By Ong Boon Kiat

Local Internet users and their life-like 3D digital avatars can soon sip virtual cuppas in virtual Shenton Way cafes. What's more, they will also be able to chat, work and play in other true-to-life, online 3D cityscapes of Singapore.

This virtual world that looks and feels like Singapore is the brain child of German firm Metaversum. Virtual Singapore, which will be based on a Metaversum platform called Twinity, will be rolled out by year-end, a senior company official told BizIT this week.

In this virtual city, users will be able to buy and furnish virtual apartments, and invite real friends over. They can also carry out real world business transactions, like checking-in airline tickets or booking a business centre.

'The virtual Singapore city will be close to being a replica of Singapore,' said Jeremy Snyder, executive vice-president of operations, Metaversum.

The Berlin-based start-up has just set foot in Singapore. It opened its first Asia office here last month - the company's second overseas office after one in Kiev.

'(Virtual Singapore) won't be 100 per cent accurate of course - you won't get a parking ticket or feel the heat of Singapore's weather,' he quipped.

Speaking to BizIT in an interview, Mr Snyder said that Metaversum engineers are now working to turn Singapore's various landmarks into virtual ones, and the company is working with the Media Development Authority (MDA) and Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) to ensure the accuracy of its creations.

It is also in talks with more than 50 local content and services partners about the project, Mr Snyder said.

Metaversum was founded in 2006 and now employs about 50 employees. The privately-funded Berlin-based startup develops and operates its own 3D online world creation, dubbed Twinity.

Twinity harnesses a mixture of open source and proprietary technologies. This platform offers a virtual world with a real life twist: painstakingly-rendered models of actual buildings and events populate its virtual scapes, rather than the fantasy worlds typically found in Second Life and other online virtual world offerings.

'We are adopting a Facebook approach to virtual worlds,' Mr Snyder said. 'Facebook allows you to show a lot about yourself, and Twinity turns that into a 3D expression.'

Part of that expression is the process of creating a digital avatar. Twinity lets users do so using two photographs of themselves - one showing a front profile, and the other the side profile. The result is an avatar that bears an uncanny likeness to its user, as can be seen in Metaversum's online gallery.

The company launched virtual Berlin in the real Berlin city on Sept 7, and is set to roll out the virtual cityscapes of Singapore and London by year-end.

Virtual Singapore will be accessible by all registered users at no charge, said Mr Snyder. On the privacy and security aspects of the website, he said that the company will not pass personal information along, and will offer tools that can help users control their private information.

Metaversum will collect subscription fees from businesses that host their virtual shopfronts in Twinity. It will also sell virtual items, such as virtual apartments and clothes that adorn avatars, to users. Another revenue stream could be in the sale of advertising spaces in the virtual cities.

'How successful we are will depend on our local partners,' said Mr Snyder. 'The key is to provide value to the Singapore community, rather than trying to create something out of nothing.'

One local firm that has already signed up is local cafe and business centre operator Geek Terminal, located at Raffles Place. 'You will see a (true-to-life) representation of Geek Terminal in Twinity,' said CEO Christopher Lee.

Geek Terminal could provide services such as facilities booking, video-conferencing and virtual product launches through the Twinity platform, he added.

This article was first published in The Business Times on September 18, 2008.