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Current News & Events | Archived News & Events
fourDscape® Received a 2004 Long Island Software Award
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Press Release BALFOUR integrates native support for ER Mapper’s ECW image compression and image serving protocol (http://www.ermapper.com) into it’s advanced fourDscape™ 4D Browser/Server technology... |
"2 brothers 4 dimensions" "For Bob and Richard Balfour, the future can't arrive soon enough. The forward-looking identical twins have devised an Internet browser that lets users vault beyond the flat screen and move in four dimensions - length, height, width and time. More than just an exercise in coding prowess, the software displays complex data in a graphical form that allows users to quickly grasp patterns or problems."... |
"Virtual Building for Construction Projects" "Balfour Technologies’ fourDviz technology grew out of a joint collaboration between Balfour Computer Systems and Infinity Technologies (Balfour Technologies’ predecessor companies). The software was originally an in-house tool for producing 4D visual deliverables for transportation consulting contracts. It’s based on flight simulation technology and company cofounder Robert Balfour’s doctoral research in temporal visualization and computer-generated holography fueled further development of this tool." ... |
NY State Dept. of Transportation Installs BALFOUR's fourDscape® System The first deployment of fourDscape® is in Albany NY, at the NYSDOT Visualization Section. But location doesn't really matter anymore as fourDscape® brings interactive 4D visualization to the World-Wide-Web and to every user's desktop. Many users can collaborate remotely by visually interacting with the same project information in four dimensions based on the innovative fourDscape® 4D Portal Server and 4D Browser technology. The projects can be in downtown Manhattan (NYC), the 3D/4D visualization staff are in Albany, and the engineering team and project managers are distributed throughout the Tri-State area. fourDscape® has changed the information landscape for ALL project stakeholders by enabling collaborative 4D, and has turned piles of information into shared KNOWLEDGE. |
BALFOUR's fourDscape® Technology Powers TRANSIMS Visualizer The next-generation of travel demand modeling tools is here, and BALFOUR's core fourDscape® technology drives the visualization engine for the Transportation Analysis Simulation System(TRANSIMS) developed by IBM Business Consulting Services. BALFOUR has successfully applied its advanced fourDscape® capabilities for an interactive desktop visualization suite in a challenging, data-intensive environment. The Visualizer is used by the TRANSIMS Solution Center Team (http://www.transims.net) in calibrating the travel model and presenting the results of the analysis to decision makers. The Visualizer allows users to identify problems with a single glance, instead of sifting through reams of paper with numerical output, costing hundreds of hours of tedious labor. |
BALFOUR Announces fourDscape® “the powerful new generation of fourDviz™ software, delivering a revolutionary temporal desktop browser that enables users to visually integrate and analyze multi-dimensional data flows in a collaborative environment, effectively transforming the way we view, analyze and share knowledge”. |
"Interactive Simulator Puts Projects in '4-D'" "The old saying is a picture is worth a thousand words, so an interactive 4-D simulation is worth a lot more than words...it's worth dollars because it saves time and money," said Rich Balfour... |
"3D/4D real-time Interactive Visualization Technology Solutions" BALFOUR was invited to present "3D/4D Real-time Interactive Visualization Technology Solutions" at The Society of American Military Engineers' Technical Presentation and Luncheon Meeting on May 15, 2001 at MTA Bridges & Tunnels, 2 Broadway, New York, NY. |
"Balfour's Realistic Graphics Set It Apart" "Balfour is keen on leveraging the power of the open software architectures such as Linux, OpenGL, DirectX and Java 3D to create '4D portals.' This patent-pending concept takes information from a corporate database such as a project schedule and uploads it to a 4D portal, where the schedule data is mapped to 3D models. In the current version of fourDviz, the 4D portal then serves the combined data to a client computer. Balfour is developing a 4D browser that is slated for release by the end of the year which will allow users to access a 4D portal or multiple portals via the Web or corporate intranet." |
Showcasing 4D Visualization Technology at the 2001 CTE BALFOUR is selected to showcase its fourDviz™ software and project examples in a CTE National Teleconference Program. This program will present the results of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project #25-22 and showcase projects that have successfully used advanced technological tools to improve the integration of environmental considerations in transportation decisions. The panel will demonstrate technologies as well as discuss benefits and lessons learned. CTE teleconferences are broadcast live via satellite and the Internet. Programs are archived on CTE's Web site for replay and are also available on videocassette. |
"4D: Science Fiction or Virtually Reality?" "The approaches to 4D vary according to the target market, the expertise of the developers and how they envision 4D being used as a collaboration tool. Balfour is run by identical twins Richard and Robert Balfour, who come from the military simulation field. The photo-realistic simulations are as close to the stomach-churning thrill ride of virtual reality as you're likely to find anywhere and make Balfour's solution particularly attractive for public presentations such as for environmental impact statements or airport construction, where community buy-in is necessary for funding." |
Demonstration at the 80th Transportation Research Board annual meeting BALFOUR's fourDviz™ software in conjunction with Elumens' portable immersive VisionDome display was selected by the TRB committee for demonstration at this year's TRB as one of the "emerging technologies to improve consideration of environmental concerns in transportation decisions". Using fourDviz™, a wide variety of complex transportation and environmental datasets such as container movement, time-dependent noise data and dynamic roadway traffic densities can be integrated within the real-time visual scene and controlled interactively through a desktop graphic user interface. fourDviz™ is proven to be an effective tool for transportation planning, environmental impact study, consensus building, public education, and conflict resolution. Sample projects demonstrated at the TRB include the 4D simulations of a intermodal facility at Huntsville Airport, Alabama (Courtesy of Auburn University); and a major highway interchange at NY Route 110/ Northern State Parkway (Courtesy of The National Aviation and Transportation Center) A sample video clip of the demonstration is available. Please send your request via the Contact Us page. |
"Startup Enters the Balfour(th) Dimension" "ROBERT BALFOUR takes spreadsheets and databases, the kind of stuff that mostly makes our eyes glaze over, and uses a computer to turn them into delightfully Lilliputian renderings of the real world- renderings that, he says, can bring you the future." |
fourDviz™ wins 1999 Long Island Software Awards
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Presentation at the 78th Transportation Research Board annual meeting Four Dimensional (4-D) Interactive Visualization for Airport Infrastructure Planning, Construction, and Management Applied to Boston Logan International Airport, by Bing Zeng and Ross Edwards (F.R.Harris, Inc.). |
Paper Presented at International Conference on Airport Modeling and Simulation "A Case Study: 4D Modeling & Simulation for the Modernization of Logan International Airport", by Bing Zeng and Ross Edwards (F.R.Harris, Inc.). |
On May 4th, 2004, fourDscape® received a Long Island Software Award (LISA) from the L.I. Software & Technology Network, recognizing fourDscape® as one of Long Island's Top Software Products. This annual awards dinner & technology exibit was held this year at the prestigious Garden City Hotel and attended by close to 500 people. Dr. Robert Balfour, Chief Technology Officer at BALFOUR Technologies, accepted the award. fourDscape® was in good company that night, with LISA awards going to other outstanding products, including two LISAs won by Computer Associates for their newest enterprise and security software offerings.
fourDviz™, an innovative custom software created by BALFOUR Technologies (formerly Balfour Computer Systems Inc. and Infinity Technologies), was announced the winner of 1999 Long Island Software Awards (LISA) for the Small Company System Software Category. Presented by LISTnet since 1996, the LISA awards celebrate the strength and diversity of Long Island's software industry by recognizing excellence in a wide range of software products.
