No, you are not dreaming Neo… You can enter a virtual realm and explore endless possibility of it. Thanks to SolidWorks Innovation Day , this is the close you can get to a reality and people around the world is there with you in the same time.
Recently, I went to the Solidworks Innovation 2009 Virtual Event from comfort of my office. Just get a wired PC connected to the internet, and make access via Internet Explorer (I had to make a exemption of it due other browser don’t successfully load the page.IE suxs by the way.)
After login, I wait a while for the API and page to load up. At first , the progress stuck at login ‘success’ phase, after nearly half an hour, I decide to switch to IE, even though I didn’t like it. Since it works with 3D Content Central Viewpoints 3D… I tought it may work here..
OK, the first view that you expected from an actual seminar..is the lobby. They done great job putting the button in the right place without troubling visitor to figure what to do with it.
The Lobby consist of 3 section, the center, where they show glimpse of whats going on later. The left wing is the Exhibit Halls where the join venture company show their demonstration.The right wing is the Auditorium, and this is where most of the people will hang out, waiting video from spoke person to be reveal.The event schedule already been release before, so that people what to expect from it. Think of it when you line up at the cinema.. we go more detail later.
The neat feature is the live chat function .You can see other visitors in the same room as you or all at other places during event. All the basic info like country and the company they’re from is display beside each persons name. You drop a chat with someone or invite to a private group discussion. There is even a business card exchange function as in real life. If you plan to scout a new job at a new company, this is the place.
OK, we move to Exhibit Hall. Here you can see virtual company booth that can be interact and zoom in.
This is the booth. Each table can be interact to show on which topic or section it been represented. One thing that I would to complain is the absence of a booth girl. What gives? At least a non animated picture should be fine. I hope to see this in next year event.In certain section, you can even swipe a virtual badge in order to call in the authorized representative to assist you. That person will private message by once he acknowledge your request.
Zooming in, it will pop out a list of video title that you can pick. Click on certain title and the will show in a bigger screen like below.
On a good side, the buffering time of the video is kept short and the video showed flawlessly with out the need to pause and wait for it. The audio and video is crystal clear (for a flash embedded) and you the feel that a real person been giving a speech to you.
So, we go back to the main lobby. Here I show you the layout and the list of available booth .
Another neat feature is the Event Bag or goody back feature. Yes, like in real life, people will gather up brochures and papers while walking around from spot to spot.In here you can pick a PDF files, similar to brochures that you can store temporarily for later viewing.
To better utilize this function, you can filter it first at the Preference, and pick what interest you.The event will automatically recommend you on what to collect to your goody bag.
Just remember to download all in your bag before log off,so that you can have a look once you reach your desktop….same as you reach at home.
Lets go the main part, the Auditorium
I like the blue curtain on the side and small heads on the bottom screen, it give the sense of a real seminar to it. Again, the loading time of each video is acceptable.. with minor buffering. The just sit back and enjoy the event and give the full experience as in real seminar.
Even opening video is breathtaking, I’m so really into touching thing and model it as it in real life. Perhaps in the future we can model a product as visualize in the opening video.
So, there you have it.. my review of this in virtual event. For those who still haven’t go there, head over to http://innovationday.veplatform.com to register and experience now.
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