Nortel uses Unreal Engine and Lands Lenovo as a customer of web.alive

Apparently, my skepticism over Nortel web.alive was lost on Lenovo since Nortel and Lenovo today announced the first-ever customer to its web.alive Virtual World Application. Lenovo uses web.alive to let shoppers browse, demo and interact with other shoppers and Lenovo Staff in real-time 3D.

In addition, Nortel has licensed the Unreal gaming Engine for web.alive Engine which they claim will create more realistic, interactive 3D Environment for Web 3.0 Collaboration, Training and Commerce. Wow, I used to play Unreal on my old PC. If Nortel web.alive uses the Unreal Engine and looks anything like the video game I used to play, then maybe I'll retract some of my skepticism.


                                                       Unreal Tournament 2004

Here's both news releases coming out any second on the newswires...

Just months after announcing its incubation efforts to develop web.alive, a new virtual world business application, Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] today announced that Lenovo, one of the world's largest manufacturers of personal computers, is using the application in a new online virtual store as a way to give consumers an exciting new avenue for e-commerce.

The Lenovo "eLounge" virtual store is being showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week at the Venetian Hotel's AquaKnox.

What are the benefits of virtual stores?
• Shoppers can create personalized avatars to walk around the 3D virtual store and browse through products while interacting with other shoppers and sales staff from around the globe.
• Shoppers can also attend product demonstrations or tutorials given by the virtual store staff.
• People can build social/virtual shopping communities/groups and host online shopping get-togethers with their network of friends, family and associates - a concept defined as assisted e-commerce or social shopping.
• Customer service online is taken to an entirely new level as customers do not need to email, click to call or deal with hundreds of pages of forum based questions and answers. If a customer has a question, they can simply log on and walk up to a customer service representative or ask another customer with a high feedback rating.
• Businesses can use their online stores to test out new store designs/ideas - in a virtual setting.
Interested in seeing Lenovo's virtual store prototype?
• To see the new Lenovo eLounge, visit www.lenovo.com/elounge** or visit them at CES at the Venetian Hotel's AquaKnox.
• For more information on web.alive, visit www.projectchainsaw.com or www.nortel.com/webalive.

OTTAWA - Nortel'* [NYSE/TSX: NT] announced it has licensed Epic Games' Unreal Engine for Nortel's new web.alive virtual world software application.
"The Unreal gaming engine provides an array of core technologies, content creation tools, and support infrastructure essential to Nortel's web.alive application," said Arn Hynman, web.alive chief architect. "By collaborating with Epic Games and licensing the Unreal Engine, we are enabling our customers to benefit from the same platform that powers industry-leading video games and complex 3D simulations."

"The Unreal Engine enables companies to build dynamic, interactive virtual worlds for the next-gen workforce, and this licensing agreement signifies Nortel's commitment to take its e-commerce and learning initiatives to the next level," said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games. "Nortel's web.alive application uniquely showcases how Epic's engine technology can be leveraged to improve business collaboration."

To learn more about the Nortel and Epic collaboration and to hear an interview with Arn Hyndman and Mark Rein, visit http://podcast.nortel.com/podcasts2/nortel_web_alive_7961.mp3.

web.alive integrates spatial, high-definition audio and customized 3D spaces with conventional telephony, corporate systems and software to create a "real-life" experience in a virtual environment. Epic's Unreal Engine 2.5 enables the display of stunning 3D environments and avatars with lifelike movements and interactivity. Nortel brings this impressive capability to your web browser as a thin client.

Nortel has also announced that Lenovo, one of the world's largest manufacturers of personal computers, is using web.alive in a new online virtual store as a way to give consumers an exciting new avenue for e-commerce.
Nortel's web.alive is a collaborative, browser-based virtual world application for enterprise use that provides an immersive, interactive and web integrated world with 3D voice and graphics. The application facilitates internal collaboration as well as customer interactions over the web and in real time. web.alive brings new dimensions to business collaboration, virtual training and ecommerce. For more information on web.alive, visit www.projectchainsaw.com or www.nortel.com/webalive.