V-Chat

V-Chat was a freeware 2.5D chat program originally released on the Microsoft Network (MSN) in December 1995 by Microsoft.

The program, not counting the worlds within, was last updated on March 24 1998 and stayed online until being discontinued in March 2001.

V-Chat rooms were represented in a 3D environment that users were free to explore. The only pre-packaged worlds were a Lobby and a so-called Homespace, leaving the rest to be downloaded as the user went from place to place exploring the interconnected Microsoft-hosted rooms.

Users were represented by flat sprites with a front and back view, reminiscent of cardboard cut-outs, lacking animation outside of a range of gestures users could use to express themselves. These avatars could be edited in any image editing software as simple as mspaint, and could be uploaded to a website so that other users could see them as well.

One of its biggest selling points was the never-before-seen ability to "mingle" with users by actually walking up to them in virtual space.

It was hardly the first-ever "virtual reality" chat program, however: Worlds Inc's Worlds Chat, now more commonly known as Worlds.com was introduced in April 1995, and Active Worlds officially launched on June 28 of the same year.