Tek Review

Nov.2, 2007 John Riley

China has revealed details of an advanced plan to use virtual worlds to supply customised goods to consumers across the globe.

Beijing's Cyber Recreation Project (CRP), which is jointly owned by the Chinese government and industry, is creating a Second Life-style virtual world. It will allow people to buy customised goods from Chinese manufacturers.

So far 200 manufacturers have ­located to the physical CRP site, ready to receive orders from virtual world customers when the project formally opens next summer, prior to the Beijing Olympic Games.

Clothing manufacturer Berkam Group will offer the first service, offering customised shirt manufacturing.

CRP's chief scientist, Chi Tau Robert Lai, said that the aim was to cut out the middlemen. "A shirt made in China for £1 typically sells for £20 in Europe. We have a big manufacturing capacity," he said.

Lai said China has a large and growing middle class who, along with 20 million virtual game players, are best reached through virtual worlds. The firms will also sell goods to the rest of the world.

This Chinese initiative, based on Internet Protocol version 6, aims to build an open and accessible environment. Handling currency conversions, global integration and interoperability are core requirements for success.

"The virtual world has to integrate with the real world," said Lai. "Some form of government in the virtual world is needed in the future to ensure trust and quality."

Swedish companies are leading the way in collaboration. Paynova is providing international online payment services, and MindArk, which produces the Entropia Universe virtual world, is helping provide a virtual world infrastructure.

CRP is also working with Master­Card, Visa and the China Everbright Bank to build a financial platform, and with suppliers including IBM.

Aug 6 2007

An article on the Sydney Morning Herald site has linked the Cyber Recreation District (CRD) project Dotman to the recent deal involving MindArk and its Entropia Universe platform. According to the article, the CRD plans to create a virtual world based on the Entropia Universe platform for conducting business with fully integrated, standard commercial transaction mechanisms. Money and services would be exchangeable between online and offline areas within the CRD.

To get an idea of what this means in the grand scheme of the things I had to digest some information on what the Cyber Recreation District (CRD) and Dotman precicely are. The CRD is a real world place physically located in the Shijingshan District, Beijing. According to the official description on the CRD website, established by the Beijing Government and charged with promoting the development of software and the cyber recreation industry, the CRD aims at developing an advantageous environment, strengthening production, study, technology and capital with regard to cyber recreation. The CRD contains/will contain eight technology centers: Mobile Game Center, Online Game Center, Caricature Production Center, Cyber Information Center, Cyber Finance Center, IP Exchange Center, Cyber Sports Center and Talent Training Center.

The epicenter of the virtual arm of the CRD, Dotman, appears to be a multifaceted user and business tool directed at anything digital. Offering users a full range digital life over the virtual as well as physical world and businesses the concentration of costs and logistics support by enterprise modeling. The Dotman World consists of Dotmedia, Dotbank, Dotmall, Dotgame, etc. Dotman users make the cyber life come true through modifying characteristic life, creating and accumulating wealth. Essentially, Dotman aims at being the number one source for all things digital and entertaining.

Digging a little further reveals the CRD are up to something extremely revolutionary and exciting indeed. Granted, the Google Translator I used could be leading me down the wrong path, but, it seems the CRD has created a Virtual Earth that allows ownership, creation and development. If I am to understand correctly, the Entropia platform is being used to create true virtual worlds and business connectivity like we have only ever dreamed before.

Two interesting places to start exploring this development:

http://www.dotman.com
http://www.dotman.com/web/mindark

According to the Dotman MindArk page, CRD and MindArk began talks in July of 2006. My mind is reeling. My stomach is tied in knots. So therefore, I bid you ado. I have to go now, aliens are watching me in my spaceship.

May 30 2007, Nick Gonzalez

Virtual world Entropia, which combines chatting with friends and blowing up aliens, announced their expansion into China through a deal with Beijing’s Cyber Recreation Development Corp (CRD) over a year in the making. The CRD is supported by Beijing’s Municipal government and intended to promote and develop investment in “cyber recreation” in China. The company says Second Life was also in the running for the deal.

The deal is quite ambitious. Entropia currently has over 500,000 registered users, but the new Chinese partnership will permit up to 7 million concurrent users with an overall aim to attract an unheard of 150 million world wide. The company also expects their virtual economy’s bottom line to grow, eventually adding another 1 billion real dollars annually from the partnership. Entropia has already been able to sell a virtual banking license for $400,000. David Liu, CEO of CRD, envisions an Entropia utopia. He expects the partnership to bring 10,000 work-at-home, pollution-free job opportunities to China.

Entropia also plans to expand their virtual real estate from the deal by enabling media companies to add their own planets to the universe. They’re currently in negotiations with film, music, and gaming companies for their own planet. Competitor Second Life has made several similar corporate branding deals in their virtual world.

Entropia still faces competition from Second Life in China and their own home grown competition from HiPiHi and a TBA world from Shanda Corporation. Second Life’s top entrepreneur Anshe Chung has even been running operations out of China since last January. However, adult themes and continued investigations into illegal activities within the virtual world (child abuse, stalking, gambling) don’t bode well for getting the seal of approval of a government that blocks Wikipedia.