“To pick the winning and losing projects, we considered the feasibility of the goals described by the project leaders themselves,” Mr. Zorpette added. “We analyzed these goals in light of technical and technology-related factors: regulation; competition; relevant technology and market trends, and more. Forterra should be very pleased with this endorsement of their transformative technology by our editors.”
For the report, the magazine’s editors considered six mainstay categories in technology: communications, semiconductors, transportation, power, biomedical and computers. To come up with their final lists of winners and losers, the staff relied heavily on the global resources of the IEEE. The professional organization has nearly 400,000 engineers, computer experts and technologists who will also be asked for their input on the success or failure of all the reported technologies in “You Tell Us,” a Web-based opinion poll that should engage the entire IEEE membership.
“As a lifelong admirer of the IEEE organization this selection is an incredible honor given the wide field of technologies considered,” said Dr. David Rolston, CEO of Forterra Systems. “However we agree 2008 will be an inflection point in our industry as more proof points are published about enterprise business processes being transformed by 3D applications. We will be making exciting announcements this year about customers using virtual applications for new forms of training and collaboration. Fundamentally, we are addressing how enterprises and their extended ecosystems can work more productively and effectively by operating virtually. Within 3 to 5 years we envision the typical business worker spending large portions of their day in immersive 3D environments.”
The January issue of IEEE Spectrum is available by subscription, on many newsstands throughout the Northeastern United States and online at www.spectrum.ieee.org.
Forterra’s OLIVE™ (On-Line Interactive Virtual Environment) software platform enables end-users and partners to create realistic, collaborative, 3D Internet solutions. Applications developed using OLIVE allow users to sit at their PCs with a network connection, log on, and appear in an interactive, virtual environment represented as a fully animated avatar (3D character controlled by the user). Through a keyboard and mouse users are able to navigate through realistic environments, share and present documents, access and deploy equipment, drive/fly vehicles, don personal protective equipment, and communicate with one another. As a scenario is executed, the results are captured by a built in session replay system that support debrief so users can learn from what they practiced.
About Forterra Systems
Forterra Systems is a leader in providing online distributed virtual world technology for the corporate, healthcare, government, and education industries. Forterra’s software and services enable organizations to build their own private or public virtual worlds to train, plan, rehearse, and collaborate in ways previously considered impossible or impractical. Using the OLIVE (On-Line Interactive Virtual Environment) platform and industry standard PC hardware, customers can rapidly generate realistic, collaborative, 3D Internet solutions that easily scale from single user applications to large scale simulated environments supporting many thousands of concurrent users. http://www.forterrainc.com
About IEEE Spectrum
IEEE Spectrum is published monthly by IEEE, the world's largest organization of technology and business leaders. Over 400,000 executives, engineers, and computer scientists at the world's largest companies and universities look to IEEE Spectrum each month for the latest news and most accurate information about new important technology developments. IEEE Spectrum readership comprises the largest concentration of high-tech professionals and senior managers of any publication in its niche. IEEE Spectrum also communicates through its Web site, IEEE Spectrum Online.