Forum Archive Index - January 2000

["Mike Hudson" <mikehudson@clear.net.nz>]

Here is an e-mail I have just received from Virtual Specator announcing that
they have aqiried the rights to cover the Americas Cup - Previously they
could only cover the Louis Vuitton.

This may or may not have an influence on ITCs share price.

I would have tought that investors/punters would use all available
information before placing their their bets and have been surpisede by the
number of entries so far for Derek's competition. My understanding is that
we have until midnight on 2nd February before we have to sumit our entries.
I assume Derek that no changes of mind will be entertained.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


AGREEMENT REACHED FOR VIRTUAL SPECTATOR TO PROVIDE LIVE
3D INTERNET COVERAGE OF THE AMERICA'S CUP MATCH

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, January 29, 2000 - Virtual
Spectator will provide sailing enthusiasts around the
world with live 3D animated coverage of America's Cup
2000. Racing fans will be able to download the
America's Cup version of Virtual Spectator at
www.virtualspectator.com or through Quokka Sports'
official America's Cup web site at www.americascup.org.

This has been made possible following an agreement
finalized yesterday between Virtual Spectator and
America's Cup 2000; Telecom New Zealand, the Internet
rights holder; ESPN, the US television rights holder
for the America's Cup; and Quokka Sports, the producers
of the official web site of America's Cup 2000.

Virtual Spectator is the dynamic interactive software
that combines the Internet and global positioning (GPS)
technologies to bring live 3D animation from the race
course to personal computers. This software
successfully delivered more than 200 races to fans
worldwide throughout the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger
Races for the America's Cup. Louis Vuitton played a key
role in supporting this project at the early stages two
years ago.

Virtual Spectator animations are driven by race data
transmitted from the course by each competing yacht
over Telecom New Zealand's CDPD network, delivering
detailed boat and sail images to the user's personal
computer. The software provides on-screen live
performance data, showing the position and relative
speeds for each racing boat. Real time weather and
commentary as well as the ability to replay races are
some of the other popular features. The America's Cup
software will be enhanced to include new yacht graphics
and textures.

"Virtual Spectator provides users with a real-time
interactive experience," said Lindsay Fergusson,
Chairman of Virtual Spectator. "Racing fans enjoy the
instant replay feature, allowing every armchair sailor
to be an expert analyst. This same feature is used by
the competitors themselves as a debriefing tool to
review crucial tactical situations and determine what
went right or wrong on the race course," Fergusson
said.  "The interactive software complements the
extensive international coverage available to the
sports fan through both the traditional media and the
Internet."

Telecom New Zealand's America's Cup Project Manager
Glen Sowry said it made good sense for Telecom to waive
its Internet telemetry rights to allow Virtual
Spectator to continue broadcasting during the America's
Cup. "Virtual Spectator has proved to be an exciting
product that has gained a strong following in New
Zealand and internationally. With Telecom's increased
emphasis on the Internet, we are happy to facilitate
the continued use of Virtual Spectator during the
America's Cup," Sowry said.

The America's Cup version of Virtual Spectator will be
available at www.virtualspectator.com once the Louis
Vuitton Cup concludes. The software will also be
available through Quokka Sports' official America's Cup
web site at www.americascup.org.

The America's Cup Match software can be purchased over
the Internet for US$9.95.  Early subscribers to Virtual
Spectator who purchased the software on CD-ROM at
US$69.95 can download an upgrade for the Match from the
Virtual Spectator web site at no additional cost.

The America's Cup Match begins February 19 and is a
best five-of-nine series between Cup Defender Team New
Zealand and the winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
Italy's Prada Challenge and AmericaOne of San Francisco
are facing off in the Louis Vuitton Cup best five-of-
nine Finals that began January 26.  Virtual Spectator
provided the only live 3D animated coverage of the
early racing rounds in conjunction with the Louis
Vuitton Cup web site.

About Virtual Spectator

Virtual Spectator is the brainchild of two leading New
Zealand multi-media companies: Animation Research Ltd.
and Terabyte Interactive Ltd. Animation Research
pioneered 3D animation for enhancing television
coverage of the America's Cup since 1992 and Terabyte
Interactive took the America's Cup onto the Internet in
1995 in conjunction with Louis Vuitton. Virtual
Spectator software is presently being used in more than
70 countries worldwide.   Virtual Spectator Ltd. is a
privately owned New Zealand company, controlled by its
four directors and companies associated with them.

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