Cognos Inc has given more details of its Visualizer 3D data representation tool (CI No 3,637). The Ottawa, Canada data reporting company regards the new tool as its most significant release since the launch of its reporting and analysis tools, Powerplay and Impromtu, back in the early 1990s. The new software is aimed at people who would not generally use business intelligence tools.
Visualizer is a front-end for Powerplay and Impromptu which use workstation-derived graphical representation techniques to allow the user to ‘fly’ over a 3D view of specific data, or animate a view. The view can also be affected by changing variables, such as time or geographical location. If users wants more information on a specific area of the data graphically represented, they can click on the area and go into Powerplay or Impromtu for a more detailed analysis of the data. Cognos claims this tight integration with the reporting tools is what sets its software apart from other visualization packages. Visualizer will be available in mid-May, with a web server version offering browser-based access out in June. Pricing details have yet to be released.
