Concepts and Practices of Immersive Intelligence

Dr. Richard HackathornBolder Technology, Inc.

Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds 2010

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◦ Website http://IM-TEL.org/ ◦ Open community under Creative Commons◦ Register here! Join us for coffee on Tuesdays

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

How we got started…

Immersive Intelligence: What and Why?◦ Elevator pitch in 30 seconds!

Realistic business-oriented assessment◦ Emerging technology; unproven use case◦ When and how . . . for what expected benefit

Motivated to jump in-world and contribute!

Workshop Objectives

A. Why? So, What?B. Sharing A VisionC. Places to Visit & Things to LearnD. Putting It TogetherE. What’s Next?

Overview

Not your grandmother’s pie chart!What are we trying to accomplish?Hard ProblemsComplex SystemsBig Data

A. Why? So, What?

Not your grandma’s pie chart!

© Getty Images. Used with Permission

Complex Systems

BigData

Hard Problems

What Problems Are We Solving?

We Are

Here!

No quick answersNo ‘right’ answersConflicting prioritiesMany valid opinions and perspectivesLeveraging the Wisdom of the Crowd

Managed Muddling

What are Hard Problems?

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

Focusing on technology (MPP, MapReduce, Hadoop)

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 types of analysis◦ 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

B. Sharing A Vision

Imagine Virtual Space

Vast canvas spanning kilometersPersistent and always on

…with rich features, such as texture, lightning, shadow, shininess, etc

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 slow

Imagine Scaling Time

From the certain to the highly improbable (and unimaginable)

Imagine Scaling Probability

1. Immersive Intelligence Park on Second Earth 6

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 Burden5. Ben Lindquist of Green Phosphor

◦ Tools to graph data in several virtual worlds

6. Data Sculptures by Ann Cudworth at Beach Ride

C. Places To Visit & Things To Learn

7. Death and Taxes by Eric Hackathorn8. Chromutate by Opensource Obscure

◦ Fanciful objects with playful behaviors

9. Mars Victoria Crater on NASA Explorer Island◦ Largest sculpted build

10.Wind Simulator by comet Morigi◦ Creative use of particles

11.Asteroid strike on Mars by the 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

C. Places To Visit & Things To Learn

NOAA Real-Time Weather

Exciting and insightful way of visualizing and analyzing data◦ Using GreenPhosphor’s GlassHouse Gateway

Richness of Expression◦ More than 3D

Ben Lindquist of Green Phosphor

Hovering between Art and ScienceThe Spirit of the Data

◦ …listening and being one with the dataART + TOI Engagement

Ann Cudworth

Immersive Intelligence is an ApproachLevels of Immersive IntelligenceImmersion is the Secret SauceArchitecture

D. Putting It Together

It is an Approach◦ Not a tool, not a methodology,

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

Subject to continual change!

Actionable information◦ What do you do

with what you know?◦ plus the means to execute

Immersive Intelligence

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

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

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

outsideAnalogy: Snorkeling versus SCUBA

Immersion is the Secret Sauce

Architecture - A

Complex SystemIn Physical World

Databases DescribingThe System

Abstraction ofComplex SystemIn Virtual World

Architecture - B

Databases DescribingThe System

Abstraction ofComplex SystemIn Virtual World

Shape Definer

Configure

DataPump

WorldDesigne

r

DW Appliances as VW Backends

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◦ Share alike with Creative Commons with Attribution

E. What’s Next?

Sponsor contests within SL community◦ Focus on data visualization◦ How best to illustrate clustering or decision trees?

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

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

for specific use case

E. What’s Next?

Immersive Intelligence: What and Why?◦ Elevator pitch in 30 seconds!

Realistic business-oriented assessment◦ Emerging technology; unproven use case◦ When and how . . . for what expected benefit

Motivated to jump in-world and contribute!

Workshop Objectives-Revisited