A 3D virtual shopping mall that has the intelligent virtual purchasing guider and cooperative purchasing functionalities

This work represents a multiuser interactive virtual purchasing environment realized by technologies such as multiagent, VRML, Java3D, XML and the computer network. In this environment, there is a symbol with mood for every customer, which can communicate freely with symbol of other customers, commodities in the shopping mall and the intelligent agent. In the meantime, a virtual purchasing guider is designed to communicate with different symbols of customers in different manners. This virtual guider is able to patrol in this virtual 3D environment along the path planned by itself. Customers may have dynamic communication with other purchasers through the virtual guider or operate interactively on all kinds of commodities. This system simulates the whole purchasing process including window-shopping, choosing and paying for the items. Such comprehensive simulation is an e-business system that makes the customers feel like they are personally on the scene.