For over 500 years Madeirans, like many Portuguese, have been flowing outward in a great diaspora. In the past, their home islands acted as a kind of server of culture and commerce for the first great trading networks driven by winds and fortune. As a result, Madeirans were scattered in the farthest corners of Africa, Asia, the Americas and Oceania. In today's world of computer networks and virtual worlds, it is now possible to create a shared place in Cyberspace where Madeirans can be brought back together again.

A unique team consisting of Madeiran teachers, students, staff from the Tecnopolo Madeira in Funchal, the Ministry of Education, the European Union, and international experts from KPMG Canada, and Digitalspace Corporation of California and the UK will converge on Madeira in the first half of 1999 to produce a first in Cyberspace: a virtual world for the reunification of a whole people. Using the newest tools of the net, including 3D virtual worlds in which people can move about, build and communicate in real time using "avatars", students, teachers, and remote participants will build a space in Cyberspace filled with rich Madeiran themes: MadeiraWorld. Madeiran buildings, art, music and social customs will be captured in this space. Cameras will capture scenes from Madeira and Madeirans everywhere and project them into the virtual world. And above all, MadeiraWorld will be filled with Madeirans. As one often sees when wandering the steep streets of Funchal and other towns on the islands, Madeirans like to gather in small intense social groups.

In MadeiraWorld Madeirans will for the first time be able to connect in from wherever they sit, South Africa, Toronto, Macau, Brazil, mainland Portugal, or anywhere else and form those same tight talking circles, reaffirming what it means to be Madeiran in Cyberspace. For the students and teachers of Madeira as well as the participants at the Tecnopolo Madeira, the construction of MadeiraWorld will be a highly valuable learning exercise, yielding benefits in the following areas:

1. Students and teachers will learn the skills of net-based research and community building as they reach out to Madeirans worldwide and recruit them to participate in the project.


2. Along with internet literacy will come marketable skills such as web page construction, streaming video and audio processing, capture of images, and above all, the ability to build 3D shared spaces and host gatherings in them.


3. Project management methods, communication etiquette, and personal global networking will be just some of the additional benefits gained by all associated with this project.


4. Lastly, publicity surrounding the unique and groundbreaking nature of this project will generate positive awareness of Madeira.

The project will culminate in June 1999 with the "Madeira World Day in Cyberspace" when team members, Madeirans, and other interested participants will gathering in MadeiraWorld, participating in real time avatar interaction, chat and live webcasts from many points worldwide. Extensive documentation in the form of photographs, video, screen captures, chat logs and audio pieces will create a valuable archive that will show that even remote islands, when connected by the latest media to their larger communities, can achieve greatness. Submitted respectfully, Bruce Damer end.


3) Stuart's Comments on Bruce's Toronto meeting proposal Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 23:39:50 +0000

From: "Stuart Gold" <sgold@bauergold.co.uk
Subject: Re: Proposed MaderiaWorld keystone project Hi Bruce,
Thanks for sending me your Madeira vision document. I feel I should now funnel all my own ideas through you as I think you are more in touch with the Madeira project and the people on the team. Also I wasn't at the last meeting so I don't want to 'tread on your toes' suggesting things to them which might be retrogressive. I like your vision of modelling aspects of Madeirans internationally and it should definitely be the mainstay of the project. However I think there are difficulties with just pursuing this goal and no others. Modelling concepts and information, as we know, is the 'holy grail' of 3-d modelling systems and as such it is incredibly difficult to achieve and involves completely new ways of thinking. This is not to say that students won't be able to come up with imaginative ideas to achieve this.

I still think that there needs to be one or more student projects that act as a focus centred on Madeira itself. As I believe there to be a number of student teams working on this, why not also resurrect another idea which was the modelling of the Technopolo. The Madeirans 'around the world' project is Madeira looking outwards. This would be a project where the world looks to Madeira. ***could provide good value for Pedro and tie into a high fidelity rendering*** As we originally discussed, it could become a way for prospective customers to view and experience the facility in 3-d, meet the staff and have a guided tour. I know your reservations about modelling existing buildings but it could be a simplified version showing only certain areas. This could turn into a useful commercal project where it is distributed to potential customers on a CD together with the brochure. This would also give the students the opportunity of initiating a commercial project which is an education in itself. Of course the idea of modelling Monte was a similar idea but wouldn't have the commercial appeal that the Technopolo would have. Let me know what you think.

Stu End
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