GATES DESCRIBES CYBERSPACE CHAT AT INTERNET CONFERENCE

At the Building Internet Applications, Professional Developers Conference in San Francisco on March 13, 1996, Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corp. in Redmond, Wash. demonstrated the future of Internet interactive gaming and chat..
The demonstration showed the ability to create a V-Chat communications environment in cyberspace that participants enter and socialize or engage one another in games. Each participant is represented by an avatar of himself and his voice. An avatar is a character that represents the user in the V-Chat environment. All of this occurs over relatively slow 14.4- and 28.8-kbit modems.

Microsoft introduced V-Chat communications—a multimedia chat service designed to enhance people-to-people communication on Microsoft Network (MSN) last year. With V-Chat MSN members communicate more expressively using graphical avatars within 2D or 3D environments.

The concept of an environment or lobby in cyberspace will enable long distance learning, socializing, selling, and gaming A number of third party developers are creating visual means of interacting over the network using audio and graphics.
Two participants, Kip Olson and Andy Cohen, demonstrated a Windows 95 game called MACH Warrior. The game was written using Microsoft's Direct play 1.0 interface. Direct play 1.0, the first game Software Developers Kit, supporting user interaction across the Internet.

“We weren't just able to play over the Internet but we could slip something in the existing game and give it new capabilities.” Olson explained. "More importantly, we're able to upgrade new features.” Olson said his group is building a lobby able to hold 1,000 users, all of whom can interact with others in the room.

Gate next invited Henry Nash to demonstrate a 3-D multipoint audio browser. “As we look around the space, it’s like any other 3-D space we can move around, but the difference about this space is there are other people (in the form of other avatars) there,” Nash explained. “So, we’re imbedded as an active document inside the (browser) shell, but there's actually people out there connected on the Internet.”

Nash explained that the image moved about the space using the PC’s arrow keys. Left to go left, right arrow to rotate right or the up arrow or the down arrow to move forward and backwards,” he explained. At this point, a cyberspace participant, Dave, joined the demonstration as an Avatar in the 3-D space.

Gates asked if it were possible for the avatar to show emotion. The avatar for Dave then demonstrated a few emotions possible. Avatars can wave, smile, flirt, shrug, be sad, be angry, or act silly. To add a touch of unpredictability and surprise, there are four random silly behaviors.

A number of other avatars then joined the environment and began to play the interactive game. "What you're seeing here is an HTTP server and an NT box running the voice server,” Nash explained. “This is the way using NT we can turn information sites out on the Internet into community sites. The on-line traveler can visit these communities and interact with others meets and exchange e-mail and so forth. It's turning the Internet into communicating rather than just information.”

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