CRI听力: 3D Shopping in Croatia

Trillenium is in the second week of its trial period in Zagreb. The new 3D shopping mall offers customers in Zagreb both shopping and networking facilities.

Launched on November 4th, it gives shoppers access to more than 100,000 products by Croatian and international companies. Shops sell everything from multimedia products, technical appliances, sports equipment and clothes to toys and food. More than 90 stores are set out on 180,000 virtual square meters.

The concept is not a new one. Similar projects offering users access to virtual cities such as the German-owned Twinity, which has a virtual Berlin and Singapore, have been up and running for more than a year. But the organizers behind Trillenium say they are the first in the world to offer a fully 3D virtual shopping mall. Shoppers move through Trillenium as avatars they designed themselves. The mall is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and during working hours, shoppers can consult with real retail staff from individual stores via chat.

Hrvoje Prpic was behind the launch of the Croatian computer retail chain HG Spot. He has invested 1.5 million U.S. dollars into the Trillenium project and says he expects an annual turnover of 150 million U.S. dollars in return. He says logistics and information transfer is the business of the future.(www.hXen.com)

"Information transfer is a very interesting field and I would like to take part in it. So this shopping center is actually an information transfer. Because, when you enter a shop, you want to look at a product, touch it, chose it and eventually have it at your home. Instead of performing this complicated procedure by yourself, it is much simpler that you chose a product from your home and have someone else deliver it to you."

Trillenium uses the Unity social computing platform. This means as well as shopping, users can get information about products, hang out with friends in virtual coffee bars and meet new people in a 3D environment.

In addition to social networking Trillenium are also introducing playgrounds for children and virtual space for business meetings and educational projects. But shopping is at its core, and recent studies in Croatia show that most still prefer a real-life, physical shopping experience.

Trillenium users will be able to access a 3D presentation of each product that allows them to examine it from all sides. For those who do not wish to pay online, there is the option of paying in cash upon delivery of the goods.

But shoppers in Zagreb still have reservations. Valerija Sindicic says,

"I look at Internet offers, I admit that. I look at what is being offered; it is interesting to see. However, when I am actually buying, I like to touch it. If we are talking about clothes, I like to put it on, to try it on."

Nonetheless, developers at Trillenium are confident that the project will be a success. They believe the golden age of online shopping has only just arrived in Croatia.

For China drive, I'm Xiaohua.