ChatSp@ce

A concept – developed byWilliam EdmondsonRussell BealePaul Duncan

An opportunity – partnership withHi8us

A commercial venture – internetdevelopment with revenue potential

A presentation to Hi8us – 28/3/02 – byWilliam Edmondson & Russell Beale

ChatSp@ce

A new way of looking at internet technologies.

The concept:

>opportunities

>background

>foreground

>claim

>vision

ChatSp@ce

The background:

Technical developments are interpreted byindividuals/society to yield new applications,new media, new functionalities.

EG Telephone technology was interpreted in onecountry – Hungary – as the basis for broadcasting.This new medium was used to provide a news servicefor subscribers in Budapest for around 20 years,ending in 1918.

“People adopt technologies by adapting them.”

ChatSp@ce

The foreground:

The internet is a technology, not a medium.

The internet has been interpreted –as a personal medium (email, chat-rooms)as a news service (bulletin boards, lists)as a resource (the web).

The internet is none of these.It supports them all – and more.

ChatSp@ce

ChatSp@ce is a new interpretation of internet technology.

The claim:

ChatSp@ce is a new medium.

It combines text-based interaction with situations and scenarios in a variety of formats.

It affords both real and false time written presence in virtual spaces which are viewed and shared by others. It supports a variety of human activities grounded in communication.

ChatSp@ces

chat-rooms

edrama

humour

training

special interest groups

shopping

services

dreaming

In 1918 the internet would have been the stuff ofdreams – now it can serve today’s dreamers.

DreamSp@ce

Populated by visitors in small groups, or pairs, asDre@mers who interact via text.

and also of sponsorship opportunities, brandingmechanisms, product placements, tied services,conventional advertising, merchandising and sales.

A vision:

Comic strip storylines – many, varied, branching.Comic worlds as DreamSp@ces.

All richly supportive of complex human interactions

DreamSp@ce 9

Quality artwork for storylines. Stories updated,branchings/fragments developed, but explicitlyavoiding attempts at realism, and without animation.Storylines conceptualised by artists, but giventexts by users.

Dreamg@te – the ‘browser’ for Dreamsp@ce –permits logging in/out, story track selection,time-warping, dialogue, purchases, etc.

Adventure stories, dating scenarios, multi-usergames, Dreambre@ks…….

DreamSp@ce 9

Dre@mers don’t seek to present themselvesrealistically in the graphics - phantasy is almost everything.

The Dre@mer takes on a role in the script anddevelops it with the other participants. The detailsof a story line are provided by the Dre@mers inresponse to the artwork.

Dre@mers can arrange to meet in Dreamsp@ce andinteract in ways/sequences not permitted in reality.

Dre@mers can interact with the graphic environment.EG changing a brand according to their choice.

DreamSp@ce

The format offers revenue generation:

>Sponsorship opportunities>Celebrity involvement (artist, participant)>Product placement (push ads)>Personalization (tailored services/ads

- supported by cookie technology)>Service promotion

(e.g. Interflora for that special date)>Direct sales>Merchandising>Subscription income>and more………..

Some specific revenue streams from DreamSp@ce :

DreamSp@ce

>User subscriptions (dating agencies, games)

>Advertising in various forms, including sponsorship

>Merchandising (DreamSp@ce, games)

>Origination and/or hosting- dating agencies- brands (DKNY)- products (Volvo cars)- stores (M&S)- tourism…….

ChatSp@ces

chat-rooms

edrama

humour

training

special interest groups

shopping

services

dreaming

The revenue streams in ChatSp@ce include:

>Advertising in various forms, including sponsorship, andothers as listed previously

ChatSp@ce

>Software systems:- sale/rental of systems- hosting services- exploitation of user data

>Scenes and settings provision:- educational scenarios for edrama- training scenarios for v-call centres- interaction settings for e-call centres- shopping scenes

The costs - entry:

>Development of software - no new technology

>Development of formats and scenarios

The costs - recurrent:

>Software support and refinement

>Hosting service (or payment for same)

>Scenario support and elaborations

ChatSp@ce

ChatSp@ce

Bringing Hi8us into partnership is desirable because:

>Track record

>Artistic skills

>Existing interest in ChatSp@ce format - edrama

>Need for revenue to support educational work

ChatSp@ce

The venture – ChatSp@ce as a new medium:

ChatSp@ce offers an exciting set of businessopportunities: story origination, artwork, service

provision, advertising, etc. – in a variety of formats.

ChatSp@ce is a new interpretation of internet technology.

It combines text-based interaction with situations and scenarios in a variety of formats.

It affords both real and false time written presence in virtual spaces which are viewed and shared by others. It supports a variety of human activities grounded in communication.