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462 Part Three Key System Applications for the Digital AgeThree Key System Applications for the Digital Age
MIS_13_Ch_11 Global.indd
to see the impact of a design on manufacturing. For example, is a bolt that assem-
bly line workers need to tighten too hard to reach (Murphy, 2012)?
Augmented reality (AR) is a related technology for enhancing visualization.
AR provides a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment
whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated imagery. The
user is grounded in the real physical world, and the virtual images are merged
with the real view to create the augmented display. The digital technology
provides additional information to enhance the perception of reality, making
the surrounding real world of the user more interactive and meaningful. The
yellow first-down markers shown on televised football games are examples of
augmented reality as are medical procedures like image-guided surgery, where
data acquired from computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) scans or from ultrasound imaging are superimposed on the
patient in the operating room. Other industries where AR has caught on include
military training, engineering design, robotics, and consumer design.
Virtual reality applications developed for the Web use a standard called
Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML). VRML is a set of specifica-
tions for interactive, 3-D modeling on the World Wide Web that can organize
multiple media types, including animation, images, and audio to put users in
a simulated real-world environment. VRML is platform independent, operates
over a desktop computer, and requires little bandwidth.
DuPont, the Wilmington, Delaware, chemical company, created a VRML
application called HyperPlant, which enables users to access 3-D data over the
Internet using Web browser software. Engineers can go through 3-D models as
if they were physically walking through a plant, viewing objects at eye level.
This level of detail reduces the number of mistakes they make during construc-
tion of oil rigs, oil plants, and other structures.
The financial industry is using specialized investment workstations such
as Bloomberg Terminals to leverage the knowledge and time of its brokers, trad-
ers, and portfolio managers. Firms such as Merrill Lynch and UBS Financial
Services have installed investment workstations that integrate a wide range of
data from both internal and external sources, including contact management
data, real-time and historical market data, and research reports. Previously,
financial professionals had to spend considerable time accessing data from sep-
arate systems and piecing together the information they needed. By providing
one-stop information faster and with fewer errors, the workstations streamline
the entire investment process from stock selection to updating client records.
Table 11.2 summarizes the major types of knowledge work systems.
TABLE 11.2 EXAMPLES OF KNOWLEDGE WORK SYSTEMS
KNOWLEDGE WORK SYSTEM FUNCTION IN ORGANIZATION
CAD/CAM (computer-aided Provides engineers, designers, and factory managers with precise
manufacturing) control over industrial design and manufacturing
Virtual reality systems Provide drug designers, architects, engineers, and medical workers
with precise, photorealistic simulations of objects
Investment workstations High-end PCs used in the financial sector to analyze trading
situations instantaneously and facilitate portfolio management
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