Science Fiction big business?

It may not seem like your usual Wall Street operation, but science fiction has become big business. With many of the top grossing films of all time being science fiction, fantasy or horror, new fans are born every day. These fans are looking for places to meet and discuss their favorite shows, movies and celebrities.

Enter science fiction conventions. Born in the early 70s by a community of Star Trek fans, they have become big business with several held just about every weekend somewhere in the country. The growth of the Internet has taken many fans, and conventions, online. Now one of these is going to the next level - an interactive 3D Virtual Reality convention in Cyberspace in conjunction with a real-life event.

TachyCon has been well-known to fans in Florida for more than 10 years as a fun convention run by fans. They've grown to an audience of more than 2,000 meeting in Orlando, FL, each May. Now, they have formed a partnership with the world's largest science fiction virtual reality Internet community, Cybertown.com, to reach out to fellow fans around the world.

Tachy11Con VR will be held concurrent with Tachy11Con - the physical convention May 26-29, 2000 in Orlando, FL. They've hired a 3D animation house to build the Hilton in the Walt Disney World Resort - their host hotel - in VRML, the Internet's 3D standard. This is the first time such an immersive event has been attempted.

Fans logging into the Cybertown.com hosted Tachy11Con VR will be able to walk the halls of the hotel's convention space using 3D representations of themselves, called Avatars. They'll be able to walk into panel discussions, celebrity question & answer sessions, game rooms, purchase from merchants and artists, chat and interact with fellow fans (including those at the real-life convention) and more. Many of the events will be web cast and chats with TachyCon's celebrity guests will also be held. The celebrities include Bruce Campbell (star of Jack of all Trades and the fan favorite Evil Dead trilogy), Robert Trebor from Hercules and Xena, and many more.

TachyCon is currently arranging additional partnerships to push the boundaries of the Internet as far as possible. With the vision and imagination of science fiction fans, this big business has no limits.

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