7th Level Commercial Launch of Agent 7 1.0: First Voice-Activated
Animation for DeskTop & WebTop
Business Wire - August 18, 1998 08:06
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 18, 1998--7th Level, Inc. (NASDAQ: SEVL) today announced the commercial
launch of Agent 7 1.0 -- a new kind of voice-activated, Internet software for making and running broadcast quality,
lip-synched, re-useable animation on the web as well as from within major desktop applications.
Agent 7 can be purchased easily via credit card and downloaded quickly from 7th Level's new e-commerce website at
www.7thlevel.com for an introductory rate of $49, after which it will be priced at the standard rate of $99. Free evaluation
copies are also available. 7th Level has chosen Cybersource Corporation as its e-commerce solution provider.
"Anyone can use Agent 7 to bring a PC to life," said Richard Merrick, 7th Level CEO. "We see consumers, executives and
web developers using it to create compelling presentations in applications like Microsoft PowerPoint or streamed over the
Internet inside a web page."
Agent 7 1.0 comes with 10 characters that can be choreographed and lip-synched in a matter of minutes to create an unlimited
number of animation files. Users can change a character's dialog and animation by simply recording a voice track with a
microphone plugged into a PC.
Additional "character packs," featuring a variety of styles and personalities, will soon be available from 7th Level and other
licensed content developers.
Agent 7 characters can be inserted into all major Windows 95/98 applications, including Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT)
PowerPoint, Word and Excel, or any webpage compatible with versions 3.0 and 4.0 of Microsoft Internet Explorer and
Netscape (NASDAQ: NSCP) Navigator.
Consumers, businesses and professional developers can use Agent 7 to increase the effectiveness and reduce the cost of
updating presentations and websites; link Windows 95/98 Desktop and other applications to the Web in real time; or automate
e-commerce retail, customer service and training applications.
"With the growing demand for websites to display dynamic content, we see Agent 7 as one of the easiest, fastest and
inexpensive ways to create personalized animation on the fly," said Merrick. "For instance, dynamically constructed web pages
-- such as those built with Microsoft Active Server or Macromedia (NASDAQ: MACR) Generator -- can use Agent 7
characters to stream up-to-the-minute, personalized information. Agent 7 can even be used to coordinate and control the
display of other web content synchronous with a character's action and dialog."
7th Level plans to step up marketing of its Agent 7 line of products through its previously-announced distribution agreement
with RealNetworks, Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK) and an on-line and off-line advertising campaign in the Fall.
Agent 7 is based on 7th Level's core technology -- Media Control 7, or "mc7" -- which can be used to control, manipulate and
publish multiple sources of streaming media on the Internet, other narrow and broadband networks, or standalone PCs,
something not currently possible with existing technology.
7th Level's e-commerce provider, Cybersource Corporation, enables companies to securely and efficiently extend their
businesses to the web without making extensive investments in commerce infrastructure. Cybersource was founded in 1994
and is a privately held company funded by Paul Allen group, Unterberg Harris capital management, and private investors.
Recently, 7th Level announced a major new technology agreement with Net Perceptions, Inc. to integrate and resell Net
Perceptions' personalized recommendation software with 7th Level's Agent 7 character animation technology.
7th Level has also entered into marketing and distribution agreements for the Company's technology and products with
broadcast.com (NASDAQ:BCST) and WavePhore, Inc. (NASDAQ:WAVO).
|
