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Friendfinder Adds Virtual Dating
Chat Feature
(onlinedatingmagazine.com -
January 28, 2004) FriendFinder has
announced that it is now the first major online dating
service to bring
internet chat rooms to life with vivid, movable three-dimensional
characters and scenic, visual chat rooms. FriendFinder's new
FlashChat service lets singles choose animated characters
that reflect their appearance and personal
style. FlashChat enhances the chatting experience by
transforming flat, text-only chat rooms into virtual
parties. FlashChat uses virtual reality technology
and is the cutting edge in chat room technology.
Before
FlashChat, chat rooms were simply text-based and
you needed an active imagination to figure out the
sex, age and image of the participants:
< chiller > -- yes we will protest ronnnnnn
< m_425 > -- shisha is hot
< tigra562 > -- hello y'all
< freebird > -- hiya JEWELS how was your day? Huggies!
< Camguy > -- 21/m/uk
< blonde virgin > -- I need more popcorn
< trish dosnt pvt > -- grr tawna just left
< baby_boy 391 > Hey hottie 81 -- are U m or f?
Now, with FlashChat, < Chiller > can choose
a character (or "avatar") of a black man
in a suit and tie, while < Blondevirgin > will
now be a long haired blonde in a demure dress. When < Tigra562 > enters,
you see her avatar appear, and when < Tawna > leaves
the room, her voluptuous longhaired auburn avatar literally
moves to the edge of the screen. It's also much easier
to keep track of conversation, because chatting now
appears in "thought
bubbles" above the avatar's head.
Singles choose
from an array of lifelike, costumed, animated avatars
that mingle in realistic, three-dimensional rooms.
New York's chat room is a glittering city skyline;
Hawaii, a palmy beach. The 30 male and 30 female characters
range from surfers in red shorts to elderly gentlemen
in tuxedos ... from women in conservative business
attire to sexy vixens in lingerie.
"FlashChat is the cutting edge in internet chat
systems, and we're the first major online dating service
to bring avatar based chat to the public," says
FriendFinder founder and CEO Andrew Conru. "You
can get into the role playing aspect of chatting in
a whole new way that is totally immersive and addictively
fun. Other people can immediately decide if you look
intriguing and if they want to approach you, without
wasting time with "SWM" introductions."
Another
visual advantage of FlashChat is the ability to physically
move around avatars inside a chat room. To visually
express the desire to join or leave a conversation,
a user just drags their avatar away from their current
group (with the computer mouse or arrow keys) and places
it next to the new entrant.
"20 million active FriendFinder network members
have access to our chat rooms, making it one of the
most active chat destinations on the Internet," said
Conru. The FlashChat system is free for all paying
and free trial members on FriendFinder and will
be available on more FriendFinder dating sites shortly.
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