BAE Systems has signed an agreement with Birmingham based Daden Limited (Daden) to accelerate the development of a versatile 3D immersive visual analytics application which can be used for the collaborative analysis and understanding of a wide variety of data. The project, established through BAE Systems Investment In Innovation (I3) programme, will create a system that allows participants from across the globe to get together to analyse and visualise shared data.  

Organisations are increasingly overwhelmed by large amounts of data from different sources that they need to understand, combine and interpret - either individually or as a group. Trying to derive meaning from this unstructured data is difficult and requires both analytical processes and intuitive human understanding. The system will enable users to combine diverse data sources in a format that makes sense to them. It will allow the user to look at the data from different perspectives in a 3D immersive environment, aiding retention and recall whilst supporting decision and sense-making.

The application, designed by Daden, will import historic or real-time information from different sources ranging from databases and web feeds, through social network and computer network data, to real-world sensors, GPS trackers and CCTV cameras. Users will be able to view the data in a variety of environments, including: 1:1 models of real-world spaces for security applications; a virtual command centre for operations management; and a configurable 3D 'holodeck' space for more abstract data. As well as conventional 2D displays the system will be able to plot both graphs and networks in 3D, easing the analysis of large quantities of multi-dimensional data, and show video feeds and images.

As with any data visualisation system, users will be able to filter, sort and manipulate views of the data sets which the system will record for future use. In addition multiple users from across an organisation, represented by avatars, can meet inside the data, discuss it, and refer to web pages and documents, increasing the efficiency and flexibility of the distributed users.  Daden's application will support real-time operations, security and emergency planning, as well as collaborative learning and training and simulation exercises, providing a highly cost-effective method for effective collaboration.

Investment in Innovation (I3) is BAE Systems programme to invest in Small and Medium sized Enterprises and Academia to support the research, development and integration of new technologies to meet our customers' existing and emerging requirements. Financial investment is supported with specialist facilities and expertise, providing access to a broad knowledge base and partner network.

David Burden, Daden's Managing Director said "We were very pleased to be approached by BAE Systems and for their interest in our data visualisation work. We are excited to be part of the Investment in Innovation programme and the opportunities it allows us to accelerate development of this application which will allow users to make sense of their data." 

Jeff Capper, BAE Systems I3 Manager said, "The investment BAE Systems is making in Daden is to accelerate the development of this capability to bring early availability to our customers. It allows decision makers to be dispersed at various locations, including globally, but still be in the hub of the operations centre - virtually - and see the same mix of data and information to inform decision making."

The system will be developed at Daden's offices at Birmingham Science Park Aston.