IBM invests in creating interactive access to historic Chinese landmark.

Rishi Patel had an epiphany when he saw "Toy Story" more than a decade ago. Patel has long been interested in merging science and art, and the Pixar movie drove the point home. "When I saw that, I really saw the potential for 3D," he said.

Now a designer at IBM Corp, Patel headed a 12-member team that recently finished an ambitious two-year project: a virtual recreation of Beijing's Forbidden City that recently opened to the public.

In the online world that resembles "Second Life" and other multi-player video games, users will be able to create characters and explore the city, talking with other people and learning more about Chinese history.

Online character interaction is not new, and gamers have been teaming up to explore fantasy environments for years. But virtual worlds have now been dragged into the mainstream for social networking and cultural outreach.

Stanley Litow, IBM's vice president for corporate citizenship and corporate affairs, sees "The Forbidden City: Beyond Space and Time" as a way gaming technology can be used to advance cultural understanding. "Something like that has never been done before," he said.

Litow said discussions with Chinese government authorities and the Palace Museum (the Forbidden City) started about four years ago. "I think there was a meeting of the minds," he said. "We collaborated on this very closely."

The Forbidden City was built in the early 15th century and served as the imperial palace until 1912, when the last emperor of China forfeited his throne. The complex covers 72 hectares and consists of hundreds of buildings. The government allowed IBM's team special access to the Forbidden City, which researchers and photographers studied for more than two years.

(Shanghai Daily November 4, 2008)