The Memorial Arch was originally a wooden monument built in 1889 for the centennial celebration of George Washington's inauguration. Designed by Stanford White, the arch became so popular, private funds were raised to rebuild it in stone. It is rumored that during World War II, a man secretly lived inside the Memorial Arch for seven months and was discovered when he hung his laundry out to dry.
In the late 1830s, New York University appropriated the East Side of Washington square. Today, more than 150,000 full-time students study in the Washington Square New York University complex.
In 1997, a team from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts Team (Interactive Telecommunications Program) joined the NYVRMLSIG's landmark project. Their "vShow" is designed as an interactive web TV experiment for NYU residents who live on campus. Knowing that this is a confusing time for a young adult, the vSHOW team tries to address the issues involved in the transition between being a teenager and becoming an adult. While at the same time pursuing academic degrees in the world's most stimulating city.
vSHOW utilizes the favorite electronic and telecommunications devices of teenagers all over the world, the television, the telephone and the Internet. Knowing that most teens are comfortable with these devices the NYU team decided to push the telecommunications model by merging all of them together in a chat/game environment, all based in a Virtual Washington Square Park, (the unofficial campus of NYU).