Index
IBM Virtual World Help

Answers to Your Questions:

Getting Started

How can I talk to people?

How do I move?

Why can`t I connect?

Who can I ask for more help?

Can I turn the sound off?

Topics:

The IBM Virtual Library at a Glance

The Historical Library

The Solution Center

The Community Forum

Choosing an Avatar

Connecting to the Server

Contact Information

Control Panel

Copyright Information

Conversations

Crowd Control

Getting Help

Movement

System Requirements

Take a tour of the Historical Library


How do I move?
Moving Your Avatar

You can use either the mouse or the keyboard to move in the IBM Virtual World.  The most striking features of the IBM Virtual World environment are the ability to move freely through a virtual three-dimensional environment, and the chance to interact with others in the world in real time.

At first, you may move forward or backward when you want to rotate.  Keep working at it and moving with either the mouse or the keyboard will soon seem much simpler.  For either the mouse or the keyboard, moving continuously forward or backward requires that you keep pressing the key, or pushing the mouse forward.  Otherwise you will eventually stop moving.

Using the mouse

When you move your mouse:

 ...forward, you move forward.

...backward, you move backward.

 ...side to side, you turn right or left.

Note: It may seem that you should twist your mouse in place to turn around, but this will not work.

Sliding:

If you hold down the SHIFT key and move the mouse from side to side, you will slide rather than turn.  That is, you will be able to move sideways without changing your orientation.  However, you cannot slide by using the keyboard.

Using the keyboard:

Why use the keyboard instead of the mouse? Click here.

When you press the arrow keys:

 The up arrow key moves you forward.

 The down arrow key moves you backward.

 The right and left arrow keys turn you around.

Other Ways of Getting Around

Jumping to Remote Locations - The Cube

In the IBM Courtyard, you will see an animation of a large cube spinning in place: each face of the cube names a location in the IBM Virtual World that you can jump to. First, get a cursor by clicking on the left mouse button once. Then, wait until the cube face names the location you want to jump to, and click on the cube face once.

You will instantly jump to that location, to find yourself inside the main doorway.

Zooming Through Doorways

In order to move yourself automatically towards and through any doorway, just click the left mouse button once to get a cursor. Then, use the cursor to click on the doorway you want to go through. Magically, you'll be whisked away towards the doorway. You won't be able to make other movements while the zoom is taking place, but as soon as it ends, you're under your own power once again.


Why use the keyboard, or why use the mouse?

While it may take a little practice to get used to, using the arrow keys to move provides some great advantages.  It will be easier to move in a straight line without turning.  It's easier to move continuously, without a lot of arm work with the mouse.  One disadvantage is that it is more difficult to make small, precise movements with the arrow keys. Experiment with both and pick your favorite.


Choosing an Avatar
Choosing an Avatar and Entering the IBM Virtual World

The first thing you will have to do when you start the IBM Virtual World is to choose your "avatar," that will be your visual representation in the environment.  The Avatar Screen will be the first thing you see when you enter the program.

To choose an avatar:

1.	Move your cursor over the Avatar Screen.  As you pass over each avatar's picture, its frame will light up.

2.	Click once on an avatar, and it will rotate for you in the display frame on the right hand side of the screen.

3.	Enter a username in the text box beneath the rotation area.  There is no cursor in this screen -- simply type, and your input will come up in the username box.

4.	If you want to select the avatar you see in the rotation area, which will become your graphical representation in the IBM Virtual world, click the ENTER button.  If you want to keep looking, click on another avatar instead.

Note:  Your username needs to have at least two characters, and no more than ten.

Once you have clicked ENTER, you will be connected to the IBM Virtual World.


Connecting to the Server

The IBM Virtual World requires a 486/66 running Windows 3.1, Windows 95, or OS/2 with a minimum of 8 Mb of memory.  Our recommended platform is a Pentium processor with 16 Mb of memory.  The client machine also needs a functional TCP/IP interface.

To enter the IBM Virtual World, you must first select an avatar from the Avatar Gallery.  You must then enter a valid user name and click the ENTER button.  For more information on these two steps, see Choosing an Avatar and Entering the IBM Virtual World.

If a problem arises, you will get a message in the Message Box on the Confirmation screen.

Common Problems

User Name Already Taken

Your user name may already be taken. You will have to choose another name and re-enter it.

Server Capacity Exceeded

We have a limit of 150 people in the IBM Virtual World.  Our server may be filled to capacity.  In this case, you will get a message indicating that the Virtual World is full.  Please wait and try again when there are fewer people logged on.  This should occur very rarely.

Timeout on!  No connection established

Timeout corresponds to the latency period allowed between groups of messages from the client to the server and back.  If your client is behind a firewall, these groups of messages will take much longer to move back and forth.  If you see this message, you can solve it by going into the worlds.ini file, and increasing the timeout time limit to roughly thirty seconds.  This should be enough time to allow for routing around a firewall.

Connection closed.  Sorry, you're on your own!

This means simply that you left your client idle for longer than the server allowed.  If you wish to rejoin the world, you can simply exit and restart the program.

Other problems may be more technical in nature.  Our server could be down for a brief service interval.  Alternatively, there could be some problem with your local computer.  In these cases, you will sometimes get a message ''ERROR: No connection established.''  If this happens, contact your internal support technicians, and they may in turn contact Worlds.

Alternatively, there could be some problem with your Internet access or with your TCP/IP.

You may report problems with your access via e-mail to your internal IBM support personnel.

If the program connects to the Internet, but fails to establish a connection with the server at Worlds, you will be prompted to enter the IBM Virtual World in single-user mode.

Single User Mode

If the program fails to establish a connection with the server, you will be prompted to enter the IBM Virtual World in single-user mode.  If you answer 'yes', you will enter the virtual space just as you normally would, but there will be no other avatars in the space with you.  You will still be able to explore the space at will, but you will not be able to access the search engines.  If you click 'no' at the single-user prompt, you will exit the program.  You can restart the IBM Virtual World if you think the problem will not recur.

Note:  If you get disconnected from the IBM Virtual World, our server may think you are still logged on.  Before reconnecting, you can pick a new name, but you must wait about three minutes for the server to recognize that you have been disconnected.  At that point, we can reconnect you.

See Also:  System Requirements


Contact Information

Main San Francisco Office

Worlds, Inc.

510 Third St., Suite 530

San Francisco, CA 94107

Fax # (415) 284-9483

Seattle Development Center

Worlds, Inc.

101 Stewart St., Suite 300

Seattle, WA 98101

Fax # (206) 443-0240


Control Panel

The Control Panel is divided into five key areas:

 Main Screen

 This is your first-person perspective of the world.  You can click anywhere in the screen to get a cursor.  Once the cursor appears onscreen, mouse and keyboard navigation are suspended.  When you want to move again inside the world, you can use the Walk icon on the left side of the console to reactivate navigation.

 Input Box

Use this box for communicating with others.  Type your message and press ENTER to transmit.

 Speech Box

The speech box is where all the messages sent by other users of the IBM Virtual World will appear, including yours. It is located along the bottom of the screen.

 System Message Box

The System Message Box displays system messages when you log on or off, describes server status, and lets you know who is logged on at the moment.

 The Quit and Help Buttons

The ''Quit'' button exits the program. You will be asked to confirm that you really wish to exit the program.

The ''Help'' button accesses this Help file. When you want to close the Help program: From the File Menu, choose Exit; or close the Help window.

The ''Sound'' button allows you to turn sound On or Off.


Conversations

The IBM Virtual World presents you with an unprecedented experience: you can move and chat with other users in a virtual three-dimensional research environment.

Conversing with other users is as easy as typing on your keyboard.  Once you have successfully connected to the IBM Virtual World, your keystrokes will appear in the Input Box at the bottom of the screen.  Just type what you want to say and press ENTER when you are ready to transmit.  Your message will be delivered to the six avatars closest to you, appearing as a text message in the Speech Box.

Your messages are also echoed back to you in the Speech Box, so you can carry on typed conversations with those around you.

As you move through the environment, you can see the six avatars closest to you, and they can see you.  Anyone who can see you can also hear you, so be sure to treat your virtual neighbors with the same respect you would show to anyone physically present.

Sometimes when there are more than six people in a room the conversation can get too complicated: people may be able to see you but you will not be able to see them.  If you want to talk to a smaller set of people, ask to meet them in another place to get away from the crowded area.  See Crowd Control for more information.


Copyright Information

All contents Copyright 1995 Worlds(TM)  Inc.  All uses not specifically authorized by IBM are prohibited without the formal authorization of Worlds(TM) Inc.

Worlds Inc. is a registered trademark of Worlds Incorporated.  All other trademarked products are the exclusive property of their respective holders.


Crowd Control

There is a limit to how many other people (avatars) you can see and hear at the same time.

Here are the basic rules:

 You see only avatars in the same room with you.

 You see only the six avatars nearest you.

 As you move through a crowd, avatars may appear and disappear. This is because the avatars closest to you are constantly being recalculated.

 If you can see someone, you can hear them.

 If someone can see you, they can hear you.

Note:  There are situations in crowds when you will be able to see people who cannot see you.

Difficulty Conversing

It may be difficult to have a conversation with someone in a crowded room.  When you respond to someone, he or she may not hear you.  One remedy is to stand quite near the person that you want to talk with; this will help assure that you are one of the closest six avatars to the person you are talking to, and vice versa.  Another solution is to head for a less crowded room or move further away from crowded areas.


Getting Help

Help topics are organized in two ways: by a list of frequently asked questions and by subject.  You can also attempt to find help on an appropriate topic by using the Search function inside Windows Help, and then entering a keyword.

For more information on using Help:

Windows Help has its own Help menu that will help explain how to use the Help program to quickly find what you are looking for.

To get help on a topic or question that you have:

When you click the Help button, a Contents page appears that lists frequently asked questions and an alphabetical index of Help topics.

 Click on a question or a topic that you want to see more about.

or:

1.	Click the Search button while the Help window is open.

2.	Type in a keyword, or find the topic from the displayed list and highlight it.  A list of related topics will appear in the lower window

3.	Select the topic you want and click the Go To button.

  While the Help window is open, you can click any underlined text to go to a related topic.

If your problem is not covered in this Help system, you should contact your internal support department at IBM.  If the problem is significant enough to warrant a call to Worlds, the IBM support staff have all the requisite contact information, and will make that call for you.


System Requirements

The IBM Virtual World software will not work on all computers.  Currently, it only runs on Microsoft Windows version 3.1, Windows 95, and OS/2, and requires a PC with a 486/66 or higher processor.

You will also need a TCP/IP connection to connect to the servers and use the IBM Virtual World with other people.  All of these connections should be working in the location where you are using the IBM Virtual World. If not, see Getting Help for more information.

You will need to be in 256 color mode.

You can also refer to the known problems page in this help system.

Sound Difficulties

The IBM Virtual World is designed for computers with a 16-bit sound card.  If you have an 8-bit sound card, you may experience some performance lapses.  You have the option of deactivating sound if this is a problem.  This option can be selected with the Sound Button on the main control panel.


Avatars

The IBM Virtual World uses digital representations called ''avatars'' to allow other users to see you and communicate with you as you travel through the world.  There are six different avatars to choose from.  Once you enter the world, your username will appear in a text box above your avatars head, and you will be able to see other peoples usernames above their avatars as well.

When you converse with other avatars, your words are prefaced with your username in the text box below the main screen.


Getting Started

The IBM Virtual World is a demonstration of the cooperative power of IBM search engines and Worlds three-dimensional interface technologies.  It is intended to showcase the marriage of information design and human interface perspectives that will become the foundation of computing in the future.

It is easy to get accustomed to navigating and communicating in the IBM Virtual World.  You can use either the mouse or the arrow keys on the keyboard to move.  The basic idea is that you are viewing the world from a first-person perspective, as if the computer screen were your own field of vision.  Experiment with moving a little with the mouse or the keyboard, and if you still have questions, see Movement.  Communicating with others is as easy as typing into the input box below the active screen, and pressing ENTER to finalize what you've typed.  If you have further questions about interacting with others in the world, see Conversations.

There are Help topics that should answer any other questions that you have as well, and you can always ask other users about shortcuts, tricks and hot places to go.  You can even leave the Help window open while you are moving around, and refer to the Help topics when necessary.

 What is the IBM Virtual World?

The IBM Virtual World is a three-dimensional social computing and research environment, dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of documents from libraries all over the world.  It is intended to demonstrate the power and value of IBM search engine technologies, coupled with the new paradigm that Worlds three-dimensional interfaces represent.  Each user is represented within the world by an animated graphic image called an avatar.  All of the users logged in can communicate with one another by typing on the keyboard.  There are lots of places to explore, lots of information to seek and find, and up to 150 of your colleagues, clients, and vendors online at any given time.

Numerous libraries have already contracted with IBM to use  search engines to organize and display their content online.  Worlds interfaces present an entirely new way of approaching those search engines, making the information more accessible than ever before.

 Getting Connected

The first thing you'll see when you launch the IBM Virtual World is the a series of two splash screens, one legal and one graphical.  After you have read and understood the terms of using the IBM Virtual World, click once to remove each splash screen, and you will see the Avatar Gallery.  Here, you will be asked to choose the avatar that will represent you in cyberspace.  Selecting an avatar is fairly straightforward and is covered in the Choosing an Avatar section.  You will also be asked to choose a username, of two to ten characters, and set the sound to on or off.  From that point, you are connected to the IBM Virtual World and you're ready to go exploring.

 Moving through the World

It's no problem if you bump into the walls every now and again while you are learning to move.  If you have played 3-D video games before, you'll quickly become proficient at moving through the space.  You can also use your cursor to click on a door.  Do this, and you will be zoomed immediately inside the doorway.

 Jumping to Remote Locations - the Cube

Another easy way to move through the IBM Virtual World is to click on any of the three rotating faces on top of the cube.  Each face of the cube names the location to which you will jump when you click on it.

The three locations are:

The Historical Library

The Solution Center

The Community Forum

 Communicating

Communicating is simple as well.  Anything you type on the keyboard will appear in the Input Box, and pressing ENTER will send a message that will be seen by anyone else you see in the room with you.  Your message and any responses will appear with each speaker's username in the Speech Box.

Those are the basics. You are now ready to experience the IBM Virtual World!


Virtual World at a Glance
The IBM Virtual World at a Glance

There are two courtyards and three primary areas within the IBM Virtual World.

 The IBM Courtyard

The IBM Courtyard is the point of entry into the world.  As you enter, you will see the doors to the Historical Library Courtyard ahead of you, the Solution Center to your left, and the Community Forum to your right.  The cube above your head can be used for navigation as well.  Its three upper faces each list the name of a place -- the Historical Library, the Solution Center, and the Community Forum.  A click on any of those three faces with your cursor will take you just inside the doorway of the place you've chosen.

You can wander through the courtyard freely, and access any building or room by simply walking through its door as well.

 The Historical Library Courtyard

The Historical Library Courtyard is the second of the two courtyards, just beyond the IBM courtyard.  As you enter here, you will see an example of creative virtual architecture to your left, the Los Angeles Public Library to your right, and the Historical Library straight ahead.

The building to the left is currently closed for installation.  It was designed as a library in its own right, very different from the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection and the Historical Library.  It shows the way that virtual spaces allow graphical representations to speak for the content, to give it more meaning and context than ever before.

The Los Angeles Public Library is built for the online preservation of its precious stock of antique photographs.  The collection is noted around the world.  The physical library has suffered several catastrophic fires in its time, and is actively seeking online methods of protecting and disseminating its information at once.

You can wander through the exhibition area of the LA Public Library Photo Collection to see a few samples from its inventory.

The Historical Library is the centerpiece of the offering, bringing together the search functionality and the artistic possibilities offered by the IBM Virtual World.  It represents the possibility of the medium to organize and preserve books, letters, manuscripts, and all kinds of historical documentation from libraries around the world.  In this way, the materials are not only protected and catalogued in depth, but they are also accessible to greater numbers of people than could ever get to them in the physical world.  Please refer to the Help topic above for more.

That's it!  Future versions of the IBM Virtual World will reach farther into the frontiers of uniting search capabilities with social computing functionality.


Historical Library
The Historical Library

The Historical Library is a unique online site that allows users to conduct searches of rare and valuable documents from all over the world.  Through online access, libraries that may only permit small groups of scholars to study certain texts in the physical world can open access to the documents to far larger groups than was ever possible before.

You can enter the library and take the library tour, which demonstrates the search functionalities and the powerful interface enhancements that work with them.  The tour shows you through the inner areas of the library, and demonstrates some of the options for setting search parameters and downloading the documents you will find.  After the tour, you can wander freely through the virtual stacks and anterooms, or click the ''exit library'' button to go back to the Historical Library Courtyard.


Solution Center
The Solution Center

The Solution Center is a showcase area that lets users link to any of thirteen product groups, from networking and applications groups to the RS/6000 workstation and the DB/2 family.

It is one large room, decorated with posters that link to IBM webpages that describe each group of products in depth.  You can link to any poster you wish, and when you close the web browser, you will automatically return to the Virtual World.

Note:  If you cannot access the Web, it may be that you don't have the Netscape browser in c:\netscape on your client.  If this is the case, the best solution is to download Netscape through your current browser and place it on the root level for future use with the IBM Virtual World.


Community Forum
The Community Forum

The Community Forum is IBMs center for social computing.  Here, you can meet with colleagues, vendors, and clients from anywhere in the world.  The Forum is divided into three areas as follows:

The Industry Solutions Area

The Industry Solutions area focuses on five groups of IBM solutions, defined as vertical market segements.  Users can enter these rooms to chat about any of these topics.  The posters on the far walls are live icons from the IBM web pages pertinent to them.  They let users get information from the web about any of the solution groups -- Education;  Banking, Finance, and Securities;  Telecom and Media;  Healthcare;  and Cross-Industry -- and discuss it in the theme areas.

IBM Planetwide

The IBM Planetwide area is a group of rooms built around the various regions of the world served by IBM technologies.  North America, South America, Europe, the Asia Pacific region, and the Middle East and Africa region each have a room where people who wish to discuss those areas can come together.

User Groups

The User Groups room is a large multi-purpose chat space, set between the two specialized chat areas.  It may be used for discussions of any kind.

Note:  If you cannot access the Web, it may be that you don't have the Netscape browser in c:\netscape on your client.  If this is the case, the best solution is to download Netscape through your current browser and place it on the root level for future use with the IBM Virtual World.


Take a Tour of the Historical Library
The Historical Library Tour

The Historical Library is composed of three rooms:  the Concept room, the Title room, and the Author room.  Each room represents a search theme along the lines of a traditional library.  For the purposes of this demo, the Title and Author rooms are roped off.

When you enter the Concept room, an audio clip welcomes you.  A zoom takes you front and center to read a sign that explains the beginning steps of the tour.  If you click ''search'', the tour begins.

If you choose not to click ''search'', you can still explore the library.  The Science and Astronomy doors lead to the stars and planets stacks that form the basis of the tour, and you can wander through them on your own as well as by taking the tour.

The tour

Click Search to begin the tour.

The tour takes you through a search for stars and planets.  Once you have clicked ''Search'', the system mimics a search through the historical archives for pertinent information.  A barometer appears next to each doorway to indicate the likelihood that you will find hits that approach your search term from their perspective.  The Science room, for example, is the most likely site for hits on stars and planets, so the barometer in the Science doorway is far taller than the others you see in the Concept room.

You can now click on the hit list button in the console for a list of authors that have treated your topic.  You can also see a list of dates and languages that could be used to narrow search parameters in fully enabled libraries.  These authors reach across all genres and approaches, from astronomy to art and science fiction.

The rest of the tour guides you through a completed search on Galileo's treatments on the topic.  The documents are displayed as screen-size thumbnail sketches of parchments that could represent the originals.  Full-text downloads of these precious materials are part of the long-range plan for implementation of the full system.

You can exit the tour at any time, by simply leaving the room between zooming steps, or by clicking the ''exit library'' button.  The ''exit library'' button will take you back to Historical Library Courtyard, outside the library itself.

When you complete the tour, you will have the option of staying in the stacks to explore freely, or clicking ''exit library'' to leave.


Sound Music and Font Size Control
Controlling Sound

Sound effects can be turned on and off by using the radio button at the lower right corner of the Avatar Screen, before you enter the IBM Virtual World.  If you would like to change the setting midway through a session online, you will need to exit the application and restart it.  The program will remember whether you set Sound to 'on' or 'off' when you enter the IBM Virtual World the next time.