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Home > Press > Press Releases > ID Award for Millennium Dome
Nearlife Nets Prestigious Interactive Design Award for Millennium Dome Attraction
Cambridge-Based Living Entertainment™ Company Recognized for KidsRoom2Interactive, Fantasy Exhibit
Cambridge, MA – June 1, 2000 – Nearlife Inc., a leader in developing new forms of entertainment that immerse audiences in "near life" experiences, today announced it received a prestigious silver Interactive Media Design Award. Presented by I.D. Magazine, the award recognizes Nearlife for its highly creative and innovative approach and execution for the interactive and multi-dimensional KidsRoom2, a featured attraction at the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, U.K.
A favorite among visitors to the Millennium Dome since its opening on January 1, 2000, KidsRoom2 is a child's fantasy bedroom that transports children into a highly engaging, three-dimensional adventure complete with talking animals and a bed that navigates a virtual river.
"Our mission is to continually push the limits of interactive entertainment," said Tinsely Galyean, co-founder and CEO, Nearlife. "With projects like KidsRoom2 and an upcoming Web version of our popular Virtual FishTank exhibit at the Museum of Science in Boston, Nearlife develops and delivers entertainment that immerses audiences in the experience—a new form of entertainment that we call Living Entertainment."
"This recognition by I.D. magazine for KidsRoom2 is particularly satisfying since Nearlife was the only U.S. company chosen to create an attraction at the international Millennium celebration."
I.D. Magazine Interactive Media Design Awards recognize companies whose creations exhibit excellence, innovation, and exceptional execution. Nearlife was selected from among more than 1,200 entries.
Using Nearlife's proprietary Directable Character™ technology, the characters in KidsRoom2 react to kids, young and old alike, in real time as they travel through raging rivers and jungle landscapes.
A collaboration between Nearlife and Land Design Studio of London, KidsRoom2 uses seven PCs and two 7x3-meter, rear-projected walls to operate the award winning presentation.
In addition to receiving the KidsRoom2 award, Nearlife collected another honor from I.D. Magazine when the company's collaborative effort with the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Un-Private House, an architecture exhibit utilizing a unique interactive table, was also recognized for excellence in the interactive media design space.
Recent Nearlife Living Entertainment projects and announcements include:
Virtual FishTank. The Museum of Science, Boston's Virtual FishTank presents an immersive undersea world that focuses on the schooling behavior of simulated cartoon-like fish. The audience can interact with the simulated fish, and create fish of their own. An Internet version of the Virtual FishTank is under development.
Networking Exhibit. In collaboration with the Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago, Nearlife is undertaking conceptual design and development for an exhibit about computer networks scheduled to open in February 2001. Using Nearlife's proprietary technology, visitors will be immersed "inside the 'net.'"
Un-Private House. Created for the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, this exhibit presented the changing definition of a private residence via a state of the art interactive dining room table and integral web site.
Motorola Partnership. In April 2000, Nearlife announced a strategic alliance with One Motorola Ventures, the venture capital arm of Motorola. The strategic alliance is designed to accelerate development of new consumer products through cutting-edge technology and enhanced creativity.
About Nearlife
Nearlife, the leading developer of immersive Living Entertainment, uses proprietary technologies to help audiences achieve "nearlife" experiences. Already widely known for award-winning exhibits at noted museums and science centers around the world, Nearlife is now introducing an Internet element to its exhibits. Internet connectivity not only expands the scope and reach of each exhibit, but transports the museum experience into homes and schools.
Based in Cambridge, MA, Nearlife was founded by Tinsley and Sheri Galyean in 1996, following Tinsley's work at the MIT Media Lab in the area of interactive story-telling. Nearlife clients include the Museum of Modern Art; the Museum of Science, Boston; the Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago; the St. Louis Science Center; the Millennium Dome, UK; Intel; Mitsubishi and Microsoft.
Nearlife delivers its highly engaging Living Entertainment by carefully weaving traditional storytelling techniques of plot and character development with cutting edge technology. The addition of Internet connectivity adds new dimension and functionality to the exhibition experience. Other proprietary technologies, such as Directable Characters™, enable Nearlife animated characters and environments to travel, migrate, adapt, grow, change and react. The end result is an experience that blends the real and virtual worlds.
Nearlife designs, manages, and implements all aspects of its exhibits, including character design, theming, content, graphics, interaction, user interface, software programming and technical supervision.
Nearlife, Living Entertainment, Directable Characters and the Nearlife logo are trademarks of Nearlife, Inc.
For Information Contact:
Jim Brady
Nearlife Inc.
info@nearlife.com
(617) 491-3184
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