Sneak Preview Of Interact '96 "Virtual Trade Show" 04/10/96
NB / BOS
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1996 APR 10 (NB) -- When Web
users dial in to Interact '96 any time from April 23 to 25, they
will be able to access more than 100 different conference
presentations, conduct "online meetings," and visit virtual
booths, and to choose between "VRML (virtual reality mark-up
language) or standard HTML (hypertext mark-up language)
browsers," said sponsors of "the world's first virtual
tradeshow," at a press launch held at Cybersmith in Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
By eliminating the need for "the world of Las Vegas, with its
cartons of glossy brochures," Interact '96 will "forever change
the concept of computing," predicted Gary Haroian, president of
Stratus Computers, speaking at the press conference, which was
attended by Newsbytes in Cambridge. Stratus is co-sponsoring the
three-day Web event with Information World and Time Magazine. In
addition, another 14 vendors have signed up as "gold and silver
partners."
Francois Gossieaux, director of Interact '96, told the
journalists and analysts in Cambridge-- and others at satellite
"cyber cafe' sites in New York City, San Francisco, London and
Paris -- that, starting now, users can already access some of the
upcoming trade show's video presentations on the Interact '96
home page, at http://www.interact96.com .
During a demo, Gossieuax accessed a video talk by Sun
Microsystems' Eric Schmidt to illustrate what he meant. Gossieaux
also gave a sneak preview of the blue-bedecked Interact '96 trade
show hall, complete with some of the avatars who can be expected
to populate the virtual event when Interact '96 goes "fully
online" on April 23.
The virtual trade show booths will be visible to anyone using a
VRML browser, as will Java chat rooms. Meetings with the avatars
will be made possible by Black Sun's Cybergate technology, which
is included in the Interact '96 CD, and also downloadable from
the Web, according to Gossieuax, who is also director of
marketing at Stratus.
In order to access video and audio, users will need plug-ins from
VDOnet and Voxware. The Cybergate, VDOnet and Voxware
technologies are provided on the Interact '96 CD, and are also
downloadable from the Interact '96 home page.
But users with lower-end systems, and those who do not feel
comfortable with VRML and Java yet, will be able to take part in
the online event, too, through the use of a standard HTML
browser. "We're even making transcipts of the conference sessions
available in text form," Gossieaux said.
Like an ordinary trade show, Interact '96 will let attendees
exchange -- and even reject -- business cards, the journalists
were told. When a user clicks on an avatar, the avatar will show
the Interact '96 Cybercard, a "virtual business card."
But Interact '96 will offer a number of advantages over
conventional trade shows, the speakers agreed. "You'll be able to
attend (Interact '96) in your pajamas," Gossieaux pointed out.
The conference organizers have been able to put together a "best
of breed" conference schedule, due to the fact that speakers are
freed from the need to being physically "present" at the trade
show hall, he asserted.
All together, Interact '96 will offer dozens of sessions,
including talks by Howard Anderson, managing director of the
Yankee Group; Esther Dyson, editor of Release 1.0; Steward Alsop,
executive VP of InfoWorld; Paul Gudonis, president and chief
executive officer (CEO) of BBN Planet; Vania Joloboff, Java
Program manager of the Open Software Foundation (OSF); Steven
McGeady, VP and general manager of the Intel Technology Lab; and
Klaus Besier, CEO of Business@Web, and former president and CEO
of SAP America, according to Gossieuaux.
Similarly, online attendees will be able to physically "visit"
more than one area of the trade show at a time, all without
leaving the home or office.
Visitors, he said, will be able to "meet" in a variety of kinds
of chat rooms, including "discussion rooms" for technical topics;
"partner chat rooms" that will be connected to vendors' booths;
and "Q&A rooms" for Q&A sessions with speakers and moderators
following presentations.
And also unlike an ordinary trade show, Interact '96 will provide
each attendee with a custom "schedule," the journalists were
told. The schedule will be prepared by the Interact '96
"Intelligent Naviator," an agent initiated when the attendee
fills out a registration form, at any time before or during the
conference.
The form asks questions about the attendee's "technology level"
and interests, the "hot topics" they would like to flag, and the
kinds of software and hardware they used. Then, each time the
attendee logs in, the visitor will be told of pertinent
discussions, events, and speaker changes.
From Stratus's perspective, Interact '96 harkens a day, now just
around the corner, when users will be able to "get what they
need" from vendors, instead of simply "taking what they're
given," reported Haroian.
Stratus perceives Interact '96 as "a great opportunity to bring
Stratus together with key customer prospects," as well as a way
of preparing for the upcoming era of "mass customization,"
according to the Stratus chief.
Also during the press conference in Cambridge, Shikhar Ghosh,
Open Market's chairman and co-founder, told the reporters that,
also not long from now, the Web will provide "the whole world on
a single LAN (local area network)," together with a strong
emphasis on "relationship" marketing, and a disappearance of
"boundaries" within and between organizations.
The list of gold and silver partners for Interact '96 includes
Berkely Software Design; Black Sun Interative; Cascade
Communications; Cornell University; Digital Equipment Corp.;
Global Internet News Service (GINA); Isis Distributed Systems;
LinkStar; Netscape; Utopia; VDOnet; VoxWare; WhitePine Software;
and the Yankee Group.
(Jacqueline Emigh/19960410/Reader Contact: Stratus Computers,
508-460-2000; Press Contact: Jane Hiscock or Gene Carozza, The
Neva Group, 617-441-4000)