Tim Wang's eLearning Blog

Microsoft launched the WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) and OGA (Office Genuine Advantage) tools this month to examine the legitimacy of the MS Windows and MS Office software on all PCs in China. Those who failed the tests would see a black desktop on their Windows background or a permanent warning message of pirated Office software. This is yet the most harsh action taken by the software giant against software piracy in China.

Although the company repeated it would not collect personal information with the tools, which would not affect computer use, controversy over the move has escalated. Many Chinese users have questioned the legality of Microsoft's move. A question on many Chinese consumers' mind: Does Microsoft have the right to penalize pirated systems by intruding the system without permission of the computer owner? There have been several law suits filed against Microsoft based on their WGA and OGA movement in China since October 20th. I personally do think the act has breached the basic ethics of software manufacturers with the unsolicited remote control of computers. I don't believe any software companies would dare to this kind of "certification based penalization" here in Canada or US. In the meanwhile, I do support software developers to take legitimate legal actions against piracy.

What did I do over the long weekend? Touring in the Forbidden City, literally. Last Friday, IBM launched the first Chinese 3D virtual tourism platform - Beyond Space and Time (The Virtual Forbidden City). In partnership with the Forbidden Palace Museum, IBM invested 3 years of time and over 3 million dollars to re-construct a 3 dimensional replica of the world largest Imperial Palace standing today, the Forbidden City of China. The Forbidden City was built from 1406 to 1420, consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and covers 720,000 square metres. It is also the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

Similar to the Great Wall of China, Forbidden City has been the one of the "must see" tourism places in China. I have been there a dozen of times since age of 3. The Virtual Forbidden City enables visitors to interact with others and with a growing knowledge base of the historical site. Learning materials are being generated by tourists, volunteers, staff and data collecting scripts. As they explore the Virtual Forbidden City, visitors can choose to simply observe the buzz of activity, participate in activities that provide insights into important aspects of the Chinese history, or even take guided tours that uncover new insights into the stories of the Forbidden City. It's a combination of 3D Simulation and Machinima experience in my opinion. There are also a few mini-games embedded in the exotic gardens and amazing architectures to keep the audiences entertained.

Registration

To get started, go to the Registration Page to get an account and an avatar icon. This will allow you to save, share your virtual tourism experience with others. Your avatar can take the form of any of several people dressed in Qing era clothing.

Download and Start the Tour!

Upon the completion of the simple registration process, you will be lead to a page that allows you to download the software which will run the Virtual Forbidden City tour on your computer. Please note, you don't have to have an registered account, you may visit it as a guest after install the software.

The following are some photos taken by the virtual tourists and shared over the web. There are much more to it than a simple walk through. I encourage you to try out the platform yourself. It's free, and best yet, no advertisement attached to it "yet" (other than the IBM trademark everywhere of course). It's a really effective way to refresh your memory or give you a sneak preview of the amazing palace!