Internet photography leader in agreement with RealNetworks
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INTERACTIVE PICTURES TO DELIVER IMMERSIVE MULTIMEDIA FOR THE INT
Business Wire
April 15, 1999, 2:28 p.m. PT
ernet Based On RealNetworks'
RealSystems G2
Business Editors and High Tech Writers
SAN JOSE, Calif. / OAK RIDGE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 15,
1999--
IPIX To Enhance Next
Generation Streaming Media;
Enables Web Developers to
Create "Sticky Content"
Interactive Pictures Corporation (www.ipix.com), the leader in
photography for the Internet, today announced an agreement with
RealNetworks, Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK).
The agreement grants IPIX distribution and licensing rights to
develop and distribute IPIX(TM) images via RealNetworks RealSystem(TM)
G2. RealSystem G2 is the next generation streaming media delivery
system that includes features designed to enable high quality,
reliable and scalable streaming media for the Internet and other
networks. Interactive Pictures' IPIX technology creates images that
reproduce a view like we see the world, in 360x360 degrees, allowing
people to "teleport" themselves "inside" a multi-dimensional,
360-degree-by-360-degree image. A key differentiator of the most
visited online sites is the interactivity provided to site visitors.
Typically, the more information provided, the more likely a Web surfer
will stay or visit.
Commercial Web site developers and Webmasters have recently
turned their attention towards the integration and increased use of
"sticky" content. To be "sticky," a site must contain material which
has a strong grasp on its visitors. A 1998 Forrester Research report
which explored how online consumers discover Web sites and what drives
them to return, concluded that content was the most important factor
by far-driving 75 percent of consumers to return to favorite sites.
Savvy companies are realizing that by adding "rich" or "sticky"
multimedia content such as IPIX not only draws Web users to their
site, but also retains the user on the site for an increased period of
time.
"With the mass adoption of IPIX photography by leading Internet
sites, IPIX images have become a new media type on the Internet. Just
as RealNetworks has enabled the broad distribution of streaming audio
and video on the Web, the integration of IPIX with RealSystem G2 will
usher in a new generation of immersive multimedia," said Jim Phillips,
chairman and CEO of Interactive Pictures. "IPIX and our next
generation technology will leverage the streaming media functions
provided by RealNetworks to deliver compelling and easily-viewed
content."
IPIX immersive images, when combined with RealSystem G2, provides
web surfers with a more robust and interactive experience while
providing companies the measurable feedback they need to monitor and
drive business and advertising on their sites. IPIX technology is
helping to create a more interactive feel for digital images
benefiting both businesses as well as the growing number of
"Web-sumers" taking advantage of on-line commerce options. RealSystem
G2's plug-in architecture enables developers to create entirely new
media types that are accessible through RealPlayer. Individual Web
users and consumers need only download the standard RealPlayer to
interact with IPIX images, complete with audio and motion. No
additional plug-in is needed.
"Consumers today are looking for enhanced, interactive media
experiences," said Pete Zaballos, director of systems marketing for
RealNetworks, Inc. "Using IPIX technology, our customers will be able
to navigate through live and on-demand immersive images and video."
Interactive Pictures, the market leader in Internet photography,
is highlighting the strengths of not only its core
expertise-immersive, self-navigating IPIX images, but also its second
area of business -- real time video capture and navigation. The end
result is live or re-broadcast coverage that is independently and
simultaneously navigable by every end user.
"Many of the leading Internet sites utilize RealNetworks'
technology and IPIX content to create compelling and easy to view
"sticky" web sites. Combining these two technologies into a single
steaming application greatly simplifies and enhances the Internet
experience for Web surfers," said Kristy Holch, Principal, InfoTrends
Research Group in Boston, Mass.
True interactivity is delivered today by leading web sites such
as Microsoft, Hilton Hotels, Rent.Net, Coldwell Banker, the NFL,
Carnival Cruise Lines, Disney, National Geographic, and Discovery.
Interactive Pictures' efforts, to be complemented by developments with
RealNetworks, are driving web traffic today with "sticky" content.
"Interactive Pictures and RealNetworks are leaders in providing
multimedia-rich content for top web sites. The integration of these
two powerful content enablers will provide a richer, simpler, and more
interactive experience for the Discovery Online viewer," said Andrew
Sharpless, senior vice president, Discovery Communications. "We
foresee incredible stories and experiences being told through the use
of IPIX and RealNetworks' interactive technologies."
About Interactive Pictures
Interactive Pictures Corporation has reinvented photography for
businesses and consumers through its patented IPIX technology. With
technology originally developed on behalf of NASA and the U.S.
Department of Energy as a means to provide total remote viewing of
hazardous environments such as outer space, an IPIX image places
viewers in the center of a picture, and allows them to navigate the
environment in real time as if they were teleported into that space.
IPIX technology is the only easy to use and affordable photography
solution to deliver a completely immersive 360(degree) x 360(degree)
photographic experience providing interactive, spherical images. An
IPIX image takes the viewer from earth to sky, floor to ceiling and
horizon to horizon, all from two simple opposing photographs captured
by a fisheye lens and seamlessly blended together.
Interactive Pictures has helped numerous organizations create
virtual tours and redefine digital marketing/electronic commerce
efforts for thousands of leading companies including Microsoft, AOL,
Disney, Hilton Hotels, Toyota, Intel, National Geographic, Lufthansa,
Rent.Net, Coldwell Banker, CNN, the New York Times, the Chicago
Tribune, Discovery Communications, the NFL and the NBA. Interactive
Pictures maintains corporate headquarters in Oak Ridge, Tenn. and San
Jose, Calif. Experience IPIX images and learn more about Interactive
Pictures at www.ipix.com.
Note to Editors: Interactive Pictures, IPIX and V360 are
trademarks of Interactive Pictures Corporation. All other trademarks
and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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