IBM has announced that it has launched The Forbidden City: Beyond Space & Time, its educational virtual world developed in collaboration with the Palace Museum -- launched to coincide with the real-world Forbidden City's 83rd anniversary as a museum.

The virtual Forbidden City allows users to see and interact with other users, and can take tours and participate in activities -- such as tours that correspond to historical topics such as "Dragons of the Forbidden City", "the Supreme Golden Halls of the Forbidden City", the" Imperial Garden", and "the Symbolic Animals in the Forbidden City", or activities such as archery, cricket fighting, and playing the ancient game of Weiqi.

The Forbidden City: Beyond Space & Time was built using SOA architecture and includes open source components (including Linux).

“The rich cultural heritage of China’s imperial past, embodied in the Forbidden City for over five centuries is now brought to life and accessible to all through a virtual world created by IBM and the Palace Museum,” said Henry Chow, Chairman, Greater China Group, IBM. “This initiative takes the online experience to a new level of innovation with rich content, educational storytelling, community and social networking features that represent the next generation of 3D Internet applications. What makes me proud is that IBM now has opened the door to a cultural treasure and rich heritage to everyone, everywhere which in the past was only available to relatively few.”