Brown, WorldsAway Member Support - Co-moderator

November 1, 1995
5:00 to 7:00 PM Pacific Time


Mary Madaras, SysOp  | % The floor is now CLOSED
		      | Greetings and welcome to the Convention 
                     | Center everyone! Thanks for coming!
Tony Christopher     | Hello!
Hunter Brown, SysOp  | Hi Mary!
Sophie Kim           | Hello
Mary Madaras, SysOp  | Today the WorldsAway Executive Director, Tony 
                     | Christopher, will talk to us about 
                     | WorldsAway, virtual worlds, and his vision of 
                     | their
                     |  place in the future. 
                     | Joining Tony for our Questions and Answers 
                     | session after his talk will be Sophie Kim and 
                     | Diane Bancroft of the WorldsAway Marketing 
                     | Team. 
                     | (So there will be time after Tony's talk for 
                     | questions..)
                     | So first, a little background on our guests 
                     | tonight: 
                     | Mr. Christopher joined Fujitsus Cultural 
                     | Technolgies division as Director of Marketing 
                     | in 1994. 
                            | Today, as Executive Director, he is 
                            | responsible for all WorldsAway product 
                            | development, online service operations and 
                            | marketing.
                            | Mr. Christopher came to Fujitsu after five 
                            | years of providing marketing
                            | management consulting to leading companies in 
                            | the computer industry including Apple, 3COM, 
                            | Novell and Aldus. 
                            | Prior to this, Mr. Christopher spent two 
                            | years as division marketing manager for 
                            | Scientific Micro Systems and three years at 
                            | Apple C
                            | omputer Inc. where he was the original 
                            | product manager for Applelink.
                            | Sophie Kim joined Fujitsu Cultural 
                            | Technologies Team in February 1994. As the 
                            | Group Product Marketing Manager, she is 
                            | responsible fo
                            | r overseeing the marketing activities for 
                            | WorldsAway. 
                            | Ms. Kim's background is in software 
                            | entertainment marketing and her experience 
                            | includes working for companies such as Sega, 
                            | Broderbu
                            | nd Software and Capcom. 
                            | Diane Bancroft joined Fujitsu in October of 
                            | 1994 as Public Relations Manager for the 
                            | Cultural Technolgies division. 
                            | Ms. Bancroft is responsible for the overall 
                            | public image of WorldsAway as well as serving 
                            | as the primary liason for the press. 
                            | Prior to joining Fujitsu, she was an account 
                            | executive with Ketchum Public Relations and a 
                            | broadcast reporter for the ABC-TV affilia
                            | te in Redding, California.
                            | Welcome, everyone, and let us begin with our 
                            | talk with Tony Christopher. GA
       Tony Christopher     | Greetings, thanks for h\being here. Tonight I 
                            | am here to talk abouvt Virtual Worlds VWs
                            | and go with the directions of your interest
                            | ga
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | Ok, Tony, we're all set !
       Tony Christopher     | I guess a good place to start is to say that 
                            | I think VWs will be prolific
                            | They will expand from the burgeoning interest 
                            | in cyberspace
                            | right now the web is very hot ... but it is a 
                            | little lonely on the web
                            | it is a little like window shopping at night 
                            | ...byyouself!
                            | VWs will offer places for people to gather 
                            | ... and be jumping off points for moving 
                            | around 
                            | the net
                            | WA is just the beginning
                            | We are creating an environment where people 
                            | enjoy being together ... and we are learing 
                            | how to build community online
                            | this is a skil that almost no-one has ... we 
                            | have the advantage of our roots
                            | Habitat creators are major contribuotrs to 
                            | our work
                            | and in just the last two months we have grown 
                            | quite a community in WA
                            | We are learning a lot aobut how to offer 
                            | infrastructure, technology and support to 
                            | people
                            | and then letting the people build the comunity
                            | We really believe that you, the people who 
                            | come to our world, are the creators asmuch 
                            | (ormore)than we are
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | Yes, there is a ton of creativity coming from 
                            | the forum too! 
       Tony Christopher     | As I said, WA Dreamscape is the very 
                            | beginning, VWs will grow dramatically
                            | GA
       Hunter Brown, SysOp  | I have an interesting question here from 
                            | Sabotage...
       Tony Christopher     | OK
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | He asks: Is there any point to Virtual Worlds?
       Tony Christopher     | Well, that is a wide open question
                            | Sure is, first, it is aboutpeople meeting and 
                            | coming together in new ways
                            | they are about creating a place where you can 
                            | be with people
       Sophie Kim           | A way to interact with others without 
                            | geographic limitations
       Tony Christopher     | and  they are about givng users a presence 
                            | through their avatars
       Sophie Kim           | A place to meet many people whom you 
                            | otherwise wouldn't be 
                            | able to meet
                            | ga
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | A request from our audience as well:
                            | Can you define what Virtual Worlds are?
       Tony Christopher     | They provide presence and place in cyberspace
                            | the graphics create the place and the avatars 
                            | offer personal presence.
                            | Doesthat do it?
                            | GA
       Diane Bancroft       | Its really about creating a totally new 
                            | experience you 
                            | won't find anyplace else.
                            | GA
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | One comment from Prez:
       Question:            | From SANTA CLARA, CA:
       prez                 | It seems to me that WA provides an 
                            | opportunity to develop social skills: to find 
                            | out what works and what doesn't with other 
                            | folks, and why. It's a second chance you 
                            | don't get so easily in real life.
       Tony Christopher     | Good point Prez
                            | VWs like WA absolutely offer the opportunity 
                            | to develop or stretch your social skills
                            | I tend to be muchmore outgoing in WA than I 
                            | am in a social situation where I do not 
                            | know people
                            | GA
       Sophie Kim           | It also offeres the opportunity to experiment 
                            | with different 
                            | identities
                            | and learn about how you react in various 
                            | situations GA
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | OK, here's a question from Gavin:
       Question:            | From LONDON:
       Gavin, Toucan Europ  | The non-profit making charity organisation 
                            | whom I work for is creating a graphical 
                            | environment for the elderly.. What sort of 
                            | provision (if any) have you made for this 
                            | age-group in W.A. ?
       Tony Christopher     | Itis open for everybody.
                            | We re talking to senior organizationsin the US
                            | I think that seniors are a great group to use 
                            | VWs
                            | theyhave a lot of wisdom to offer others
                            | and they are not always as mobile as young 
                            | people so it may be that VWs become a 
                            | ggreat social medium for them
                            | GA
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | and we have a comment from Diane:
       Diane Bancroft       | For some seniors who may feel a bit lonely or 
                            | disconnected, or perhaps aren't able to 
                            | travel as much as 
                            | they used to  VWs offer a great way to remain 
                            | socially 
                            | active.
                            | ga
       Sophie Kim           | WA can be agelss place to be and also a place 
                            | where they may 
                            | be able to interact with other members of 
                            | family who may live 
                            | somewhere far away.
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | One comment from the above discussion from JW:
       Question:            | From SANTA CLARA, CA:
       JW                   | Not only is WorldsAway a place to meet people 
                            | but is also a great form of entertainment.  
                            | Exploring areas, acquiring items, and 
                            | participating in games. :)

       Tony Christopher     | Sure ... as I said, a new way to get together 
                            | withothers
                            | GA
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | Here's another question:
       Question:            | From SANTA MARIA, CA:
       Cyberdude            | with the growth of VW's, will you be able to 
                            | service all of the public, such as someone 
                            | with 8 megs of RAM...i know as VW's grow, so 
                            | will the sys requirements...what to you think 
                            | we can do to help this?
       Tony Christopher     | Absolutely, 8 MB is on the verge
                            | you will see WA supported on lower 
                            | endmachines in the very near future
                            | We have been working very hard 
                            | to enhance WA performance in 8MB machines
                            | This technology is very complex... it is 
                            | leading edge communications and Multimedia
                            | and so it is hard to makeit work in less than 
                            | very powerful machines .... but we are doing 
                            | it
                            | Version 1.0, which you will see by the end of 
                            | this month (oops, I am not supposed to 
                            | announce dates)
                            | will run as well on an 8MB machine as version 
                            | 0.8 on 16MB
                            | And, we have crammed a few more features in 
                            | to boot!
                            | GA
       Diane Bancroft       | PR to the rescue...we are "shooting" for the 
                            | end of the 
                            | month, but we haven't announced any official 
                            | dates yet.
                            | GA
       Tony Christopher     | LOL, Diane.
                            | ga.
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | Ah, the word is out now, Tony! Here's a 
                            | question about that next release coming up...
       Question:            | From CHERRY HILL, NJ:
       Passion              | Will turfs be implemented in 1.0?
       Tony Christopher     | Turfs is an "object" to WA ...
                            | The version 1.0 client will support the Turfs 
                            | object
                            | You will not see turfs immediately with 
                            | version 1.0
                            | we are working very hard to get 1.0 out 
                            | and havelaid the groundwork for turfs and 
                            | toher objects that 
                            | you will receive by remote update as you did 
                            | the Halloween objects
                            | Another thing on "Objects"
                            | through them we can add major new features to 
                            | WA and you will begin to see this soon 
                            | after version 1.0 is out
                            | Using remote update we will grow the world, 
                            | in size and capabilities through these object 
                            | updates
                            | GA
       Hunter Brown, SysOp  | I have a quick question for ya
                            | I know Mary and I get this one in the forum 
                            | all time....
                            | In the interest of serving all the public
                            | will furture versions
                            | of WorldsAway
                            | be distributed on other media besides a long 
                            | download via CompuServe or the Web?
       Tony Christopher     | Sophie, I think you are the expert on this
                            | GA
       Sophie Kim           | Our marketing strategy is to make WA software 
                            | widely 
                            | available.
                            | Initially 1.0 will be through download
                            | but a few weeks thereafter, it will be 
                            | available on floppies and 
                            | CDs
                            | You will be able to order them online or by 
                            | phone through 
                            | CompuServe. GA
       Hunter Brown, SysOp  | Is there a cost for the software?
                            | on disk or CD-ROM?
       Sophie Kim           | We will be offering them at a price to cover 
                            | our cost.
                            | That is, it will most likely be at less than 
                            | $10.00.
                            | GA
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | The above answers Dennis's question:
       Question:            | From DALLAS, TX:
       Dennis Boehmer       | it only makes sense that fujitsu will profit 
                            | from the distribution of disks. when will 
                            | these and CD-roms be available?
       Sophie Kim           | We will not be making profit on the software 
                            | sales
                            | but if you mean from increased no. of users, 
                            | then yes
                            | The CDs will be available in a few weeks 
                            | after 1.0 release as 
                            | download
                            | GA
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | Thanks Sophie! ok, here's our next question:
       Question:            | From LONDON:
       Minstrel             | Isn' cyberspace going to turn us all into 
                            | cyberhermits, chained to our screens 
                            | increasingly alienated from the "real" world?
       Tony Christopher     | Only if you allow that to happen. 
                            | As Prez implied in his point, cyberspace 
                            | offers the opportunity to expand social 
                            | skills ... 
                            | which will benefit you in RL.. 
                            | Only those who choose to isolate themselves 
                            | will be "cyberhermits"
                            | GA
       Diane Bancroft       | Agreed.  Would you "choose" to be a 
                            | cyberhermit?  As 
                            | with everything else in life, its about 
                            | personal choice and 
                            | most importantly, balance.  We certainly 
                            | don't advocate 
                            | people spending an unhealthy amount of time 
                            | in virtual 
                            | worlds or cruising the net or for that 
                            | matter, watching 
                            | television.  People need to create their own 
                            | sense of 
                            | balance based on their own set of priorities, 
                            | friends, 
                            | family, work, hobbies etc.  We all need to 
                            | keep our 
                            | competing interests in perspective.
                            | GA
       Question:            | From ORLEANS, ON:
       Joe                  | You were talking about avatars being able to 
                            | create their own enviroments.  Is that 
                            | possible right now and if not when?
       Tony Christopher     | Turfs will be the first WA capabilities in 
                            | this area
                            | You will be able to decorate and make it feel 
                            |  like your own place
                            | Creating your own environment presents lots 
                            | of user interface, and "zoning" issues that 
                            | will have to be worked out over time
                            | GA
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | Here is one about avatars:
       Question:            | From SANTA CLARA, CA:
       prez                 | when can we have non-human bodies?
       Tony Christopher     | Well, it is simply a matter of priorities ... 
                            | right now we are totally consumed with 
                            | building 
                            | a world which performs in a way that most 
                            | potential users can access and 
                            | enjoy.   We are filling that world with 
                            | objects to enhance your interactions 
                            | withothers in 
                            | WA. 
                            | Non human bodies will probably be there in 
                            | the future, but rightnow we are 
                            | focusedonthese priorities
                            | GA
       Question:            | From ATLANTA, GA:
       Father Christmas     | How will VW's deal with over crowding?  With 
                            | the few people currently in WA I have already 
                            | seen room were not everyone  can partisipate. 
                            |  Is more real estate the only answer? GA
       Tony Christopher     | Yes, more real estate is the current answer
                            | We have considered rooms which can support 
                            | more avatars, but there are technoogy 
                            | restrictions
                            | Also, more than 6 people chatting gets very 
                            | confusing
                            | and fills the locale such that avatars are 
                            | limited
                            | in their range of motion ... 
                            | sort lof like being in a crowd at the World 
                            | Series
                            | Regarding overcrowding, we _will_ grow the 
                            | world so that there is enough room for all
                            | GA
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | A comment for the question about bodies 
                            | above--we do have lots of great suggestions 
                            | from the forum for non-human bodies, and have 
                            | be
                            | en collecting them all for future 
                            | development. Keep those suggestions coming in!
                            | Here's an in-World question:
       Question:            | From SANTA MARIA, CA:
       Cyberdude            | What are we to do about the thefts in WA?
       Tony Christopher     | This is an in-world issue ... you should talk 
                            | to the Acolytes or Oracles
                            | We really want you to participate in finding 
                            | solutions that work for the communiity.
                            | I do not want to dicate how to deal with 
                            | stealing or other such issues ... 
                            | it is a community issue
                            | GA
       Diane Bancroft       | We strongly believe those of you who populate 
                            | the 
                            | world need to be the ones to determine how to 
                            | handle 
                            | in-world crime (like theft).  Its part of 
                            | what goes in to 
                            | building a community...dealing with 
                            | rebellious members. 
                            | Those who choose to steal and wreak other 
                            | kinds of 
                            | havoc will gain unsavory reputations and 
                            | pretty soon will 
                            | find themselves shunned by respectable 
                            | members of the 
                            | community.  We think its better to let you 
                            | resolve your 
                            | differences amongst yourselves with help from 
                            | the 
                            | Acolytes and Oracles if need be.
                            | GA
       Question:            | From CHERRY HILL, NJ:
       Passion              | When will Blasted Heath or perhaps Adventure 
                            | Areas open?
       Tony Christopher     | We can't commit to dates ... sorry
                            | GA
       Hunter Brown, SysOp  | That would ruin the surprise!...
                            | Opening up the regions slowly.. brings on a 
                            | better community development.
                            | But, we're committed to opening up locales,
                            | And, the WorldsAway in-World Development Team 
                            | is working on new locales...
                            | to provide to the community...
                            | this is ongoing.
                            | WorldsAway, is an open journey....
                            | not an end  :)
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | Thanks Hunter....here's one about turfs:
       Question:            | From DALLAS, TX:
       Dennis Boehmer       | How long after release will we be able to own 
                            | rather than lease the turfs? that will be the 
                            | one way to create.
       Tony Christopher     | So you want a mortgage payment instead of a 
                            | rental payment? :)
                            | I am not sure what rent versus lease means in 
                            | cyberspace.
                            | GA
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | Ok, this also is more of an in-World question 
                            | to be answered more later...as turfs become 
                            | available.
       Question:            | From SANTA CLARA, CA:
       prez                 | OK, then when can we have hats?
       Tony Christopher     | We are working on it.
                            | Again, version 1.0 can support this sort of 
                            | object capability.
                            | I can't say exactly when it will be there, 
                            | but it will.
                            | GA
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | Always more to come, prez!
       Question:            | From VAN NUYS, CA:
       MarvL                | The seems to be an intentional arms length 
                            | relationship between inworld and inforum, but 
                            | both serve the same customer base. Could you 
                            | comment on the purpose of the separation.
       Tony Christopher     | Good question Marv
                            | Thepurpose of the forum is to provide a 
                            | technical support venue for WA
                            | We are working on providing in-world, forum 
                            | capabilites
                            | such as documentation
                            | When these are available, the separation 
                            | between forum and WA will likely increase
                            | as WA becomes less dependent on the forum
                            | GA
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | I'm going to put up three really quick ones
                            | that are In-World, Oracle type questions,
                            | that we really don't have the capacity to 
                            | answer at this time,
                            | but will put them up for short comment:
       Question:            | From KANSAS CITY, MO:
       Necrolyte Master     | will the executioners head be released in 
                            | 1.0??? --hoping...
       Question:            | From SANTA MARIA, CA:
       Cyberdude            | on theft: perhaps personal items that noone 
                            | can take from you?????
       Question:            | From JACKSONVILLE, FL:
       fabulous robin m.    | Will there be an ability to change "clothing" 
                            | on avatars in the future? Like clothing 
                            | styles, not just colors?
       Tony Christopher     | Yes, we are working on all these capabilities 
                            | ...
                            | GA
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | We can't really make promises about specific 
                            | heads .
                            | Just have to wait and see on those for now.
                            | OK, folks, if you have more questions, please 
                            | put 'em up!
                            | We have one more question in our queue:
       Question:            | From ORLEANS, ON:
       Joe                  | I'm wondering about adding midi type sound to 
                            | worlds away.  For example having a juke box 
                            | in the bar where you might be able to pick 
                            | between songs to play.  Will that be 
                            | possible?

       Tony Christopher     | I understand that this was addressed this in 
                            | our developers' conference last month ... 
                            | you can check out the details in the 
                            | transcript
                            | in the forum library
                            | Generally, we have talked about how we couls 
                            | add Midi and it is definitely something we 
                            | want to do in the future.
                            | GA
       Question:            | From KANSAS CITY, MO:
       Necrolyte Master     | will there be an unsafe zone like blasted 
                            | heath

       Hunter Brown, SysOp  | I know what he means here....
                            | in a chat
                            | I asked what he meant...
                            | like in Club Caribe
                            | will there be an area where harm can be 
                            | inflicted
                            | and death even for Avatars?
       Tony Christopher     | Blasted Heath won't necessarily be this type 
                            | of area...
                            | though we have taken your interests in such 
                            | and area into consideration
                            | Our developers have been discussing the means 
                            | of technically implementing
                            | death and sickness and ways in which this can 
                            | be addressed.
                            | So, yes, it is in discussion, but the plans 
                            | have not yet been laid.
                            | GA.
       Question:            | From JACKSONVILLE, FL:
       fabulous robin m.    | Will there be "email" inworld? 

       Tony Christopher     | Again, the foundation is in version 1.0 for a 
                            | form of messaging
                            | which can be provided as an "object"
                            | through downloading
                            | GA
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | Ok, we need to head out of those In-World 
                            | type questions...which brings us to one by 
                            | Trapper:
       Question:            | From COMPUSERVE REROUTED:
       Trapper              | What do you see as the next major 
                            | technological breakthrough that will affect 
                            | virtual worlds.
       Tony Christopher     | Right now there are two technology approaches 
                            | to VWs
                            | WA is 2-D with Avatars and Object behaviors 
                            | .... 
                            | Worlds, Inc is 3-D ... and that's about it
                            | The next technology leap will be to add WA 
                            | level of behaviors and objects together with 
                            | 3-D ... but
                            | the issue will be supporting 3-D behaviors in 
                            | current computers
                            | you think that version 0.8 not supporting 
                            | less than 12 MB is a problem .. what about 
                            | 16MB Pentium as a minimum requirement?
                            | GA
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | You have to consider what the networking 
                            | capabilities are as well...
                            | GA
       Hunter Brown, SysOp  | I just wanted to add a comment
                            | Conventioneers,
                            | Your questions are really really good,
                            | but I am afraid we can not answer all of the 
                            | in-World kinds of issues here.
                            | Such as, about pets,
                            | businesses,
                            | and the technology that supports them.
                            | We can not answer questions here 
                            | on the availability of in-World avatars like 
                            | Charlotte-N and Yul
                            | only those avatars know...
       Question:            | From GOLETA, CA:
       TeraGram             | When pets are available, will they be able to 
                            | leave the Turf? Like a dog on a leash? GA
       Hunter Brown, SysOp  | So,
                            | oops
                            | that slipped:)
                            | but that is the kind of question we'd not 
                            | like to focus on today....
                            | the future of WorldsAway and the technology 
                            | behind it now is what we like to tell you all 
                            | about ...
                            | Thanks....
                            | now back to your normal conferencing 
                            | pleasure:)
                            | GA
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | Ok, here's one from Jaeger:
       Question:            | From SANTA CRUZ, CA:
       Jaeger               | What comes next after the Dreamscape?
       Tony Christopher     | WorldsAway will have  many "worlds" ... the 
                            | Dreamscape is the first.  It is a fanciful 
                            | place that has no references to real world 
                            | places or commercial  products. 
                            |  Future WA worlds will have more commercial 
                            | elements. For example,you could gointo a 
                            | flower shop and actually order FTD flowers, 
                            | or meet at a  Starbucks cafe .... 
                            | You will be able to move between the worlds 
                            | easily.
                            | Also, there will be connections between the 
                            | VWs and the web ... click on a magazine 
                            | and go to that publisher's web page.
                            | There is a lot more to say here, but, 
                            | remember, these are all future possiblities.
                            | GA
       Question:            | From JACKSONVILLE, FL:
       fabulous robin m.    | how will the VRML + standard, providing for 
                            | Avatar descriptions, impact WA? Will it be 
                            | incorporated as the technology matures?
       Tony Christopher     | VRML+ is Worlds, Inc's attempt to add 
                            | behaviors to 3-D.
                            | We are developing similar capabilities, but, 
                            | we are coming from a stroonger base of 
                            | behaviours and objects so should have a 
                            | richer "+"
                            | FOr those who don't know VRML .. itis a means 
                            | of describing a 3-D space ... it stands 
                            | for Virtual Reality Modeling Language 
                            | And it is gaining a lot of momentum in the 
                            | internet development community
                            | GA
       Question:            | From GOLETA, CA:
       TeraGram             | How much of WA was inspired by "Snow Crash"? 
                            | Have all the development team read that book?
       Tony Christopher     | Yes, all the developers have read it.
       Diane Bancroft       | In fact, its the other way around.  Neal 
                            | Anderson, the 
                            | author credits the original designers of 
                            | Habitat, on which 
                            | WorldsAway is based...
                            | Neal Stephenson...my mistake...
                            | anyway...he gives credit to Chip Morningstar 
                            | and Randy 
                            | Farmer who worked with us in developing 
                            | WorldsAway for 
                            | coming up with the term "avatar".  Its on 
                            | page 470 of the 
                            | book. 
                            | GA
       Question:            | From VAN NUYS, CA:
       MarvL                | Randy Farmer and Chip Morningstar were 
                            | heavily involved in the previous habitat 
                            | efforts, and in the early stages of 
                            | WorldsAway. Is WorldsAway now a separate 
                            | branch of development? Will FCT be publishing 
                            | some of the papers that Randy, and others, 
                            | wrote for the WorldsAway development team?
       Tony Christopher     | Chip and Randy were consultants to FCT.
                            | They brought us much of their expertise, but 
                            | they have thier own cybersapce 
                            | development business 
                            | so, no, we won't be publishingtheir papers, 
                            | but 
                            | you can go to their internet sites ... the 
                            | compnay is 
                            | Electric Communities Inc. 
                            | they have a web page at www.communities.com
                            | GA
       Question:            | From ORLEANS, ON:
       Joe                  | You were saying Tony that Worlds away was 
                            | just the first step for more realistic 
                            | interaction between people.  Do you think 
                            | implementing such an approach for the web 
                            | whereby you're interacting more with objects 
                            | than just information might be the next step
       Tony Christopher     | Yes, the web will (and is) becoming more 
                            | interactive ... 
                            | Java is being implemented all over theplace
                            | But, the web has an inherent handicapp ...  
                            | it is pretty much a solitary experience ... 
                            | like 
                            | I said, a little like 
                            | window shopping alone at night
                            | GA
       Question:            | From BRUNSWICK, GA:
       Milen                | Concerning Web links, commercial 
                            | oppourtunities: Are these the sorts of things 
                            | we *want* to have to worry about in the 
                            | Dreamscape?  Up until now, we've been trying 
                            | to keep the real workd and the Dreamscape as 
                            | separate as possible.
       Tony Christopher     | Absolutely. They will remain separate.
                            | We will not have any commercial content in 
                            | the Dreamscape, commercial content will 
                            | happen in other worlds.
                            | As i said, WA will have many worlds, 
                            | Dreamscape is the first.
                            | GA
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | We only have time for just a few more 
                            | questions, folks...
                            | So we won't be able to take any more new ones 
                            | tonight.
       Question:            | From SANTA CLARA, CA:
       JW                   | Yes everybodys input is very important.  
                            | However, with mass is confusion at times.  
                            | How about creating a small group of in-world 
                            | citizens ( Maximum: 20) who will act as a 
                            | focus group for design and implementation of 
                            | in-world issues with the developers? 
       Tony Christopher     | We do this on an ongoing basis now ...
                            | Sophie, why don'tyou say something about your 
                            | plans for focus groups
                            | GA
       Sophie Kim           | Yes, we are always listening to your input 
                            | in-world and in 
                            | forums
                            | Also, we do occassionally conduct formal 
                            | marketing research
                            | such as focus groups, user interface testing, 
                            | etc. on an as 
                            | needed basis
                            | We will also be conducting surveys to address
                            | specific issues where we want organized 
                            | information, voting, 
                            | etc.
                            | We will be selecting people from in-world to 
                            | give us input on 
                            | these types of research. GA
                            | Diane, did you have something to add?
       Diane Bancroft       | I would suggest you also bring this idea up 
                            | with other 
                            | members of the world.  Would *they* want to 
                            | be 
                            | represented by only 20 members?  How would 
                            | those 20 
                            | be chosen?  Would they rotate?  This is 
                            | exactly the type 
                            | of community decision that you, as members 
                            | need to 
                            | evaluate for yourselves and then provide 
                            | input to us as a 
                            | community.
                            | GA
       Mary Madaras, SysOp  | Just to make things clear...if a group of 
                            | in-World citizens is gathered for a focus 
                            | group, it will be held in the Waking-World, 
                            | not 
                            | inside of WA. ;-)
       Hunter Brown, SysOp  | % Your moderator is [75371,3477] Hunter 
                            | Brown, SysOp
                            | Hi all
                            | looks like Mary got booted out by acident..
                            | We'll rap this up here...   just two more 
                            | questions...
                            | and this one comment from Cyberdude  :)
       Question:            | From SANTA MARIA, CA:
       Cyberdude            | I admire all of the work that the WA team has 
                            | done for us... i salute you on the way you 
                            | have designed WA, and the way it is run!
       Tony Christopher     | Thanks ... it sure has been a lot of work
       Sophie Kim           | ...and fun too!
                            | GA
       Hunter Brown, SysOp  | Alright! Thanks!
       Diane Bancroft       | Thanks, but you all are the ones who really 
                            | keep it going!
       Hunter Brown, SysOp  | Here is the next question
       Question:            | From VAN NUYS, CA:
       MarvL                | Are there any plans for Digital Cash, or some 
                            | medium of exchange that is linked to the real 
                            | world?
       Tony Christopher     | Yes, but, not in Dreamscape .. 
                            | in other worlds with  commercial content. GA
       Hunter Brown, SysOp  | last question
       Question:            | From CHERRY HILL, NJ:
       Passion              | Are there any plans for new Gestures such as 
                            | laugh, kiss or cry?
       Tony Christopher     | Well, take a close look at the gesture menu 
                            | in version 1.0 ... 
                            | coming soon to the WA menu page
       Diane Bancroft       | With a name like Passion...I love that 
                            | question!! <g>!! GA
       Tony Christopher     | ga
       Hunter Brown, SysOp  | Okay!
                            | This ends our conference!
                            | Thank you Tony, Sophie, and Diane!
       Tony Christopher     | Good night ... see you in the world!
       Diane Bancroft       | Thanks everyone..goodnite!  See you in the 
                            | world! 
       Hunter Brown, SysOp  | And Mary says thank you too!
                            | Rena says, me too!
       Sophie Kim           | Thanks! See you in the world. Thanks for all 
                            | your support and 
                            | enthusiasm!
       Hunter Brown, SysOp  | I 'll now open the floor up for general after 
                            | discussion...
                            | thanks all for attending..
       Sophie Kim           | See you all in Dreamscape!
       Hunter Brown, SysOp  | This ends the official Conference and Log.
                            | See you in the forum or in-World!
                            | There's More to Life On-Line! WorldsAway!
                            | % The floor is now OPEN</pre>