*****  Computer Select, October 1994  : Articles *****

Journal:    Newsbytes  Sept 23, 1994 pNEW09230023
COPYRIGHT Newsbytes Inc. 1994
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Title:     Micro Focus, Sense8, Superscape work on new technologies.
Author:    McKenna, Patrick


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Full Text:

Micro Focus, Sense8, Superscape Work On New Technologies 09/23/94 PALO
ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1994 SEP 23 (NB) -- Last month, Micro Focus
announced its Emerging Technologies Program, aimed at an aggressive
investigation about the future direction of programming tools and
software applications. In the latest development of this program, Micro
Focus announced agreements with Sense8 and Superscape for the development
of 3D visualization technology in business computing environments.

Outlining the Emerging Technologies Program, Micro Focus says it will
direct its attention to object-oriented technology, desktop virtual
reality, 3D visualization, voice recognition and speech synthesis, while
not ruling out any other technologies.

Speaking with Newsbytes, Barbara Bouldin, manager of Micro Focus'
Emerging Technologies Program, said, "This program was initiated from our
company's visionary, Bob Reynolds, who wants Micro Focus to be actively
developing the next generation of computing tools and applications, a
generation which will be more human, more life-like."

Paul Adams, president, products and business development for Micro Focus,
said, "We are not talking about the next upgrade or next version of a
software program or development tools. We are talking about the entire
landscape of the computing environment as it evolves into the rest of
this century and into the next century."

The company says this new program is being built on dynamic partnerships
which bring the latest technology together, so that an overall view may
be developed and development tools created accordingly. Adams continued,
"The '80s and '90s could be called the era of graphical user interfaces.
We think the future environment of computing will be filled with 3D and
other virtual reality applications which will be activated and operated
through advanced voice technology."

According to the company, an integration of Micro Focus' COBOL
application development products with Sense8's virtual reality technology
will produce new capabilities crucial for business process reengineering
and management decision support and analysis. Superscape brings a strong
stable of 3D visualization products to the partnership, which in
combination with Sense8's virtual reality technology, will offer the
progressions of products for diverse markets such as architectural
design, management training, robotics, stock market analysis and
biomedicine.

Micro Focus says it is just beginning to expand its Emerging Technologies
Program and is continuing to explore a multitude of companies as
potential partners. Adams also said, "We are actively seeking businesses
who have a serious level of investment into business processing. We
encourage those types of businesses to contact us and join in the
exploration and development of this program's goals."

Responding to a question about the hardware needed to process this new
world of computing, Adams said, "We need ten times the available
processing power of either Pentium or RISC (reduced instruction set
computing) technology. Silicon Graphics begins to provide some of the
power needed to investigate these new tools. As well, Digital's Alpha
processing in the 300 megahertz range offers computing speeds necessary
for the technology we need to explore."

Newsbytes asked about the financial commitment Micro Focus is extending
on this long range program, but Micro Focus was unable to comment other
than to say it is a sizable investment. Also in the program's partnership
are Digitalk and Servio, which offer object technology expertise.

(Patrick McKenna/19940923/Press Contact: Nancy Genovese, Micro Focus, tel
415-496-7175)

Record#:   16 258 264
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