Intelligent Systems Report € March € 1996 € Volume 13 € No. 3
Intelligent Systems Report € March € 1996 € Volume 13
€ No. 3
Sales ResponseAgent 2.0 is an intelligent agent that provides a
link between a company's enterprise-wide manufacturing and delivery
capability, and its sales personnel. It provides a real-time response
to delivery requests after testing supply chain capacity, materials
and distribution capabilities. It evaluates all the constraints using
optimization algorithms originally developed at NASA.
Directly integrating into existing order entry systems, the Sales
ResponseAgent optimizes product delivery schedules and costs based on
supply chain constraints, so manufacturing resources can be
accurately allocated to orders in real-time. It simultaneously
evaluates the material and capacity constraints in every location of
the supply chain network, plus the transportation options of
interplant shipments. The actual asset capabilities of all factory
and warehouse locations are considered. The best alternatives --
based upon cost, delivery date and customer loyalty -- are presented
to the user for consideration. Sales ResponseAgent runs on UNIX and
Motif platforms, with Windows 95 and Windows NT versions to appear
later this year. Pricing begins at $200,000.
Red Pepper Software Co., 1810 Gateway Blvd., Suite 150, San Mateo,
CA 94404, (415) 525-3300, .
Push is a 3-D desktop viewing system designed to make
cost-effective 3-D modeling and simulation systems more accessible to
manufacturing professionals and developers of virtual environment
applications. When used in conjunction with virtual factory
simulation software tools from Deneb Robotics (Auburn Hills, Mich.),
the display enables inspection of virtual prototypes and ergonomic
factors, visualization of manufacturing process simulations, and
operations and maintenance training.
Push displays let users navigate within large virtual spaces, or look
closely at individual virtual objects from different viewpoints,
while seated at a desk or worktable. The display module, mounted on a
three-legged support structure, provides full-color stereo images
with resolution up to 1280 x 1024 interlaced pixels per eye. Users
intuitively learn to move around a 3-D image, or within a virtual
world, by turning to look at the desired viewpoint and pushing the
binocular-like display in the same direction. The Push display is a
CRT-based, six-degrees-of-freedom color display with built-in motion
tracking. Price: $45,000.
Fakespace Inc., 4085 Campbell Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025, (415)
688-1940, .
The second-generation TouchPad human interface device combines the
functions of pointing devices and finger-activated pressure-sensitive
tablets. Progressive Touch technology makes possible a host of
advanced features for improving computer control and performance that
are based on varying finger pressure, including Speed Scrolling,
Cursor Framing, Power Edge Motion and Press & Drag. TouchPad also
includes Synaptics' TouchPad Extension Language (TXL), which allows
computer makers, independent software vendors (ISVs) or power users
to program the TouchPad to perform application-specific
functions.
The neural network-based TouchPad also features built-in support for
the WinTab interface standard for pressure-sensitive tablets.
Built-in WinTab support allows users to utilize their fingers to
operate graphic arts applications such as Corel Draw, Fractal
Design's Painter, or Designer from Micrografx. The TouchPad OEM
module, for integration into portable computers and desktop computer
keyboards, is available in large quantities for $14 per unit.
Synaptics Inc., 2694 Orchard Parkway, San Jose, CA 95134, (408)
434-0110, .
TopicAgent Server Toolkit 1.0 is an intelligent agent-based
software product that allows filtering of information on the Internet
and in the enterprise for users who don't want to miss valuable
information because they don't have time to search for it. It
contains the Topic search engine which allows it to filter documents
against personal profiles in real-time.
Users can create personal information agents that watch for specific
news topics and deliver it. They can select from a variety of
sources, such as World Wide Web sites, e-mail, enterprise databases,
newswire feeds, or discussion groups. They can deliver desired
information as soon as it arrives, or by other delivery mechanisms --
such as to a Web page, by e-mail, or by paging devices. Verity's
concept-based search technologies allow delivery of the most relevant
information to each individual user.
Personalized search profiles deliver accurate results, whether
describing the desired information with natural language or simple
queries, or taking advantage of advanced search operators, including
concept search, fuzzy logic, proximity and statistical methods. Topic
can analyze documents and prioritize them for delivery based on
relevancy ranking. Users can customize agents to control the
quantity, level of detail, scheduling and frequency of information
retrieved. TopicAgent Server Toolkit can be used with all common Web
browsers and servers. Pricing starts at $14,995.
Verity Inc., 1550 Plymouth, Mountain View, CA 94043, (415)
960-7600, ,
http://www.verity.com
VisFly is a high-speed, 3-D computer-aided design (CAD)
visualization tool that provides the ability to "fly through"
complicated scenes and around complex models in real-time. It can
process large amounts of information from CAD databases while
maintaining real-time interactivity. VisFly supports direct
interfaces to I-DEAS Master Series and Pro/Engineer, allowing the
transfer of CAD data. In addition, it supports direct loading of many
industry-standard model formats.
Designed specifically for the CAD environment, VisFly comprises two
distinct components: a high-speed viewer and a model generator. The
viewer is used to load and interactively view an optimized visual
database, while the model generator automatically creates and updates
the database directly from the CAD application. Together, the viewer
and model provide tools for visualizing designs, including details of
component parts and assemblies. VisFly runs on Silicon Graphics
workstations and supercomputers, and versions are in the works for
H-P and Sun workstations. Price: $6,900.
Engineering Animation Inc., 2625 North Loop Drive, Ames, IA 50010,
(515) 296-9908, ,
http://www.vislab.eai.com
AREAS 4.0 is the latest version of a neural network-based
automated property valuation software. The new release allows users
to select the residential properties to be used for a valuation and
to download properties from databases other than the ones delivered
with AREAS. It uses neural networks and other forms of computational
intelligence to provide an objective prediction of the current market
value of a residential property.
Previous releases featured a Macro Model that used an advanced
geocoding technique to select neighborhood sales from a database of
sales records supplied with the product. The new release adds a Micro
Model that evaluates the subject property against user-selected
comparable sales. Properties can be downloaded from the customer's
own database, the databases of online data providers such as
Dataquick, or the HNC-provided database.
HNC Software Inc., 5930 Cornerstone Court West, San Diego, CA
92121, (619) 546-8877, .
The World Wide Web Knowledge-Pak is a pre-packaged knowledge base
for help desk users, designed specifically to deal with a variety of
Web issues, including how to browse Web sites; use of hyperlinks,
bookmarks and error messages; using e-mail and news; and setting
preferences and options. Other features include possible problem
areas such as installation, security, printing, browsing, options and
preferences. The Knowledge-Pak also addresses such Web-based search
engines as Lycos and Yahoo, and includes an extensive glossary of
terms.
The World Wide Web Knowledge-Pak covers three Web browsers:
Netscape's Navigator, Quarterdeck's Mosaic and Microsoft's Internet
Explorer. It is designed to help users understand how to use browsers
for both Windows and Windows 95.
ServiceWare Inc., 333 Allegheny Avenue, Oakmont, PA 15139, (412)
826-1158, ,
[email protected]