W3-design Adds Web Programming Pioneers, Pursues New Model for Sites that Live Beyond the Web; Core of Famed USC Mercury Project Reunited As Web Community-Building Firm Targets Remote-Controlled Sites.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 27, 1997--Reuniting the team that created the first World Wide Web project to allow users to alter the physical world, W3-design, Inc. has appointed Internet programming pioneers Carl Sutter and Steven Gentner to its development unit.

The appointments signal a move by W3-design, a top-tier group of information architects for the Web, away from traditional Web development and autonomous Web sites to the creation of "remote-controlled" sites and tools that will power activities on and off the Web.

In a related development, W3 has also added Dr. Gillian Thornhill, a planetary scientist with expertise image processing and mapping, to its programming team.

Sutter and Gentner previously worked with W3 co-founders Nick Rothenberg and Dr. Michael Mascha at the University of Southern California's E-Lab, where they participated in the groundbreaking Mercury Project. The project, an Anthropology and Computer Science Department initiative that enabled some 80,000 early Web visitors to remotely control a robotic arm engaged in excavating a radioactive nuclear test site, was hailed by The London Times as "a piece of computer history." The Mercury Project was a finalist in the 1995 National Information Infrastructure Awards competition.

"As the Web matures, it's increasingly important for firms like ours to deliver rich sites that include powerful applications within them," said Mascha, W3's President and Creative Director. "In order realize our vision of building communities around our sites -- and generate content through interactions among community members -- users need to experience true, integrated environments. With Carl Sutter and Steve Gertner on board, we can offer high-end application creation and cutting-edge tools and technologies, whether it's custom databases or mobile units that are controlled from the Web. The result is the fully architected site, further extending the mandate of the medium."

Sutter and Gentner also participated in developing the Tele-Garden, a "tele-robotic" installation that enables Web users to view and interact with a remote garden filled with plants. The first site to combine robotic technology, organic soil and Web connectivity, the Tele-Garden was a finalist in the 1996 National Information Infrastructure Awards. Originally based at USC, the Tele-Garden is now in residence in Linz, Austria.

Sutter developed SnapNSend, a Microsoft Windows program that captures still images and video clips, controls a pan/tilt camera mount, dials an ISP, and FTPs the files to a Web server. He also created TommyCam, a Web-based camera system that displayed live pictures of the USC campus. A co-author of "Beyond the Web: Manipulating the Real World" and a variety of other articles, Sutter holds an M.S. in electrical engineering from USC and a B.S. in electrical engineering from Cornell University.

In addition to his contributions to the Tele-Garden and the Mercury Project, Gertner's Web-related work includes Hypertalk and KnapSack. Hypertalk is a Java applet that enhances a browser by enabling shared browsing and chat capabilities. KnapSack, developed at Hunchback Software, is a general purpose Web scripting language that supports quick, flexible creation of interactive Web functionality. Gertner holds M.S. and B.S. degrees in computer science from USC.

A VRML programmer, Dr. Thornhill has created computer simulations and theoretical models of volcanic eruptions and their interaction with the atmosphere, among other research projects. She served as a researcher at Brown University and a Research Fellow in the Department of Earth Sciences, Open University, Milton Keynes, in England. She holds a BSc. in physics and astronomy and a Ph.D. in planetary physics from University College, London.

From its offices in Los Angeles and New York, W3-design, Inc. creates and maintains strategic online environments for organizations and major corporations. Centered around a compelling vision of information architecture that fully exploits the medium, W3 has developed Web-based communities for AST Computer, The Hollywood Reporter, Infiniti, Kaiser Permanente, KCRW/National Public Radio, and Paramount Pictures (including "Mission: Impossible," one of the most heavily-trafficked movie promotional sites ever), among others. W3's Web site is located at http://www.W3-design.com .

CONTACT: W3-design, Inc.

Nick Rothenberg, 310/815-1177

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Edge Communications, Inc.

Ken Greenberg, 818/591-1173

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