 

How people use Parallel Visual Explorer

Here are some applications where using Parallel Visual Explorer will be highly
effective. In many cases, beta testing of the software in these specialty areas is already
underway. 

   Medical and pharmaceutical research 
   Financial services 
   Manufacturing 
   Aerospace 
   Insurance 
   Agriculture 
   Oil exploration 
   Market data mining 
   Data processing 

Medical and pharmaceutical research

Parallel Visual Explorer can help medical and pharmaceutical researchers analyze the
reasons for the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of specific drugs, and help them
identify new uses for existing drugs. 

Dr. Joseph Hassett of Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York recently used
Parallel Visual Explorer to analyze the effects of various treatments on the immune
systems of people with AIDS and other diseases. "I believe it is a very valuable tool,"
he says. 

"It let me explore the many interactions contributing to a complicated overall
immune response. I could view results for hundreds of patients at one time, and find
observations that weren't otherwise apparent. 

"I was quite impressed with Parallel Visual Explorer's sophisticated data analysis
capabilities. It offers strong query support and is incredibly easy to use. Even
investigators who are not trained in statistics should be able to sit down and begin
analyzing data with almost no training." 

Financial services

Analysts using Parallel Visual Explorer will be able to spot trends and key predictors
in industries, money markets and customer transaction data. For example, Parallel
Visual Explorer can make it dramatically easier to analyze complex markets like
stocks, bonds, options and currency markets -- allowing for more educated, and
potentially more profitable, trading. 

In addition, a major stock exchange is evaluating IBM's Parallel Visual Explorer for
use in identifying irregular (and possibly illegal) trading activities. 

For traditional business and financial research, Parallel Visual Explorer will allow
analysts to better compare companies with one another; it allows in-depth evaluation
of corporate financial data taken from public documents such as annual reports,
balance sheets and 10K reports. It will also help analyze an individual investment
portfolio to determine how well it meets a specific client's goals. 

According to Leon Kaliski, an independent commodity trading advisor and publisher
of "Kaliski Speaks," a newsletter on interest rates, "This software has the potential to
offer a real competitive advantage to traders in certain markets, particularly in
commodities and interest rate futures. It's a breakthrough because it makes it easy for
researchers to look at large amounts of data and recognize relationships that simply
don't stand out as numbers on a spreadsheet. 

"For example, Parallel Visual Explorer can help researchers analyze almost any
weather-related commodity, like sugar, cocoa or soybeans, and find insightful
correlations between weather, crop yields and other factors." 

Manufacturing

IBM's Toronto manufacturing plant used Parallel Visual Explorer to analyze process
parameters; the goal was to improve production processes in its circuit board
fabrication operation. Results included a 25 percent reduction in the need for testing
and inspection. 

IBM's Burlington, VT manufacturing plant has also used the software to analyze and
optimize complex parameters in its memory chip manufacturing process. Analysis of
large numbers of semiconductor manufacturing process parameters, for example,
enabled the parameters to be adjusted to provide the desired balance between yield and
speed of performance. 

In manufacturing, Parallel Visual Explorer can also be used to analyze supply and
demand for various raw materials and determine how to ensure availability. It can
also help manufacturers do manpower resource planning, by making it easier to track
and analyze the experience, skills, attitudes and availability of their employees. 

Aerospace

A national air force has tested Parallel Visual Explorer against combat simulation
data to determine which flight school candidates are most likely to become successful
fighter pilots. The purpose of this test was to disqualify unlikely candidates before
they are put through multi-million dollar training programs. The software was easily
able to distinguish the skill level of pilots, based on an analysis of simulation data. 

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is considering using Parallel Visual
Explorer to improve the collision avoidance capability of the Air Traffic Control
System. The software helps flight controllers determine the least possible course
correction required to avoid collisions of multiple aircraft. A worldwide patent has
been granted for this application. 

In the aerospace industries, Parallel Visual Explorer can also be used to set rules and
determine schedules for airplane routing and crews; determine the optimum schedules
and locations for fueling aircraft, taking into account flight schedules, airport
activity, local variations in oil pricing and other factors; and optimize the
performance of scheduled and unscheduled aircraft maintenance. 

Other industry applications

Insurance

Parallel Visual Explorer can be used to assist in the evaluation of actuarial data used
to calculate life expectancy, insurance and annuity premiums, reserves and dividends.
It can also assist in insurance underwriting, by helping to determine the potential risk
for each individual insurance policy. 

Agriculture

Parallel Visual Explorer can help determine which seeds to plant and when, based on
an analysis of soil characteristics, growing season, climate and other factors. Parallel
Visual Explorer will also potentially be used to evaluate commodity markets. 

Oil exploration

Seismic data can be analyzed and correlated with Parallel Visual Explorer to
determine the best opportunities for exploration. Lower quality seismic data also can
be improved. 

Market data mining

Consumer buying trends, advertising recognition and other factors can be analyzed
using Parallel Visual Explorer, helping marketing professionals, buyers and others
make more informed business decisions. 

Data processing

Parallel Visual Explorer can help corporate MIS staffs make optimal use of their
computing resources by evaluating and analyzing the hardware, software and network
resources available as well as the transactions that must be executed. Parallel Visual
Explorer can also help MIS determine the appropriate billing structure for their
services. 

