1. Welcometo the Immersive Intelligence Colleaguesat IM-TEL.org Richard HackathornBolder Technology, Inc
2. What is Immersive Intelligence? Data-driven virtual space Integrated analytics Synchronized and persistent Collaborative problem solving For more… Visit the Vision section at this website
3. Some Hard Questions Data objects should be simple, but not too simple Dimensions of space and time Leveraging BI/DW infrastructure
4. Open Community Of professionals who are passionate about IM-TELand who bring a variety of different perspectives To foster learning and innovation Provide a low barrier to that “Hello, World” experience Facilitate that “A-ha… I get it!” experience To share our insights Under Creative Commons with Attribution Yet encourage commercial products and services, especially from innovative small companies The intent to evolve into a non-profit corporation
5. Collaborate Website Using Drupal CMS for max flexibility and growth Connect with… LinkedIn through the Immersive Intelligence group Twitter using the #imtel hash Flickr by submitting images to IM-TEL group Community wiki written by any registered colleague Tutorial on “Introduction to Immersive Intelligence” Resources for data sets, Group blog posted by any ‘editor-level’ colleague Or share your existing blog stream via RSS (future)
7. How Can I Contribute? Register at IM-TEL.org! It’s free except you are then expected to contribute to the community. Comment on blog postings, wikis, etc. When you see something relevant, twitter it with a #imtel hash. The tweet will show on the website. Correct descriptions in the wiki and even contribute new material Help with the Drupal website development, especially if you have CSS or PHP skills. …and many other ways!
Editor's Notes
Welcome to the Immersive Intelligence Colleagues. I am Richard Hackathorn of Bolder Technology.
Let’s start by describing Immersive Intelligence. First, we start with a virtual space using virtual world technology, like that of Second Life, OpenSim, and a dozen similar products. This space is like a canvas upon which we paint objects generated from data in a large dynamic database. Second, analytics that surface insights into the data is an integral part of this space. Objects could be at the atomic level, showing individual customers in relationship to other customers or products or stores or so on. Also, objects could represent complex analytics that show, for example, customer segmentation in several dimensions. Third, this space is synchronized to the database so that as the data changes so do the virtual objects. Further, the objects are persistent so that over a period of weeks or months individuals can become familiar with the ebb and flows of changes. Finally, the purpose is enable collaborative problem solving among a few individuals to perhaps thousand of persons.
Immersive Intelligence may seem simple. However, it is not! There are many hard questions that we, as a community, must struggle with over the coming months. For instance, what are the best designs of data objects in this space? They must have intuitive recognition, but irrelevant features must be hidden. Ah, the dilemma of abstraction! Albert Einstein summarized it nicely, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” Further, what is the proper use of the three dimensions of virtual space… X, Y, Z? Is there an ‘up’ and a ‘down’ in this space? Is it linear? Is the coordinate system for this space Cartesian, spherical or other? Is space linear? Does one meter relate to one meter in the physical world? And, what about time? It is linear? Also, how can we leverage our existing investments in Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing? …with powerful scalable database engines? …with complex analysis and analytical tools? …with advanced visualization tools? And so forth. There are many issues to debate and resolve. But the journey is exciting!
Immersive Intelligence is a long-term challenge! It requires an open community of professionals… people who are passionate about this area and who bring a variety of different perspectives. This will require a blending of all of our strengths. The objective of this community is several fold. We need to foster learning and innovation. Many technologies that are potentially valuable often die, simply because a colleague did not take the time to explain a few basics. Try mastering Autodesk Maya by yourself! For instance, we need to lower the barrier to that initial “Hello World” experience. To a computer scientist, “Hello World” represents the point at which a program that you created does something (slightly) useful. From that point, you can incrementally improve its functionality. Prior to that point, you are clueless! Further, we need to facilitate that “aha… I get it!” experience, which is the point that you realize that this is cool and useful. Your mind races through the possibilities. Another objective is that we must share our insights globally, beyond our community of professionals. The material maintained by IM-TEL.org is licensed under the Creative Commons with Attribution. Click on the link at the bottom of the web page. Simply put, it states that this material can be used by anyone for any purpose as long as there is attribution. Further, the material can be used in derivative works (with attribution), and this works can be commercialized. As a community, we must encourage commercial products and services for Immersive Intelligence, especially from innovative small companies and individuals. Our intent is to evolve into a non-profit corporation of innovative vendors and independent thinkers to bring this approach to wide-spread adoption.
We need a support infrastructure to tie together our professional community. I have checked out dozens of alternatives and decided upon a collaborative website build with the Drupal Content Management System. Check it out. It is a ten-year old open community that is rich in member contributions. In particular, it allows us to maximize flexibility and growth into the future. As need be, we will connect with several social networking services. We have a LinkedIn group for general discussions and communication. We have a Twitter account @imtel that will use the #imtel hash. We have a Flickr group to share images. Delicious bookmarks… And so on… All of this is summarized on the home page. There is a community wiki that is open to anyone that registers. This will be the place that we will collect thoughtful pieces, like an introduction tutorial and resources lists. And, we can incrementally improve this content.Finally, there is a group blog to which anyone who wishes can post. Just ask for permissions to be an ‘editor’. This will be the place where we will quickly capture thoughts in short blogs, which should eventually be incorporated into the wiki.
What do we do as a group? We got started at a networking event held by the ThinkBalm Innovation Community. Since August 2009, a small group has been meeting on Tuesday ‘mornings’ for ‘coffee’ in Second Life. Given the global nature of our group, interpretations of ‘morning’ and ‘coffee’ are subjected to timezone and cultural perspectives. It is mostly a social time, but every session has resulted in insightful discussions. Stop by some morning for coffee.We are creating some workshops to teach required skills and to investigate our ‘hard’ questions. We could use some help here!Finally, we are sponsoring open contests or challenges to discover the best practices of Immersive Intelligence. See the Contest section for the latest.
You are probably thinking… How can I contribute? Well, simple answer is that there are lots of ways, as listed here.First, register at the IM-TEL.org website. It is under construction so be patient with it. Second, start commenting on anything, such as blogs, wikis, etc.Third, twitter about anything related to Immersive Intelligence, but… include the #imtel hash. Fourth, once registered, you can contribute to the community wiki. Fifth, help with Drupal website development, especially if you have CSS or PHP skills.…and many other ways.I hope that this has given you a good overview. Explore around, and become a colleague!