THE WORLD YOU SCREEN
by Karen Guthry
 Which company on the Net, wouldn’t want to offer their clients a fully immersive, emotional experience as well as give access to product information and services? Just imagine traveling abroad, walking down a fashionable shopping district, entering an elegant store to admire the goods on display at your leisure. Then, visit a few famous landmarks or monuments before getting back in time for dinner! All this and more, is possible without leaving your desk.
We’re not talking about ESP, time travel or teleporting yourself across the globe… VRWAY, the portal for third generation internet, opens up a whole new experience to surfers, clients, retailers and cybernauts alike. VRWAY replicates the real world through 360 degree panoramic, interactive images, which are complemented by audio and video.
Bringing the real world to the computer screen, VRWAY opens up a whole new realm of virtual tours, panoramic views, cultural, social and commercial experiences. The company’s mission is to provide visitors with immersive, multimedia experiences of virtual reality, allowing surfers to explore foreign landscapes, stroll through city squares, visit museums, shop and consult maps all in the comfort of their own homes and offices.
Founded at the dawn of the new millennium, VRWAY International is an internet media company based in London with offices in Switzerland, Italy, Denmark and Spain. The group’s head office operates out of Switzerland where the virtual tours and editorial content are developed and produced.
The initial concept started out as a dream of communication and interaction. To create a virtual environment that would develop into a multicultural community, giving people the opportunity to become citizens and use the Internet as a medium to communicate across countries and cultures. The idea was founded on the desire to create journeys of discovery, where people could walk around, listen, and explore the world through the use of QuickTime VR technology, WebObjects and other advanced technologies. The virtual environment was expected to grow and develop organically, giving citizens the opportunity to chat, shop, research, and contribute their own ideas and upload their visual work.
Today, VRWAY focuses on a range of commercial services on offer to clients "whose image has become a key factor for success". Amongst the most prominent are those in the hospitality, travel, real estate and retail industries who can benefit from having their products showcased to a world-wide audience. From the surfer’s point of view, there are clear advantages in being able to make a virtual tour of a hotel or a potential home, and being able to make informed decisions about how to spend their money.
Amongst its assets the company counts a staff of 70 highly trained professionals, specialized industry know-how and a world-wide VR data base. Additionally, the group counts an international team of professional VR photographers, in-house post-production and R&D departments.
With industry heavyweights such as Apple, Framfab and Squamish Media on its side, VRWAY has successfully built some significant strategic partnerships and predicts it will be going public by the end of 2001.
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