Last summer, Boston-based 8D World secured both big name game talent and big bucks on its road to virtual worlds fame. With $7 million in a Series A funding from Spark Capital and Gobi Ventures and the presence of traditional game veteran Rick Goodman, the company promised an upcoming virtual world that would connect people around the globe. This week, the launch business model behind the start-up was revealed as a language-learning online destination targeted to kids; one that relies on bots as teachers.
The world, known as Wiz World, has already been launched in a beta version
in
The trajectory of the company is to first exploit Asian markets, then pursue
a more global presence. English will be the only language taught.
Today, Wiz World is free, but over time, 8D expects to ratchet up the
business model to include subscriptions, microtransactions and sponsorships.
Speaking to The Journal of New England Technology, founder
Alex
Wang said users are the sort that want to go beyond the often
sub-standard learning experience local schools and businesses provide.
he thinks there is a market for those who want to be able to order food
at
McDonald’s or coffee at a Starbucks in perfect rather than halting
English.
Language learning is the most common education-based activity in Second Life, according to Linden Lab Vice President of Platform and Technology
Development Joe Miller. That seems to be something of an inspiration to Wang,
who told the journal, "Given the international population that’s going to
be making use of this kind of online training, I think it really makes sense to
go into the Second Life model."
In addition to Wang and Goodman, the Wiz World team includes translation
expert Daben Liu, who created the world's "language robots," and
creative content director Jodie Waldesbuhl, a former public school teacher who
has consulted on English language acquisition projects in Asia and
[via The Journal of New England Technology]
This post originally appeared on our sister site, Virtual Worlds News.
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