Virtualitics June Newsletter

I see that Virtualitics has a June Newsletter out, we helped test early beta versions.  I see you can now schedule a 30 day free immersive trial.  See my past experiences and comments on it with the tag 'virtualitics' below.

JUNE NEWSLETTER  @virtualitics.com

Software updates, performance improvements, and a number of new additions to our team.

SOFTWARE UPDATE
VIRTUALITICS IMMERSIVE PLATFORM VERSION 2020.3

→ New Features:

Improved plot customizations and enhanced visualizations include a refined tick mark system, plot titles, and management of trailing zeros

A new avatar system as well as optimizations in virtual reality increase speed and improve overall functionality across the environment

User interface improvements for increased software stability and an improved collaborative experience

If you have any questions or need assistance upgrading please contact us at support@virtualitics.com
.... "

Virtualitics for Insight Extraction

A company of interest for advanced data visualization.  We worked with them in the Enterprise.

Virtualitics Selected fof the Air Force Strategic $7 Million Award
March 16, 2020 By Amy Gunzenhauser

Virtualitics is pleased to announce that it has been selected for the Air Force’s first ever Strategic Fund Increase (STRATFI) award through AF Ventures. The $7 million contract will enable Virtualitics to provide our groundbreaking AI data analytics software, Virtualitics Immersive Platform (VIP), to Air Force Global Strike Command to help airmen solve pressing data challenges in the U.S. strategic bomber fleet.

The award was announced by the Secretary of the Air Force, Barbara Barrett, and Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, Dr. Will Roper, at the Air Force’s virtual “Pitch Bowl” event.

Dr. Roper has described the winners of the STRATFI award as companies providing “game-changing” technologies to the Air Force. “The thing that we’re working on now is the big bets, the 30 to 40 big ideas, disruptive ideas that can change our mission and hopefully change the world,” Roper said. “We’re looking for those types of companies.”

Virtualitics is proud to be one of the “big bet” startups the Air Force is counting on to preserve the U.S. military’s technological advantage.

Receiving the STRATFI award at the Pitch Bowl culminates an impressive trend of recent Department of Defense contracts for Virtualitics. Virtualitics is the only commercial startup to win contract awards at the Air Force’s first ever Space Pitch Day and the F-35 Pitch Day, in addition to the STRATFI. Winning the “triple crown” of contract awards at the Air Force’s seminal innovation events is a clear indication of product-market fit for our solution in the DoD.

We are very proud of our work with the DoD. We have found great satisfaction in helping our men and women in uniform unlock actionable insights in their data...." 

Virtualitics for Data Science with VR

Have often mentioned Virtualitics here.

NVIDIA: the AI podcast with Aakash Indurkhya

Listen to Virtualitics' very own Aakash Indurkhya (Head of Machine Learning Projects) featured on "The AI Podcast" brought to you by NVIDIA. Tune in to hear how Virtualitics utilizes AI to "Demystify Data Science with VR".   Podcast.  .... "

and also

AI+VR  Through the Eyes of a Marketer July 17, 2019 By Amy Gunzenhauser  .... 

Fortnite Gaming Powers Business Technology

We examined examples of game engines for analytic applications early on.  Now seeing the addition of VR and other immersion techniques.   Management still needs some help understanding this.  Best way is to start with currently used analytic methods and then extend from there to show augmentation.  Some good examples in this article of use.

Engine Behind 'Fortnite' Powers Business Technology 
The Wall Street Journal
By Agam Shah

Businesses are tapping the gaming-engine software of "Fortnite" and other videogames for applications ranging from car design to drug discovery. Gaming engines exploit complex calculations performed by hardware like graphics processing units to create photorealistic three-dimensional visualization and simulation, in addition to physics models. In conjunction with virtual reality (VR) technology, gaming engines let designers and engineers invent products, visualize sophisticated designs, and structure worker-training programs. Designers at McLaren Automotive are using Epic Games' Unreal Engine to create, assess, and refine digital car models, expediting a process that formerly relied on drawings and modeling clay. Meanwhile, the U.K.'s C4X Discovery Holdings uses gaming engines to discover new disease-fighting molecules, with chemists employing VR headsets and in-house software to configure virtual molecules for more precise targeting.   ... "

Virtualitics Update

Some time ago I mentioned I had taken a look at the immersive data visualization and analysis environment Virtualitics.  Have received an update of their work with demonstration videos and motivations that is worth a look:

Virtualitics Update May 2019
Discover VIP
AI-driven Analytics and Immersive Environments .... 

History of Data Visualization and its Future

Good, detailed and lengthy piece.  Remember many of the transitions.  Now would like to see more and better analytics/AI visualization to add to this.    And better ways to understand deeper context and application of data for use potential.

The 3 waves of data visualization: A brief history and predictions for the future  By Elijah Meeks, Senior Data Visualization engineer, Netflix

This post is based on Elijah Meeks’ keynote from the 2018 Tapestry Conference. Elijah is a Senior Data Visualization Engineer at Netflix. A version of this post originally appeared on Medium.com.

Fifteen years ago, there was no D3, no Tableau, no ggplot or even Prefuse/Flare. If you wanted to do network visualization you might use the newly published Cytoscape, though it was focused on bioinformatics—the science of collecting and analyzing complex biological data like genetic codes. Geospatial options were more advanced, with ArcGIS providing more and more cartographic functionality in its many red toolboxes.  .... "

Blurring the Lines Between Virtual and Reality

In EPFL News.  Could be a way to transfer gaming, and thus gaming engagement to real spaces.  Say offices, but perhaps also to industrial spaces. Possible then also for use with data, or analytic  solutions to data.  We examined some possibilities related to this before tech existed.    Note also the real-time aspects of such interactions.
 
Blurring the Lines Between Virtual and Reality 

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne

A next-generation virtual reality (VR) headset created by Hugo Hueber at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland (EPFL) enables wearers to manipulate both real and virtual objects with tactile sensations, using hand avatars that replicate even the slightest movements. Hueber says an enhanced VR video game he is designing "combines the latest technology with the [three-dimensional] interactive research we're carrying out at the lab. That will let video gamers interact physically with a virtual environment that can be transferred to any location—a living room, office, or even classroom—instantly." Real-world objects are modeled and calibrated in the game, and then players can use them at the same time they physically touch them. In addition, players can see and precisely move virtual versions of fingers, and wear bodily sensors to see themselves move within the game in real time.  ... "

Virtualitics

 I had previously mentioned Virtualitics here.  Currently examining.  Here is a new short presentation:

Michael Amori, Virtualitics' CEO presents at Fintech Innovation Lab NYC demo day.

Fintech Innovation Lab NY Presents: Virtualitics

" ... In SiliconAngle:  Virtualitics offers a data visualization platform that combines artificial intelligence, Big Data and virtual reality to create interactive 3D data models. Virtualitics’ platform is a VR application that allows users to generate complex data models composed of up to 10 dimensions of data, all in a shared virtual office where users can collaborate and analyze the data together. Using machine learning, Virtualitics’ platform is also able to recommend optimal visualizations that gives users a better understanding of the whole picture for their data. ... "  

Online Overview and Documentation.   Continuously being updated.

Virtualitics Announces Commercial Release

I had reported on this earlier.  We had experimented with immersing decision makers in data. See my tag links below for an image of our experiment. This is finally what looks to be a good commercial implementation of the idea.  Will look to experiment with it.  Now promoting the inclusion of AI/machine learning methods.  And also now desktop interaction?   Probably a good idea before the AR/VR  revolution takes off.  Also includes what they present as 'innovative maps' that work in 3D.

" .. We are excited to officially launch the commercial release of Virtualitics.

As part of this launch we are offering a free trial program. Simply click here and select the "Request a trial" on the form if you are interested in a trial.

While VR will enhance the visualization of high-dimensional data and provide a real-time collaborative place for your team, it is not necessary. Virtualitics is cross-platform and offers all of the sophisticated AI routines and rich 3D visualizations in desktop as well.

Also please see below a link to a video of our CEO Michael presenting Virtualitics at the Fintech Innovation Lab in NY, with an introduction by Blackrock:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tM0oWm8jZA&feature=youtu.be

Feel feel to contact me directly with any questions.

Paul Gearhart, Head of Customer Solutions
Virtualitics ... "

Virtualitics for 3D Data Sharing

Took another look at Virtualitics.  The idea is one we experimented with for years and this is a commercial example.  This is a kind of  Virtual Visualization, and particularly attractive if you want
to share visualizations among many people.  Premise is interesting,  easily sharing complex data is good.    Its less clear if the 'immersive' aspects of this capability are very beneficial.   I am on the  newsletter for this effort

Key Features: 

We have built the first platform to merge Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Virtual/Augmented Reality.

Virtualitics Dashboard  :  Next generation data analytics

Visualize and understand your data as never before thanks to our innovative use of VR/AR, Machine Learning and Natural Language.

Shared Virtual Office (SVO) and VR Dashboards
Collaborative and fully customizable shared space where you can analyze data and present and discuss insights. ... "

Looking Back at Second Life

Yes, it still exists, and has roughly the same number of users.   Surprised me.   This all came out a decade ago.  We did quite a bit of experimentation with it.  Worked with several large IT  groups looking at ways to make it useful.  Even a way to do research in that other world that might mirror our real world.    At the end of the day it was not very useful for us.  Does it still merit examination as an environment for marketing experiments,  or a retail architecture?  Experimented with using worlds to interact with the abstractness of data.  Virtualitics is doing that today.  Good piece that shows what Second Life is today. 

Returning to Second Life
Long after its grandest ambitions have faded, the platform still boasts people and profit.   By Samuel Axon in ArsTechnica .... " 

Virtualitics: Immersing Yourself in Data

Have been taking a look at Virtualitics, a means to immerse yourself with and collaborate with complex data using VR.  Clever idea we experimented with before VR was easier to do.

" ... In SiliconAngle: Based out of Pasadena, California, Virtualitics offers a data visualization platform that combines artificial intelligence, Big Data and virtual reality to create interactive 3D data models. Virtualitics’ platform is a VR application that allows users to generate complex data models composed of up to 10 dimensions of data, all in a shared virtual office where users can collaborate and analyze the data together. Using machine learning, Virtualitics’ platform is also able to recommend optimal visualizations that gives users a better understanding of the whole picture for their data. ... "

Data Interaction Experiments in Hololens

Professor David E Rapien of the University of Cincinnati demonstrated his prototype for interacting with data using Microsoft's Hololens.  Great start.    Recall we experimented with this broad idea over the years.  Starting with simple headsets for plant maintenance applications,  then using virtual worlds,  now looking at sophisticated startups like Virtualitics.   We are getting closer to the real thing.  


At the right the operator is interacting with the data, at the left, what he sees and manipulates.  Could include just the data, or some outcome of an analytical transformation.    What is the value of immersing yourself in the data?  Perhaps collaborating along with other colleagues and experts, seeking to make sense of it and its alternative transformations?    That is the insight we seek.  Stay tuned for more.

Supply Chains and Augmented Realities

Augmented reality and the supply chain.  In the WSJ.  Also see my recent post on Virtualitics.

Augmented Reality to Revolutionize How Companies Manage Supply Chains, Says MIT Researcher
Augmented reality superimposes digital content including hologram-like images onto a user’s view of the real world    By Sara Castellanos

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Hologram-like images and virtual reality could revolutionize the way corporations solve problems within their supply chains, because data that would otherwise be obscured in databases and complex mathematical models would be easier to visualize, says a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Matthias Winkenbach, an MIT researcher with a Ph.D. […]

Requires sign in for complete article.

Virtualitics for VR Analytics

Newly brought to my attention:  Virtualitics.  Bringing VR to Analytics. Another thing we experimented with.  More specifics and tests will follow.  In Beta:

" ... We have built the first platform to merge Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Virtual/Augmented Reality.

Next generation data analytics ... Visualize and understand your data as never before thanks to our innovative use of VR/AR, Machine Learning and Natural Language.

Shared Virtual Office (SVO)
Collaborative and fully customizable shared space where you can analyze data and present and discuss insights.

Fast, Reliable, Smart, Secure
Complete your tasks in a tenth of the time needed with traditional software and take advantage of smart routines.

Machine Learning and Natural Language
Smart mapping based on Machine Learning and Natural Language that summarizes the key patterns in the data. ..... "