Oesterreichisches Forschungsinstitut fuer Artificial Intelligence (OeFAI) Schottengasse 3, A-1010 Wien Tel.: +43-1-53361120, Fax: +43-1-5336112-77, Email: sec@ai.univie.ac.at ------------------------------------------------------------------------- VORTRAG ******* Mag. Oliver Holle CEO & Co-Founder sysis interactive simulations ag Vienna Flirtboat & Austropolis: or how to marry AL science with online entertainment The sysis NetLife platform provides a basis for interactive soap operas. People move around a well defined world, meeting and interacting, talking about ordinary, everyday things, like love, politics or sports, and of course: each other. And the most important thing, voyeurism: You can watch them on a daily basis! But NetLife is even better than any standard soap opera in one important aspect: it is interactive! Avatars are always keen to learn the user's opinion and get some advice - although they might not always follow it. So far, sysis launched two products based upon this platform. Flirtboat, the first application, hosted more than 16.000 registered users, every day, an average of 1.450 users were visiting their avatar. Austropolis, the second product, just launched these days and is focused on the world of politics. The sysis NetLife platform is a software tool that allows to create virtual worlds which can be dedicated to all kinds of topics and populating them with avatars. The user can create his own avatar and lets this avatar participate in the stories that evolve. The activities of an avatar can be influenced through giving advice, but the avatar has his own life and personality, acting as an autonomous being. In fact, this platform presents a combination of the common avatar concept (virtual creatures which are completely driven by the user in all aspects) and the concept of agents, which are by definition, completely autonomous. Zeit: Montag, 26. Maerz 2001, 18:30 Uhr pktl. Ort: OeFAI, Schottengasse 3, 1010 Wien 1. OESTERREICHISCHES FORSCHUNGSINSTITUT FUER ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE o.Univ.-Prof.Dr.Robert Trappl