From: knoxrich@netcom.com (W. Knox Richardson) Subject: ANNOUNCE: TOMBTOWN -- Web's First 3-D VR Cemetery in VRT Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 03:31:48 GMT Message-ID: Organization: Netcom FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For further information, contact: Michele Weaver or Knox Richardson Terraformers -- Builders of Virtual Worlds 800-468-9887 michele@terraformers-usa.com or knox@terraformers-usa.com Tombtown Livens Up Web as Home of the Living Impaired; 3-D VR Graveyard Fetes Expired Celebs, Aging Baby Boomers SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- March 18, 1997 -- What do Plato, Joan of Arc, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison, Amelia Earhart and the guy in your office who just turned 50, all have in common? Answer: They are all "entombed" in a 3-D, virtual reality burial ground at one of the most unusual, entertaining and educational Web sites ever to hit Cyberspace. Tombtown -- located at www.tombtown.com -- opens its gates this week for new customers, both dead and alive. Visitors can explore the final resting places of colorful celebrities, authors, artists, scientists, military men, heros, villians and others from recent and ancient history. "Notable residents of Tombtown are also being joined by the still living who have one foot in the grave," according to Michele Weaver, the Santa Cruz, Calif.-based virtual reality programmer who created Tombtown, the web's first 3-D interactive cemetery. "We have a number of internees who have just turned 40 or 50 and have been presented by their friends with virtual resting places -- just in case." Weaver, president of Terraformers, a three-year-old virtual reality Web site development firm, said the idea for Tombtown came while researching historical figures for an educational project. "We realized there wasn't anywhere online where people could commemorate their friends, loved ones or favorite personalities. Then we extended the concept to include the 'over-the-hill' crowd looking for unusual gifts," she said. "My online headstone amazes and confuses everyone who sees it. They don't know whether to laugh or cry," said J. Nelson Richardson of Bakersfield, Calif., one of first 'living' 50-year-old residents of Tombtown. Tombtown uses the latest interactive VR technology from Superscape Inc. which provides the free online plug-in viewer required for either Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Explorer Web browsers for Windows. For orders, Tombtown accepts major credit cards by secure server, telephone or fax. See its Web site for ordering information. Tombtown -- located at http://www.tombtown.com -- is produced by Terraformers, Builders of Virtual Worlds. Located near Santa Cruz, Calif., Terraformers is a leading provider of commercial, educational and entertainment 3-D, interactive Web sites and can be reached at http://www.terraformers.com. # # # [MODERATOR'S NOTE: Commercial postings are offered on this newsgroup as a public service. Their appearance here does not indicate endorsement by the moderators or by the USENET or its administrators.]