All About Immersive

Intelligence Dr. Richard HackathornBolder Technology, Inc.

richardh@bolder.comtwitter #imtel

Train For Success – May 27, 2010

NOTE: Slides at http://IM-TEL.org/ under Blog

Industry analyst in Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing◦ Big corporate IT stuff – fun and exciting area

University professor for 10 years◦ Looked at SL for teaching a large business class◦ Started evaluating SL in August 2005

HacksHaven Harford of NOAA is my son Eric◦ Got him involved in SL => science outreach/educ

Second Life Data Visualization by Melanie Swan◦ http://sldataviz.pbworks.com/

My Background

ThinkBalm Innovation Community◦ Erica and Sam Driver, http://www.thinkbalm.com/ ◦ http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2005729

Immersive Intelligence Colleagues◦ Meet-and-Greet event in Aug 2009◦ Open community under Creative Commons◦ Join us for coffee on Tuesday mornings◦ Website http://IM-TEL.org/

Federal Consortium for VW◦ Workshop 5/12/10 at NDU for 30+

How IM-TEL Got Started

IM-TEL.org website blogvisionwiki

recentblogs

#imtel tweets

IM-TELFlickr

create new account

LinkedIngroup

HELP!

Analysis and decision-making process◦ Understand problem & then do something about it!

Immersive using virtual world technology◦ Ranging from natural/familiar to abstract/unusual

High-density 3D data world◦ Objects created from & sync with dynamic database

Permanent active world◦ Does not go to sleep at night

Collaboration from shared experiences◦ Analysis/decisions is a social thing

What is Immersive Intelligence?

Not your grandma’s pie chart!

© Getty Images. Used with Permission

Complex Systems

BigData

Hard Problems

Why Immersive Intelligence?

We Are

Here!

No quick answersNo ‘right’ answersConflicting prioritiesMany valid opinions and perspectivesNeed to leverage the Wisdom of the Crowd

Managed Muddling

What are Hard Problems?

Cynefin Framework

Snowden & Boone, HBR Nov

2007

Non-intuitive behavior◦ Often full of surprises

Tipping points◦ When you least expect them

Feedback LoopsExponential Behavior

◦ Will hit the wall… with certainty Small World effects

◦ Phase transitions from one state

What are Complex Systems?

History of Complex Systems

SystemsDynamics

Cybernetics

ArtificialIntelligence

Science Of Networks

ChaosTheory

ComplexityScience

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_systems

Stable System Chaotic System

Will Wright at GameTech 2010http://www.slideshare.net/guesta79ddf9/orando2010-5

Complex Systems are Chaotic

Clocks versus Clouds

Karl Popperhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Popper

highly irregular, disorderly,

and more or less

unpredictable

regular, orderly, and predictable

Usual focus on technology (MPP, MapReduce, Hadoop)

But it is much more!

What is Big Data?

The Economist, Feb 25, 2010

Volume – Yes, but…◦ More than we can store!◦ Can we ever touch each bit?

Velocity◦ Data in motion new type of analytics◦ What is important to capture? Context?

Variety◦ Many types of data! …like network graphs!

Analytics are a necessity!◦ Can not touch all the atomic level data!

What is Big Data?

The Economist, Feb 25, 2010

Imagine virtual space Imagine virtual objectsImagine virtual teamsImagine scaling sizeImagine scaling timeImagine scaling probability

Sharing A Vision

Imagine Virtual SpaceVast canvas spanning kilometersPersistent and always on

With rich features, such as texture, lightning, shadow, shininess, etc

And with behaviors

Imagine Virtual Objects

Sharing experiences & common perspectives

Understanding the root cause of problemsGenerating & prioritizing alternative

solutionsExecuting on action plans

Imagine Virtual Teams

From the very small to the very large

Imagine Scaling Size

From the very fast to the very slowUsing animation behavior

Imagine Scaling Time

From the certain to the highly improbable (and unimaginable)

Reverse time?Collapse time?

Imagine Scaling Probability

Can I show you an example of Im-Tel?Well, no. Not yet. But… Can show you pieces of Im-Tel. Like to see?

◦ Following two slides list 12 SL places. Go visit!◦ The SL landmarks are listed in Im-Tel.org blog◦ HELP!!! What is missing? Suggest other places!

P.S. What we really need is a credible example of Im-Tel solving a real business problem. Want to help do this?

Places To Visit & Things To Learn

1. Immersive Intelligence Park on Second Earth 6◦ Our playground for experiments

2. Chakryn Forest by Bettina Tizzy and others◦ Beautiful and complex => data forest

3. Real-time weather display on NOAA Meteora◦ Data feed from NWS, updated every 5 min

4. Daden Datascape by David Burden◦ Data-rich war-room

5. Ben Lindquist of Green Phosphor◦ Tools to graph data in several virtual worlds

6. Data Sculptures by Ann Cudworth at Beach Ride

Places To Visit & Things To Learn

7. Death and Taxes by Eric Hackathorn◦ High-density poster of proposed US budget

8. Chromutate by Opensource Obscure◦ Fanciful objects with playful behaviors, all open source

9. Mars Victoria Crater on NASA Explorer Island◦ Largest sculpted build, based on science data

10.Wind Simulator by comet Morigi◦ Creative use of particles to show complex behavior

11.Asteroid strike on Mars by Exploratorium◦ Large-scale complex simulation; getting the physics correct

12.Svarga ecosystem as the “God Game”◦ http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2006/05/god_game.html

Places To Visit & Things To Learn

Immersive intelligence is an Approach◦ Not a tool, not a methodology,

Collaborative data-driven decision process for understanding and managing complex systems using immersive virtual spaces

Definition subject to continual change!

Actionable information◦ What do you do

with what you know?◦ plus the means to execute

Putting It All Together

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arandalasch/3193076760/

You are there … surrounded by others◦ Feels as an actor inside, rather than observer

outsideAnalogy: Snorkeling versus SCUBA

Immersion is the Secret Sauce

ThinkBalm report, The Immersive Internet, Nov 2008

High-Level Architecture

Complex SystemIn Physical World

Databases DescribingThe System

Abstraction ofComplex SystemIn Virtual World

Levels of Immersive Intelligence 1

Observe 2

Experiment 3

Collaborate 4

Manage Watch the model from various perspectives X X X X

Change input parameters of model and observe changes

X X X

Collaboration among multiple persons with proper tools

X X

Change parameters to both virtual and physical systems and observe changes in both

X

R. Hackathorn, Serious Games in Virtual Worlds, 2007http://www.BeyeNETWORK.com/channels/1217/view/4163

Architecture – Level 1

Databases DescribingThe System

Abstraction ofComplex SystemIn Virtual World

Shape Definer

Configure

DataPump

WorldDesigne

r

DW Appliances as VW Servers

IBM Smart Analytics System

Teradata DW Appliance

Netezza Twin-Fin

Sun Oracle Database Machine

Need for an open “community of practice”◦ By sharing information and experiences, learn from each

other and develop the skills needed ◦ Methodically pool knowledge…by wiki-izing◦ Need a diverse array of skills and experiences◦ Too many engineer-types; need more artists!

Foster learning and innovation◦ Provide a low barrier to that “Hello, World” experience◦ Facilitate that “A-ha… I get it!” experience

Got a start with the IM-TEL community◦ Contribute, share, and leverage…at IM-TEL.org◦ Creative Commons with Attribution

But allow derivate works (like BSD license)

What’s Next? HELP!

Sponsor contests within SL community◦ Focus on data visualization◦ See the “Election Reflection” idea on next slide

Engage in Proof-of-Concept projects to…◦ Surface the issues and roadblocks◦ Demonstrate the benefits

Offer 2-day custom workshop◦ Bring your team to common ground◦ Assess the business justification

for specific use case

What’s Next? HELP!

Nation faces difficult midterm elections. etcCreate a SL build that reflects a key issue

◦ Limited to 10m cube with xxx prims on your land◦ Provide a tour circuit so folks can easily visit

Do it as a visual blog…allowing conversations◦ Have a way to rate each creation on 3-5 criteria

Based on public data about some trend◦ Verifiable! Extra points for a live data feed

Viz is accurate, understandable and artisticGoal: learning & reflection on issues of election

Idea: “Election Reflection” contest

HELP!