Right Hemisphereis zeroing in on interface improvements and workflow enhancements to help awider range of users take part in what it calls the "visual enterprise," thenotion of leveraging 2-D and 3-D visualization tools and collaborationtechnology to optimize product development.

Version 6 of Deep Exploration, Right Hemisphere's clientapplication, ushers in a number of new features, including a role-based,configurable user interface, an improved ability to view, select and navigatecomplex 3-D models, a new XML file format for facilitating integration withenterprise systems and a new photorealistic rendering engine. The software isdesigned to help different constituencies in an organization navigate, authorand repurpose complex product information for a variety of purposes â€“ fromcreating technical drawings to performing design reviews on complex models.

The user interface redesign was crucial to making DeepExploration accessible to a broad audience, according to Bob Merlo, director ofmarketing for Right Hemisphere. "With our old user interface, you had to dealwith about 140 different tool applications â€“ it was pretty messy for people tolook at and use," Merlo says. At the heart of Deep Exploration Version 6 is the Layout Manager,which manages the visibility and order of the application's tool tabs, enablingit to be configured for specific workflows depending on the user's role. Withthis feature, for example, the software can be configured to guide the userthrough all the necessary steps related to creating a 2-D technicalillustration or a set of manufacturing work instructions. Deep Exploration 6comes standard with a number of predefined layouts, but it will also allowusers to create their own department-specific workflows.

"The workflow-oriented tabs are not only tailored to the enduser in terms of that functional role, but are tailored to the workflow of thatuser, whether they're creating a technical drawing or a rendered image," Merlo says. There is alsothe ability to dock application panels on top of one another to free up morereal estate for viewing 3-D models.

Deep Exploration Version 6 also delivers functions forengineers and users working with large, complex 3-D models. The upgradesupports the viewing of large CAD assemblies (of up to 500 million polygons and200,000 unique parts) that have been converted by Right Hemisphere's othervisualization and collaboration offering, DeepServer. The new navigation feature, along with the new Volume Select tool,lets users zoom and navigate model views and save out the geometry for furtherwork. Volume Select, for example, lets users choose an area in the model bydefining a geometric space without having to locate the assembly or partnumbers in the bill of materials. "This is a nice way to take large models andhave them be navigable and share information for design reviews withoutpulling up different pieces of the model," Merlo says.

Other new features of the upgrade include support for XMLfor integration with enterprise applications along with a new rendering enginethat employs high dynamic range (HDR) imaging technology to support a widerrange of luminance in a 3-D scene, from direct sunlight to subtle shadows. DeepExploration 6 will ship in August.

Right Hemisphere Brings Role-Based Workflow to Deep Exploration A