Although the e-zine version of Coffeehouse Culture will be the main part of the Coffeehouse Culture site, it is expected that the Virtual Amsterdam section will be the main 'crowd-puller'. Setting new standards in web interactivity, the Virtual Amsterdam site will be set up as a three dimensional adventure game in which visitors are encouraged to open as many doors as possible as they gather clues. As well as containing clues to the main Virtual Amsterdam game, behind each door there will be unique distractions to keep visitors engaged. The aim of Virtual Amsterdam will be to provide a colourful, varied and fun environment that is such a thoroughly entertaining experience that visitors will keep coming back to the Coffeehouse Culture site again and again. The Virtual Amsterdam section of the site will be heavily promoted over the web and in the press and will be high on the first page of search engine selections.
From virtual coffeeshops to . . . . well, virtually virtual anything, the streets of Virtual Amsterdam will be as rich as the city itself. Although initially there will be a few 'To Let' signs on the buildings in the main street from the very beginning there will be some occupants. You can bet that Coffeehouse Culture's Culture Shop will have a prime site. There will also be our fine art gallery showing and selling works by some of Amsterdam's most talented unknowns and our chill-out room offering psychedelic refreshment will be open soon. And that is just the start.
There are no limitations. Anything that can be sold in the real world can be sold in Virtual Amsterdam. It can find a place for virtually every kind of virtual business. From book and music shops to hotels, from travel specialists to health specialists, from language schools to psychics, from car hire to clubs --- the scope is endless. And what about the coffeeshops that make such a contribution to the ambience of the city? Each one a unique and often lovingly structured real world environment that can be transported to provide world-wide access.
Virtual Amsterdam will be taking web environment creation to new heights. The 3D environments behind each door will be created to reflect the real world or to the occupant's specification. What exists behind each door can be a single room or several rooms or just a counter with a notice on it (maybe a link to your own web site). Each environment will be created as a 'free-standing' custom module based around a concept that provides internal interactivity within the wider concept of the whole Virtual Amsterdam experience. Environments can be created by the Coffeehouse Culture site design team or can be supplied by the occupants themselves.
As well as offering an unprecedented promotional opportunity for businesses, Virtual Amsterdam will provide a platform for promoting the very best that Amsterdam has to offer. As part of the Coffeehouse Culture site, Virtual Amsterdam will be the fun entry point to a site that is about increased consciousness, evolution and creating a better individual and collective reality.
Now is the time to think ahead to the future. Main street will be rented out on a first-come-first-served basis so the best locations will go early. But don't think you are going to be moving in next week because 3D environments take up to six months to create. Now is the time to think about where web technology will be in six months and begin to become a part of the Virtual Amsterdam community.
