Design of a multiuser virtual trade fair using a game engine

The current world economic situation makes it necessary to develop new ways of establishing commercial relationships. One possible solution is to explore the advantages of virtual worlds, and for this reason online virtual trade fairs are becoming more popular in the business world. They enable companies to establish a trade relationship with their customers without the need to visit them in person. This is very attractive for exhibitors because it can save them money, which is a priority for many companies today. In this line, this article presents a multiuser virtual trade fair developed using 3D game engine technologys. Users represented by avatars can interact with each other while they are visiting the virtual fair, which has some interactive objects included in the stands to provide information about the exhibitors. This virtual world is accessible online, and visitors only require a plug-in on their computers to be able to enter the virtual world. The game technology makes it possible to obtain a high degree of realism: very real lighting, cast shadows, collision detection, etc. Moreover, the virtual world presented builds the 3D objects automatically. Participants in the trade fair can customize their virtual stand and the application will generate the code necessary for its inclusion in the rendered virtual world.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology project TIN2010-21089-C03-03. And also by Bancaja, project P1 1B2007-5

La comunicazione web dei quartieri fieristici

Purpose of the paper: The main goal of the work is to outline the principal trends and the role played by the web communication within the international trade fair scenario. At a later time, the adequacy of the online communicative activities, adopted by the Italian exhibition centers, is evaluated. Methodology: A systematic review process (aimed at identify all the academic articles focused on the Trade Shows field between 1996 and 2016 and in particular on the web communication role) and a website quality evaluation model (2QCV2Q, Mich, Franch, 2000) are adopted. The model is here adapted to the sector of reference by the insertion of a series of quality variables specifically identified and used in literature for the trade show websites quality evaluation. Results: The survey shows an overall insufficient and underdeveloped adoption of the online communicative tools by the National exhibition centers. Although the majority of them own an official website, only a small percentage (about less than half) realizes really interactive online communicative activities. From the point of view of the single investigated dimensions, the National trade show websites present, as a whole, a correct brand identity construction (IDENTITY), a high content richness (CONTENT) and, to a lesser extent, a proper and careful website content management/update (MANAGEMENT). In contrast, the most evident criticalities have emerged in the context of the INDIVIDUATION, USABILITY and SERVICES dimensions. Limits: The study limitation is linked to the fact the survey has been conducted from an external perspective, not making possible, in this context, to realize a trade show online communication assessment in relation to the governance specific objectives. For the future, the authors’ interest is to extend the research from a methodological (through direct interviews with the National exhibition centers managers) and a geographical point of view (through a comparison with exhibition systems of other countries, in order to understand the real development state of the National exhibition centers online communicative activities). Implications: The study identifies a series of possible learning and innovative paths the National trade show industry could undertake in order to reduce the gap that currently separates the National exhibition universe from a totally powerful use of the web communication tools. Originality of the paper: The adopted literature review process has permitted to map the different academic articles that have deepened, in the last 20 years, the Tradeshows (TSs) field, allowing, in this way, to outline the main trends characterizing the recent literature specifically dedicated to this research sector