Until
next week, 
Intelligent Machine Post
and Ellis's Endangered
Employment Katalog
(IMP/EEEK)
Dateline: April 5, 1998
I MISSED last week, so here's a jumbo issue of IMP/EEEK to keep you all quiet.
Smart Antennas
(Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 2, 1998)
Five electrical engineering students from Virginia Tech have demonstrated a "smart antenna" that could improve the reliability of cellular phone calls and extend their range while reducing the number of communications towers that have to be built. The antenna uses AI techniques to "narrow the beam" of signals it receives, reducing interference and allowing it to pick up more signals. If it works as well as they hope, this has big potential.
EEEK! Communication tower builders.
Intelligent Anti-Virus
(Business Wire, April 2, 1998)
IN-DEFENSE, a "total" virus protection system from TEGAM for standalone or networked PCs uses AI to distinguish between viral and non-viral activity, without needing continual anti-virus updates. If a program begins to replicate, it is a virus; and IN-DEFENSE will stop it before it spreads without having to know the virus’ name or "signature."
A 10KB memory resident module detects viruses in memory, which is critical for computers connected to the Internet and relying on e-mail. A ‘warp’ speed checking system (4,000 files-per-minute) checks symptoms, activity and system integrity. User-defined vaccination files prevent attacks from "hacker viruses" that are specifically created to penetrate anti-virus products.
EEEK! VirusScan, Antiviral Toolkit Pro (Dr. Solomon), F-Prot, ThunderByte Antivirus, Norton Antivirus, etc.
Roll Your Own IA
(Business Wire, April 2, 1998)
Kinetoscope has released an update to its Java-based Versatile Intelligent Agent System, known as the Via System. The company claims it is "the fastest way to add intelligent agent features to applications, intranets, and high-traffic Web sites. Via v.1.1 extends the core Via System by providing increased scalability, desktop messaging and additional ease-of-use features. Via’s licensees include Fortune 500 auto manufacturing, oil-field services, and broadband Internet access companies. Evaluation copies of the Via System are available from the Kinetoscope Web site.
EEEK! Unintelligent human agents.
Intelligent Questionning
(BusinessWeek HealthWire, April 2, 1998)
Assist Technologies' (try www.outcomes-analyzer.com--not sure) Outcomes Suite Version 5.0 adds "intelligent questioning" to its health survey/testing capabilities. Intelligent questioning leads survey respondents through a sequence of questions appropriate to his or her unique circumstances. "Using a simple form of artificial intelligence, the computer selects questions tailored to the test-taker, shortens the test, and displays results instantly," said a company spokesman writing in Medical Examiner.
The software is used by pharmaceutical companies and health plans to understand and improve the effectiveness of drug therapies, disease management programs, and other treatment protocols.
EEEK! Survey takers, telemarketers.
Advanced Fault Isolation for Phone Companies
(PR Newswire, April 1, 1998)
Teradyne, Inc.'s newly-released 4TEL II incorporates a knowledge-based system called ExpertLink™. 4TEL II precisely identifies and isolates faults within an access network inside or outside customer premises without the need for customer isolation equipment. 4TEL II also integrates information from multiple expert systems to give service providers the analytical power of dozens of experts and experience extracted from millions of unique historical cases to accurately diagnose access network faults.
EEEK! Telco network engineers.
Intelligent News Tracking
(PR Newswire, April 1, 1998)
CNNfn.com has partnered with NewsReal, Inc. a spin-off of Infoseek, to deliver CNNfn IndustryWatch, a new service providing industry-relevant news and intelligence to CNNfn.com users. The service uses advanced search, filtering and summarization technologies to keep the Internet’s business users informed on the latest industry-specific and market news and information.
The service uses AI techniques to filter and process thousands of articles based on relevance, or relatedness, to the key concepts of an industry a user wants to track. Other advanced technologies such as natural language processing summarization and filtering technology combine to enable real-time processing and integration of news and business information, ensuring the user receives the top relevant headlines and articles.
EEEK! Documentary researchers.
Liverpool Hospital Adopts PAPNet
(PR Newswire, April 1, 1998)
The Royal Liverpool University Hospital is the first National Health Service cervical screening center in the U.K. to utilize Neuromedical Systems, Inc.'s PAPNET-on-Cyte scanner for the review of cervical smear tests. The PAPNET-on-Cyte system’s neural network computers scan the hundreds of thousands of cells on the typical Pap smear then present color images of 128 potentially abnormal cells to laboratory specialists to confirm (or not) the system's findings.
EEEK! Cytologists.
A Better Way to Meet People
(PR Newswire, March 31, 1998)
goodcompany.com has launched an online social network to help people expand their circle of friends. The new service, currently approaching 50,000 members, features AI technology that removes much of the guesswork often associated with online relationships, to help connect people with common interests.
The neural net technology helps members identify other members with whom they share interests, viewpoints, lifestyles, etc. The software analyzes the content of members’ textual-based profiles and search criteria, along with their actions (or clicks), without ever requesting or storing personal information. Just as patterns and relationships are discovered in text, patterns are identified by observing behavior, and future predictions are made about which people might enjoy each other’s company. These predictions are delivered to members in the form of recommendations of people members might like to meet. The neural net was implemented in association with Aptex Software Inc.
EEEK! Matchmakers.
Expert Sales Support System
(Business Wire, March 31 1998)
Sibson & Company, a management consulting firm specializing in sales and marketing strategies, is selling Expert Systems for Selling (ESS). Once customized to the particular business for which it is installed, ESS provides sales people with an interactive relational database that brings them the information necessary to convince and effectively demonstrate the financial consequences and operational advantages of their products and services in relation to the customer’s actual and unique business situation.
"With ESS, sales personnel possess the tools necessary for positioning against even the toughest competition with the most skeptical customers, utilizing the best negotiating tactics, saving selling time and institutionalizing best practices," said a company spokesperson, who also claimed that many ESS customers have enjoyed significant gains in revenue from using it.
"In the first year of using ESS, a $500 million manufacturer of construction materials, increased margins per customer by 15 percent and experienced increased revenue per salesperson by 25 percent. Another Sibson customer, a $4 billion healthcare product manufacturer, used ESS to advance their market position from second to first."
"Within the first nine months of using Expert Systems for Selling, we turned many of our largest accounts into money makers for us and for our customers as well," said a spokesperson for ESS customer Thomas Cook, a $5 billion global financial services firm. "We are very excited about the results we’ve obtained while using ESS. It truly is the most effective support system for empowering sales personnel, overcoming customer resistance and maximizing revenue through increased net sales and reduced selling costs."
EEEK! Sales support staff.
Oregon Trail
(Advocate Baton Rouge LA, March 29, 1998)
The Oregon Trail 3rd Edition from The Learning Company is both adventure game and lessons in American history, geography, geology, botany and zoology. AI provides a degree of uncertainty, so that no two sessions with the game are alike.
The Definitive Jet Combat Simulator
(Business Wire, March 30, 1998)
Electronic Arts has begun shipping Jane’s F-15. Representing the next generation in jet combat simulations for the PC, the company claims F-15 features the most realistic graphics, physics, avionics and gameplay in the sky. The F-15E, currently in use by the U.S. armed forces, played a crucial role in the Desert Storm conflict. EA's development team worked closely with retired and active duty F-15E pilots to incorporate their input and create a new standard of realism.
Jane’s F-15’s flight model is based on US Air Force data used to model aircraft characteristics. Says the company blurb: "Hug the ground at breakneck speed or scream above the clouds at 50,000 feet. Feel every G with the F-15’s groundbreaking flight model. Innovative point-and-click instrumentation and user-definable multi-purpose displays provide a seamless cockpit interface. Maintain optimal situation awareness with the F-15’s free-panning, 3-D virtual cockpit or jump into the back seat and neutralize targets from the weapons officer’s seat. Jane’s F-15 includes mid-air refueling, smart bomb camera views, real-world F-15E squadrons, intense radio communications, stellar artificial intelligence, and more than 30 accurate weapons systems."
EEEK! War?
Look Me in the Eye and Say That
(PR Newswire, March 28, 1998)
Spring Technologies has announced plans to develop and introduce an automated biometric ticketing system using high speed iris recognition technology developed by IriScan, Inc.
The goal of Spring’s new automated, biometric-based fare collection system called TranScan is to expedite regular commuter entry and exit at subway and train stations across the country by minimizing and eventually eliminating the commuter’s need to insert a card, pass or token. In addition to substantially reducing the costs of ticket production and collection, transit agencies will be able to facilitate a more orderly flow of traffic.
Commuters will look into a special camera as they enter the platform. Within seconds, the system will record the commuter’s IrisCode and match it to their transit account.
A prototype will be developed "within the year," with a trial period slated to begin in one metropolitan city immediately thereafter. Seven of the U.S.'s largest mass-transit agencies are being considered for possible testing sites, including agencies in Washington DC, New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta and San Francisco.
The TranScan concept may also be applied to sporting event ticketing and other public applications involving high volume transactions or high speed queuing.
IriScan, Inc. is the exclusive developer of iris recognition technology for automated biometric systems. IriScan’s technology for personal identification or verification relies on highly sophisticated processing of images of the iris of the eye the colored ring that surrounds the pupil. The iris is the most personally distinct feature of the human body that is available for non-intrusive, non-contact, and precise mathematical analysis.
IriScan holds the exclusive worldwide patents on iris recognition, including the original concept originated by Drs. Leonard Flom and Aran Safir, and the software and process technology invented by Dr. John Daughman of Cambridge University. Dr. Daughman is an expert in the fields of artificial intelligence, neural networks, and information theory.
EEEK! Ticket office staff, security personnel, ticket machine vendors.
Smart Terminals
(News Tribune, Tacoma WA, March 27, 1998)
The Port of Tacoma enables truck drivers delivering containers to connect to the Port's Web site to find out what times the terminal gates will be open. This is just the start of a total information systems makeover. A port spokesperson said this was just the beginning. The "ultimate step" would be to use artificial intelligence to help coordinate the movement of cargo containers from ships to railroad trains to their final destinations.
The port's intermodal terminal operations system (ITOS), developed by Sierra Systems Consultants for $300,000, tracks every container from the time it is lifted off a ship to the time it heads out of the port on rail cars. Before ITOS, this was "paper and pencil work." Clerks would drive around a container terminal checking the location of boxes, assigning them to precise locations on the trains and double-checking that they were properly placed. Often, several trips were involved before a train could leave.
"You’d have to drive around and verify the list, then make 50 copies and fax them all over the world," said the spokesperson. "And once you have consumed a ton of paper, you start all over again."
Eventually, ITOS will track cargo in real time, using AI to "make coldly analytical decisions about how containers can most efficiently flow from Commencement Bay to, say, Chicago, coordinating the movements of crane operators, longshore and Teamster drivers and the railroads."
EEEK! Port clerical and administrative workers.
Animated Intelligent Agent
(Business Wire, March 26, 1998)
Micrografx, Inc. will license 3D PLANET, Inc.’s 3D Assistant "social interface" technology for use in its consumer graphics products. 3D Assistant is an animated intelligent agent that ‘lives’ on a user’s Windows 95 or Windows NT desktop, and is "revolutionizing how people interact with their computers," says the company. 3D Assistant characters ‘float’ directly over the Windows desktop and communicate using realistic human speech and motion captured gestures.
EEEK! Microsoft Windows. Yeah, right.
Virtual Petz Invade Japan
(Business Wire, March 26, 1998)
PF Magic's virtual Dogz and Catz will be marketed and distributed in Japan by The ASCII Corp., a major Japanese PC game and magazine publisher. More than 1.5 million virtual Petz have already been sold worldwide. ASCII will unleash fully localized versions of the company’s latest releases, Dogz II and Catz II, in April 1998.
EEEK! Dogs and cats. Sorry, pooch, but there it is.
Force Feedback Software for 3D Touch technology . . .
(M2 Presswire, March 25, 1998)
Prosolvia, a developer of virtual reality and visual simulation software for industrial users, has developed a software module, Oxygen Force Feedback, to work with SensAble Technologies’ PHANToM 3D Touch system. Oxygen Force Feedback is a technology plug-in built for Prosolvia Clarus’ Oxygen software development toolkit.
Oxygen is a multi-platform toolkit that enables users to create sophisticated 3D visualizations of manufacturing processes and products. When coupled with the PHANToM 3D Touch platform, Oxygen Force Feedback will enable users to employ their sense of touch in designing and refining these virtual environments.
Oxygen Force Feedback allows users to give haptic (touch) properties to graphical objects, meaning that users are able to touch and interact with the objects using force feedback device. The module enables interactive manipulation of object properties, such as surface spring, damping and friction. The technology includes support for haptic widgets including buttons, sliders and dials. Oxygen Force Feedback, which runs on Silicon Graphics workstations and PC’s (Pentium 200 or higher), is now available from Prosolvia.
"Being able to apply the sense of touch to computer simulations greatly enhances the realism of the simulated environment and is a significant breakthrough for business applications of real-time simulation technology," said Dan Lejerskar, CEO of the Prosolvia Group. Users are now able to see, hear and feel when they are simulating driving a car, practicing medical procedures or assembling a machine. "We have partnered with SensAble Technologies, the industry leader in 3D Touch systems, to provide customers with an integrated force feedback system."
"Prior to the release of our PHANToM system, user interaction in digital visualization and simulation environments had been severely limited," explains Bill Aulet, president of SensAble Technologies. "By combining the realism and intuitiveness of our 3D Touch system with the power of Oxygen tools, simulations of manufacturing, assembly, and medical procedures can be as effective as real life experience. This combination will enable significant savings in product development and professional training."
SensAble’s products, including the PHANToM family of hardware and the GHOST software development kit, are based on technologies developed by Thomas Massie, SensAble’s founder and Chief Technical Officer, and Dr. Kenneth Salisbury, principal research scientist at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. SensAble’s products have won over a half dozen awards and been featured in numerous publications worldwide, including The Wall Street Journal, Business Week and Fortune.
Distributors in Scandinavia, Japan, France, Canada, and the USA currently sell SensAble’s products worldwide. Customers include Disney, General Electric, Intel, Volkswagen, Hewlett-Packard, Mitsubishi, Sandia National Labs, Toyota, Nortel, Mayo Clinic, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and leading universities such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon and the University of North Carolina.
Prosolvia Clarus supplies VR tools and solutions ranging from advanced high-end development systems to PC-based sales, marketing, and training systems as well as integrated systems for ground based and industrial simulations. Prosolvia is the world’s leading supplier of VR training centers and supplies clients in Europe, Asia and the U.S. Clients include Volkswagen, BMW, Silicon Graphics, Ericsson, Electrolux and Volvo.
. . . and DEC Goes Haptic, Too
"As a leader in the field, we are very excited about providing our customers with a whole new way to interact with digital 3D images. The combined solution will bring new levels of productivity to CAD and Digital Content Creation users," said Ron Locklin, Vice President of Visual Computing Solutions. "SensAble is the industry leader in high-fidelity force feedback for the professional market and we are enthusiastic about working with them."
EEEK! No-one is threatened, yet, by haptics. In fact, it's a very exciting technology, holding out promise of extending our human capabilities manyfold.
Legal and Liability Risk Information
(PR Newswire, March 25, 1998)
Legal Research Center, Inc. and WIRE, Ltd. (World-wide Intellectual Resources Exchange) have agreed to expand access to on-demand legal and liability risk information for WIRE’s insurance industry customers. WIRE’s Internet-based Risk Information and Services Exchange (RSX) incorporates a new "Ask the Experts" feature that allows customers to initiate custom inquiries on legal and liability risk subjects via the Internet. RSX customers needing in-depth information on legal or liability risk subjects simply click the "Ask the Experts" button, fill out a brief description of their research need, and instantly gain access to LRC’s worldwide network of legal research experts.
RSX, an Internet-based subscription service, serves the insurance industry with access to extensive collections of information concerning risk management. WIRE Ltd. specializes in the switching of high value risk-related information and expertise around the world using advanced communications technologies. The WIRE team uses a special combination of risk market understanding and human/artificial intelligence to merge public and private information.
EEEK! It's not clear to what extent AI is involved in RSX, but to the extent that it is involved, then the network of human experts in the legal aspects of insurance and risk.
KFx Inc. Acquires Pegasus
(PR Newswire, March 25, 1998)
KFx Inc. has acquired a controlling interest in Pegasus Technologies, Ltd. The other participants in Pegasus are AIW/P Holdings, Inc. (AI Ware), a wholly owned subsidiary of Computer Associates International, Inc. and existing Pegasus management. AI Ware is a neural net computer developer and software supplier.
Pegasus applies neural network technology to intelligent industrial controls. It has completed the software development and installed the first closed-loop system that enhances boiler heat rate while reducing NOx emissions at electrical utility power stations. Under an exclusive license agreement for utility process applications, AI Ware provides Pegasus with the neural net engine around which the Pegasus’ software code produces the product called NeuSIGHT.
Pegasus currently has eleven systems installed in major U.S. and Canadian power plants. The reports from users are "very positive," according to the company, which says "most of its customers have placed orders for additional systems."
In the U.S. there are 14,600 utility and approximately 2,000 industrial electric generating units, and worldwide there are approximately 51,000 electric generating units. KFx is working with Pegasus and CA to broaden the scope of neural net applications to all areas of the energy sector.
EEEK! Utility company engineers.
Neural Applications for Meltshops
(PR Newswire, March 25, 1998)
Neural Applications Corporation recently announced the availability of the OptiMaster and LoadMaster modules of their ScrapMaster product, a group of four modules designed to automate the scrap planning and tracking functions in the meltshop. The four windows-based modules of ScrapMaster may be selected individually by the mill to solve specific problems and may be tailored or enhanced at any time in the future.
OptiMaster enhances the development of a least-cost charge mixture using available raw materials and optimizes the purchasing of material requirements for the meltshop for any time in the future. LoadMaster contains a recipe-tracking system that transmits OptiMaster designed recipes to the crane operator and records the actual materials and quantities used.
In the fourth quarter of 1998, Neural will complete the ScrapMaster suite, making available the ChemMaster and StockMaster modules. ChemMaster incorporates neural network technology to analyze the results of the heat melt-in and make the appropriate adjustments, improving productivity, optimizing energy efficiency and producing higher quality steel.
StockMaster is the inventory control system at the core of the ScrapMaster suite. This system intelligently tracks scrap material inventory from the point at which it has been ordered through the scrap yard and on to the furnace. This system measures and maintains the quality and quantity of scrap to ensure the product requirements are being met.
"Approximately sixty-five percent of the cost associated with producing steel lies in the value of the scrap itself," said Norman Bliss, vice president of Metals Industry Products at Neural Applications Corporation. "ScrapMaster reduces costs by intelligently analyzing the properties and quantities of the scrap."
EEEK! Foundry engineers.
Creative Licenses Parrot
(PR Newswire, March 23, 1998)
Associative Computing, Inc. has licensed its Parrot intelligent assistant software to Creative Labs, Inc., best-known for the SoundBlaster line of sound cards for PCs. The license lets Creative bundle Parrot with its audio hardware. Parrot assists users by carrying out complex actions via simple voice, keyboard, or mouse gesture commands. Acting on a single command, Parrot will open and close programs, visit web sites, read documents, press releases or e-mail, and perform a variety of useful tasks within any application in the Windows 95/NT environment.
Besides serving as a personal assistant, Parrot also entertains users through its animated representation. Parrot flies from window to window on the desktop, making comments on what users are doing, offering help, asking questions, telling jokes, and singing songs. Users can customize the animated character’s behavior and responses, train him to recognize new commands, and also teach him what to do when commands are recognized.
For its speech I/O interfaces, Parrot uses ACI’s state-of-the art speech utilities TextAssist and VoiceAssist. Parrot also includes technology components licensed from Creative and core speech technology components licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products. N.V. (now owned by Microsoft, I believe).
"Parrot is an important step forward in our mission to develop full-fledged intelligent assistants with programmable and downloadable skills, knowledge bases, and learning ability," said Jozsef Kiraly, ACI’s President and CEO (see related story below.) "By offering intelligent assistance to users working on their PCs, Parrot significantly increases their productivity. At the same time, Parrot provides users with a source of entertainment, making it more fun for them to use their computers. We are very pleased to sign this strategic license agreement with Creative, the acknowledged world leader of PC multimedia and innovative new technologies."
Creative's chairman said "Recent advances in hardware and artificial intelligence technology are allowing developers to build intelligent software agents that will revolutionize the way users interact with the computer. The new version of Parrot that ACI has developed for Creative represents an important step in this direction."
EEEK! Microsoft, unless (until!) it bundles a similar product in with Windows and NT, in which case ACI itself is at risk.
Associative Computing Opens Shop in Budapest
(PR Newswire, March 23, 1998)
Associative Computing, Inc. a developer of intelligent agents, speech I/O interfaces, natural language processing, machine learning, reasoning and other artificial intelligence technology, has opened a subsidiary R&D office in Budapest, Hungary, home of ACI's founder, president, and CEO Jozsef Kiraly.
ACI's development partners and customers include Lernout & Hauspie, Creative Technology, Yahoo!, and Digital. With its AI technology components and products, ACI has earned a reputation as the technology leader for Intelligent Assistant Centric Computing. By starting a subsidiary in Budapest, ACI has more than doubled its R&D resources.
Neural Networks Obsolete?!
(PR Newswire, March 20, 1998)
InfoGlide Corporation recently announced the results of three benchmarks with leading property and casualty insurance companies testing neural nets against the Similarity Search Engine for fraud detection. The results, it claims, show that neural nets are not only obsolete for fraud detection but are also "the clever criminal’s best friend." The company's CEO is quoted as saying: "The Similarity Search Engine found from 10 to 300 times more fraud."
One of the benchmarks allegedly demonstrated how clever criminals are able to modify their behavior by changing their names, their social security numbers or other identifying data to avoid detection with neural nets.
Heath Getty, Executive Vice President of The Insurance Technology Alliance is reported to have said: "Neural net technology is a dinosaur. It takes too long to install and it fails to find fraud from constantly changing data. The Similarity Search Engine is clearly going to dominate this market." He added that the return on investment for the Similarity Search Engine was less than 30 days, versus three years for neural nets. In one case, he said, the insurance firm paid for the product with the fraud found during the demo.
"One of the key benefits of the Similarity Search Engine," InfoGlide's CEO said, "is its ability to also manage the fraud which is found. The InfoGlide product is able to actually go into court as an 'electronic witness' for the prosecution."
EEEK! Assuming the corporate blurb is true, then neural nets and the programmers and others who create and sell them are at risk. However, I have no disinterested information on which to assess the validity of the company's claims.
Until
next week,
NEXT WEEK: Possibly, a guest contributor's commentary on my Neuroshell review from two weeks ago. If not, my opinions on Microsoft and AI.
Help Wanted: Got questions or comments on this article or on any other AI-related subject under the sun? Post it in the AIBB!