Abstract

As new methods of interacting with consumer electronic devices are developed, the way that people use computing devices in daily life is changing dramatically.  This paper describes three new technologies and explores their potential applications for the future.  Natural user interfaces, Microsoft’s Kinect peripheral, and the Metro design language are introduced and detailed technically.  These three technologies offer innovations in user interface design and are creating entirely new ways for technology to change people’s lives.  The potential applications described could bring people closer together, improve and augment daily life, and lead to drastic changes in how people interact with consumer electronic devices.

Future of User Experience with Consumer Electronic Devices

Today we are in a transitional phase where the convergence of new methods of interacting with electronic devices combined with the continued growth in computing power and the shrinking of electronics is leading to fundamental shifts in the way we use technology.  What we define as a computer is changing as smart phones take on more and more functionality that traditionally could only be handled by large desktop computers.  User interfaces, the methods that we humans use to interact with machines and computers, are evolving with new classes of devices as device form-factors change.  Keyboards and mice do not make sense with small devices like smartphones or tablets where touch and speech have become the de-facto means of inputting information and manipulation objects on a display.  However, this shift toward mobile devices is only the beginning of a much broader transition.  As devices shrink and the interfaces become more natural, new applications for the technology are arising.

This paper will begin by discussing three new technologies that are changing the way users interact with consumer electronic devices and then shift focus into a discussion of how these new technologies are giving rise to interesting and innovative applications in our daily lives.  These practical applications of the technologies are often things that could never have been imagined before the technology existed to inspire people.  Many of these new applications of technology will soon change how society interacts in a way that will rival the invention of the telephone itself.

Technologies

In the section below, this paper will explain and elaborate on three main technologies that are changing user interaction with consumer electronic devices.   Natural user interfaces will be covered as its importance is growing due to increasing prominence in smartphones and tablets.  The Microsoft Kinect peripheral is the fasted-selling consumer electronics device ever sold but its potential far out stretches its current uses as a gaming peripheral (Guinness World Records, 2011).  Lastly, the Metro design language has emerged as a fresh take on user interface design and is influencing design work all around the globe.

Natural User Interfaces

Natural user interface (NUI) is a term that has existed for quite some time but has recently seen resurgence in design discussions.  To better understand what NUI is, it is easiest to contrast it with traditional computing interfaces.  In traditional computing all of the interaction with the computer happens through intermediary devices such as keyboards and mice.  Through the manipulation of these devices, the user can interact with what is represented on the computer screen.  For example, moving a mouse on your desk will move a cursor on the computer screen.  NUI describes an interface without these intermediary devices.  In other words, with natural user interface there is nothing standing in between your physical actions and the representations of those actions on the device’s screen.  Think of using a touch screen device, when you touch and move something on the screen you see a direct and immediate response on the device.  The device is responding in real time to the exact position of your touch.  This promotes a positive reaction in the user as well as removing learned barriers of complexity.  A user no longer needs to learn how to use a mouse when they first sit down at a computer.  As Han (2006) states, "There's no reason in this day and age that we should be conforming to a physical device."

While touch is the most obvious natural user interface in today’s smartphone and tablet culture, others such as pen and speech are becoming increasingly important in tomorrow’s user experience designs.

Possibly best considered as an augment to touch, digitizer-based pen input is another form of natural user interface.  These systems use a specially designed screen and pen combination that allows the user far more precise control than could be achieved with just finger-based touch input.  Pen based input is not always the best use for every task since a specialized pen is required which is obviously an additional layer of complexity over direct touch interaction.  Some uses however can benefit greatly from the utilization of pen input.  Note taking, digital signatures, and artistic drawing can all be enabled with pen input in such a way that the benefits of working in a digital format from the beginning far outweigh the simplicity of traditional pen and paper.

Microsoft Kinect

Microsoft Kinect is a consumer electronics device that is sold as a peripheral to the Xbox 360 videogame system.  The Kinect is essentially a sensor device; it consists of a motorized tilt mechanism, color video camera, infrared projector, monochrome depth camera, and a microphone array with three separate microphones.  The depth camera works by using a projector to send infrared light out into the field of vision of the device, which is then captured by the monochrome camera.  Subsequently, the Kinect is able to process this infrared based image to determine the exact distance of each pixel in the video frame, producing accurate depth data for any object in the device’s field of vision.

The Kinect is primarily sold as an interface for Kinect-enabled videogames where the user can control the videogame naturally by using hand gestures and speech.  With the Kinect the user does not need a game controller to interact with the gaming system since the depth sensors and microphone array can track the users movement and listen to his or her commands (Boulos et al., 2011).  The Kinect is enabling many new interaction modes that would not be possible with regular physical controllers.

When developers combine the depth sensor data with the microphone array data, the positions of individuals can become very accurate.  Since the Kinect has three microphones placed at different locations along the device’s front surface, software can be used to help identify which direction a user’s voice is coming from.  This is already being used in videoconferencing applications.  When multiple people are on a video call the system can detect who is currently talking and then pan and focus the camera to be centered on that individual.  The microphone array also benefits in applications where the Kinect is experiencing heavy noise traffic such as a loud home theater room.  The system can detect the surround sound speakers placed in the room and ignore the sounds coming from them while still focusing on the sounds coming from the user.

The Kinect has brought what was previously an immensely expensive technology into the reach of everyday consumers.  Only a few years ago, similar depth sensing systems required multiple industrial cameras set up at different positions around the user and special gloves with colored balls on the finger tips.  Today a Kinect can be purchased for $150, requires very little setup, and no special gloves!

Metro Design Language

The third technology for discussion is Microsoft’s Metro design language.  Born out of Microsoft’s Zune music player division in in the mid-2000’s, Metro is an all-encompassing term for a set of design principles for digital interfaces.  Key tenets to the Metro design language are a focus on typography, a reduction in visual clutter, fluid motion, and representing data as authentically digital.

Users are positively influenced by interfaces that express quality, beauty, and goodness (Law and Van Schaik, 2010).  It is these aspects that all designers are attempting to achieve and Metro is no different.  The main shift that Metro represents is moving from a metaphor-based user interface design to direct representation of the data (Donahue, 2011).  In traditional computer interfaces, the designers have tried to mimic the real world as much as possible.  Icons, desktops, notebook rings, and drop shadows are all examples of a designer attempting to create a metaphor for what exists in the real world.  Metro design disagrees with this trend, stating instead that everything should be authentically digital (Microsoft, 2012).  Metro embraces the fact that computing devices are separate and distinct from traditional real world objects and focuses on the content rather than trying to frame that content inside a metaphor to make it seems familiar to the user.  “In [Metro], the content is the interface: users expect to be able to directly manipulate almost any words, objects, and media on the screen.” (Microsoft, 2012).

Figure 1 shows an example of content becoming the interface in the Music & Video hub of a Windows Phone.  Album art pictures are used instead of icons or text to represent recently played and new songs.  A picture of the most recently played artist becomes the back drop to the entire user interface, leading to an experience that is inherently personal and constantly changing with the user’s musical taste.  The entire interface pans left and right off the edge of the device and makes use of subtle effects such as cut off text or images to suggest to the user that more content exists just off-screen.  When a user perceives such an interface as beautiful and usable, it can improve the speed with which it takes to accomplish a task (Choi and Lee, 2012).

Figure 1 – Windows Phone Music+Video Hub (Thurrott, 2010)

Another key to the Metro design language is fluid motion.  This becomes increasingly effective on touch interfaces as every touch results in a subtle response on the screen, informing the user that the system recognizes their input.  As screens transition or change, transitions give a fluid feeling to the interface and are far more effective than drastic re-draws of the entire screen content or bland animated loading bars.  In Figure 2, a “leaf blowing” animation is presented after a user taps on the Email tile of the Windows Phone start screen.  The animation gives immediate feedback to the user that the system recognized his or her input and allows the system time to load the next screen without the user noticing that the change was not instant.

Figure 2 – Windows Phone Animation.  After the user taps on the email tile, the screen transitions in a “leaf blowing” manner to the email application.  (Microsoft, 2012)

Applications of Technology

Having covered the technologies and how they are currently being used, it is worthwhile to discuss some current research trends and potential future applications.

Video Wall

The first potential application is a research project being referred to as a video wall.  This project combines many of the aforementioned technologies including using depth cameras to track each participant’s location in the room, 3d targeted displays to present separate location-based video displays to each participant in the room, and microphone arrays to localize sound for each participant.

The combination of these technologies results in a wall that could be considered more like a window to another room.  The wall itself is a video screen that is displaying the contents of another room with a similar wall which could be located anywhere else in the world via an internet connection.  Since the video wall is tracking the position of each participant in the room and presenting each participant with a different video image, the perspectives can be shifted so that each person sees the correct view angle through the video wall.  When combined this gives a nearly perfect recreation of the effect of a real window.  Walking up to a real window increases your field of vision or view of the other side, while walking away decreases it.  Shifting left or right can change what you see through the window, and the video wall will adjust in the same way.

The video wall could be a monumental transformation in teleprecense meetings and virtual classrooms, bringing people together in a much more natural way when compared to traditional video conferencing solutions.

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality is an interesting and still early application of the huge amounts of data present on the internet.  The first successful use of augmented reality has been to improve street level mapping services on mobile devices.   The application uses the GPS, motion sensors, and the video camera of a smartphone to enhance the display of maps.  Instead of just seeing pictures of the street in your mapping application, the user turns on the camera of the smartphone and points it down the street as if he or she were recording a video of the street that lay ahead.  The software then figures out the user’s location and in real time overlays important or relevant information on to the smartphone’s display.  For example, the user could be walking down the Las Vegas strip trying to find a hotel to stay at for the evening.  With augmented reality, the software would display information overlaid on the video image of the buildings themselves.  Information such as customer reviews, links to the hotel website, or phone numbers to call and make reservations.

When augmented reality is combined with heads up displays such as Google’s Project Glass described in the next section, the application itself can become a natural user interface to the world we currently live in.  Imagine walking down the street and seeing information pop up into your field of view that is contextually relevant to what you are seeing in front of you.  Car manufactures are working on this technology to eventually replace the dashboard console in automobiles.  The relevant information such as driving directions, speed, and fuel levels can all be projected onto the driver’s field of vision without obscuring the roadway ahead.  This innovation will hopefully lead to less distraction from drivers as their vision can remain in the direction they are traveling instead of having to look down and remove their eyes from the roadway.

Project Glass

Google is currently working on a prototype product that is incorporating some key elements from smartphone technology and augmented reality.  Currently referred to as Project Glass, this new device is a pair of glasses unlike any you would see at your eye doctor.  The glasses forgo traditional lenses for a tiny transparent display that is held in place over your dominant eye (LaMonica, 2012).  The display is connected to a computing device that bares many resemblances to a smartphone but without the need for a traditional touchscreen interface.  In place of the touchscreen, the primary method of interaction will be via speech recognition.  This provides for a hands free head-mounted computer system.  Figure 3 shows a prototype of the Project Glass eye-wear being worn by Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

Figure 3 – Google’s Project Glass being worn by Google co-founder Sergey Brin (LaMonica, 2012).

Google presented a video showing possible uses for the head-mounted system.  In the video the glasses were used to set up meetings, get directions in a city, find a book inside a store, and videoconference with friends (LaMonica, 2012).  These use-cases are rather simple to accomplish technically with current smartphone technology but they are only the beginning.

While Project Glass is still in its early stages and head mounted displays are not exactly a new concept, the prospects of merging this technology with augmented reality is inspiring.  Imagine walking down a street and you say to yourself “I could really use a bite to eat”.  Before you can blink your glasses are displaying overlaid pushpin icons into your field of vision indicating all the places to eat near you.  Looking at one and asking the device for more information could pull up reviews, a menu, and with only a few more words you could call the restaurant ahead of you to make your reservation.  All of this happens while still paying attention to the world in front and around you instead of looking down at a small screen.

Another possible use could be in shopping.  Today smartphones can help shoppers by reading barcodes and pulling up detailed information about a product while the user is still in the store.  That information can range from product reviews to price comparisons with other stores.  Project Glass could take this a step further with the right software by enabling personalized recommendations based on user habits and location data which is far more accurate than current technology that relies on past purchases (LaMonica, 2012).

In all, Project Glass is interesting mostly due to the potential doors it opens for other future interfaces.  Perhaps the most important aspect to Project Glass will be how it provides another means for technology to get out of the way of the user and blend into their lifestyle without notice.

Conclusion

As Boulos et al. (2011) suggest, the interfaces enabled by the Kinect will change the way we interact with online and computer interfaces in the coming years.  This however is just the tip of the iceberg as after all the Kinect is a first generation peripheral with limited sensor types.  As the technology continues to decrease in size and improve in sensor capabilities, we will see these sensors integrated into more and more consumer electronic devices.  Just as a modern smartphone now includes cameras, GPS, compass, accelerometers, and gyroscopes, they may soon include depth sensors similar to the Kinect.

The miniaturization of these sensors is allowing smaller and smaller devices to know more and more about the world around them.  This is leading to technology that not only responds to a user’s request but in many ways can predict the request and improve the results.  Getting the correct information quickly has always been a good representation of how well a computing device works and as the technologies described in this paper become more prevalent that will improve by leaps and bounds.

The future looks promising with mobile technologies and natural user interface.  Many things we can’t even dream of currently will soon make for dramatic changes in our everyday life.  People will slowly stop noticing a distinct line between the digital world and the natural world.  Just as Facebook has humanized the social aspect of the internet with your pictures and conversations, computing devices will blend into normal life with the use of natural user interfaces.

References

Boulos, K. N. M., Blanchard, J. B., Walker, C., Montero, J., Tripathy, A, & Gutierrez-Osuna, R.  (2011, January). Web GIS in practice X: a Microsoft Kinect natural user interface for Google Earth navigation. International Journal of Health Geographics. 45-58. doi:10.1186/1476-072X-10-45.

Choi, J. H., & Lee, H. (2012). Facets of simplicity for the smartphone interface: A structural model. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 70(2), 129-142. doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2011.09.002

Donahue, M. (2011, April 12). Application Design [Video file]. MIX11. Symposium conducted at the meeting of Microsoft Corporation, Las Vegas, NV. Retrieved from http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/MIX/MIX11/DVC02

Guinness World Records (2011). Kinect Confirmed As Fastest-Se​lling Consumer Electronic​s Device [Web log post] Retrieved from http://community.guinnessworldrecords.com/_Kinect-Confirmed-As-Fastest-Selling-Consumer-Electronics-Device/blog/3376939/7691.html

Han, J. (2006, February). Jeff Han on TED Talks [Video file]. TED. Symposium conducted at the meeting of TED, Monterey, CA. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKh1Rv0PlOQ&hd=1

LaMonica, M. (2012, April 6). Google's Project Glass: You ain't seen nothin' yet [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57410443-76/googles-project-glass-you-aint-seen-nothin-yet

Law, E. C., & Van Schaik, P. (2010, September). Modelling user experience – An agenda for research and practice. Interacting with Computers. 313-322. doi:10.1016/j.intcom.2010.04.006.

Microsoft. (2012, March 22). General Design Principles for Windows Phone Applications. Retrieved from http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh202906(v=vs.92).aspx

Thurrott, P. (2010, October 6). Windows Phone 7 Series Preview, Part 3 [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.winsupersite.com/article/mobile/windows-phone-7-series-preview-part-3

--Declare variable
DECLARE @searchstring nvarchar(max)

--Set values for search (You would normally pass this in with a report parameter)
SELECT @searchstring = 'Widget'

--Perform Search
SELECT Items.id, Items.Name
FROM Items
WHERE Items.Name LIKE '%' + @searchstring  + '%'

Note the wildcards added around the variable so that it will search for the user's string at any position in the original data. If @searchstring is NULL, the search will be ignored and in the above example, all rows will be returned from the Items table (this is useful in SSRS since the parameter can be made nullable and therefore optional). Warning: This is not optimized for speed, it is likely very slow on large record sets.

• The tragedy of Rebecca Dietz's passing
• Returning to Higher Education
• The Datex Conference in Florida with friends old and new
• The loss of an icon, Steve Jobs
• Realizing that Sushi is pretty damn good
• Spending September with someone I don't see often enough
• Learning more about myself and my habits

What is my 2012 resolution? Maximization of time.

The most notable change is a move away from the traditional per socket licensing to a per core license model. For example: Standard Edition has moved from supporting a maximum of 4 CPUs to a maximum of 16 cores. With newer server processors available with 10+ cores, this move could seriously impact your licensing costs as you scale upward.

Next up is the introduction of the Business Intelligence Edition. This edition will feature many of the newer BI solutions Microsoft has been working on including PowerView, PowerPivot, Master Data Services, and the Semantic Model. While the traditional Integration Services and Reporting Services are still included in the Standard Edition, all of the newer "Self Service" BI tools will require an upsell to the BI Edition.

Lastly, Data Center Edition has be discontinued, and all of its features will be rolled into the Enterprise Edition. Along with this change, Microsoft has discontinued the Server+CAL licensing for Enterprise edition and licensing by cores will now be the only option.

For more details on the matrix of the new Edition's features, check out Microsoft's Edition page.

1. First you will need to configure your APC UPS Management Card if you have not done so already. This can be done through the Web admin interface with Ethernet enabled Management Cards. Refer to the instructions that came with the card to find the default IP address settings in order to connect to the Web Interface for the first time.
2. Once you have the Management Card configured correctly and connected to an appropriate network that your server will have access to, make sure to add the IP address of your server you are configuring to the Clients list in the Management Card's Web Interface.
3. Next will be to configure the PowerChute timers in the Web Interface. Depending on the current load factor and the capacity of your UPS the settings you chose may vary greatly. You can vary the Shutdown Delay and Return Delay to account for short power losses if they are common in your environment.
4. Next, download the software at apcupsd.org and install. The installer will automatically create and start the APCUPSD service and install the tray utility (useful for non-Server core installs only) by default.
5. Once APCUPSD is installed, open the config file located (by default) at C:\apcupsd\etc\apcupsd\apcupsd.conf. The config file is well commented and should help you with configuration if you have a setup that deviates from the ethernet based management card used in this guide. To configure APCUPSD for an Ethernet Management Card, you will change the following settings in apcupsd.conf:

   UPSCABLE ether #Sets the connection type to ethernet
   
   UPSTYPE pcnet #Sets the connection protocol to PowerChute
   
   DEVICE upsipaddress:upsusername:upspassphrase #Tells APCUPSD how to connect to the UPS. Replace the values with what is correct for your environment
   
   LOCKFILE /var/lock #Sets the location of the lockfile
   
   UPSCLASS standalone #Sets the UPSCLASS to the appropriate type for a SmartUPS
   
   UPSMODE disable #Turns off sharing (only for ShareUPS models)
   

6. Once you have saved the config file you can now configure Windows Firewall to allow APCUPSD to connect to the Management card. Execute the following commands on the server to configure the Firewall rules:

   netsh firewall set portopening protocol=TCP port=3052 name=APCUPSD3052
   
   netsh firewall set portopening protocol=UDP port=3052 name=APCUPSD3052
   
   netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="APCUPSD" protocol=TCP dir=in localport=3551 remoteport=3551 action=allow
   

7. Now that APCUPSD and the Windows Firewall is configured, you can restart the APCUPSD service and test connectivity. To restart the service, use the following commands:

   net stop APCUPSD
   
   net start APCUPSD
   

8. To test connectivity (you may have to give the service 30seconds or so after starting before it connects), use the follow command:

   apcaccess status localhost:3551
   

9. If you see results similar to below, including the line "STATUS : ONLINE" you're up and running. Make sure you do a real power loss (pull the cord) test as soon as your environment allows!
   

I remember way back when Microsoft first released the Pocket PCs (aka Windows CE 3.0), I would travel to the Microsoft campus every other month for the Seattle User Group meetings to check out the coolest new devices and software. Back then it was Microsoft vs Palm and the world was much simpler.

Today the breath of choice in handheld devices (or more specifically, smart phones) is insane. With multiple, extremely robust operating systems and tons of amazing device manufacturers the space is innovating and iterating so fast it feels like the new Personal Computer.

That innovation and rapid rate of advancement is what has drawn me to the smart phone arena so much over the years. It is also what has of late had me so interested in Windows Phone 7. The Windows Phone platform had fallen behind the competition so much that it was beginning to look like a dinosaur - that is until Microsoft hit the reset button and created a truly different product.

Already after showing my phone to a few coworkers I am surprised how many have simply said "I can't believe how well I can READ this thing!". It then occurred to me how many times I've heard people complain about reading on such small screens over the years and I think it speaks a lot to the UX (user experience) design behind the phone, called Metro. A great focus on readability, typography, negative-space, and contrasting colors makes for a refreshing interface experience - and MAN is it usable!

Make no mistake however, this is a version 1.0 product. It has some sharp edges, some bugs, and it's lacking a few basic features. But compared to my last version 1.0 device (Nokia N900 with Maemo) this thing is extremely robust and the App Market is already flourishing. Microsoft has gone from department restructuring to global launch with multiple devices across multiple carriers in less then 18 months. Knowing that, I'm sitting here in great anticipation of what the next 18 months will bring.

PS: Thanks Microsoft Store @ Mission Viejo, CA for the surprisingly good customer support and the free stuff

So the true reason for writing this article, today we purchased an EMC ax4-5i iSCSI SAN array. We are planning to use it for two main functions, 1) Consolidate our disk-to-disk backup storage and, 2) Migrate our locally attached Virtual Machine storage to Shared storage so that we can use Failover and Live Migration functionality with Hyper-V.

We took a long hard look at the continuing cost of adding hard drives to our servers and also the cost of dealing with outages when our VM host server had problems.  This led us to the search for an affordable but scalable entry-level SAN solution. EMC was able to provide us exactly that, for just under $5k with 5TB of physical disk space (2-3TB after RAID).

And with that, comes weeks of configuration and installation. All while we are piloting out a new Sharepoint 2010 implementation, working on an IT consolidation project for a sister company, and planning a migration to Exchange 2010. Should be an exciting quarter - that is, if business picks up...

With the exception of an old security camera system, our company is now completely IP based. Data, video, and voice all travel over a shared IP network via common switches and wiring. Moving forward this should greatly reduce wiring costs and the need for costly rip & replace jobs. Interestingly however, this has spawned some internal debate over the future of communications.

As the world moves away from land line phone services (please move faster, world), I feel the age old schema of telephone numbers and their routing paradigms are ready for death. Does it makes sense in today's age to have a business phone number, cell phone number, and home phone number? Why should my mobile phone have a fixed area code, that supposedly tells a caller where I am calling from? With the growing use of telecommuting this can be applied to business phone lines just as well.

When data travels over the Internet, it does not cost the user a single penny more to reach a site in another continent then it does his neighbor's home web server. Long distance (and even international) calling is a dying concept and I can't wait for its glorious day of defeat.

And that brings me to the most interesting part, if Long distance calling is an idea that will soon be dead, how will communications look in the future? I believe SIP addresses and Google Voice hold some important clues. A SIP address is an alternative to a telephone number for a VoIP based endpoint (think internet telephone). They can look much like an email address (ex: "sip:ross@oceancold.com"), but you can literally dial a SIP address to initiate a voice/video call. Google Voice on the other end allows a user to setup rules that allow them to screen calls. Rules can be setup to block certain callers, forward other callers directly to voicemail, or disable ringing different endpoints during different times of the day.

So with all that, here is my prediction for communications in 2025:

• Traditional desk phones will still exist but will morph into large touchscreen devices that are driven by your computer (laptop/desk pc) and are more of an accessory than a stand-alone communication device.
• Each endpoint (cell phones, desk phones, PC's) will have HD video cameras and every call will be capable of video.
• Traditional voice service on cell phones and land lines will be completely replaced by data services - after all why should a carrier maintain voice and data networks if data itself can also support voice and video?
• Phone numbers will be replaced with a globally accessible SIP/email type address. The provider issuing you an address (3rd party or the company you work for) will provide tools that allow you to screen based on the caller, domain (@oceancold.com), time of day, and your own availability/presence.
• The lines between Voice/Video/Text communication will completely blur as your one address allows Unified communication via all media forms and allows your contacts to see your presence info (out to lunch/away/etc) in real time.
• Your new unified communication address will allow for new levels of integrated communications such as desktop sharing, collaborative white boarding, and real time document sharing/editing.

These may be pipe-dream ideas but if (a very big if - given the fragmentation present today) the different players in the communication arena can come together with support behind a unified communication address, big things will be on the horizon.

One such project has been a big time sink of mine over the past 18 months, growing and adapting to the changing landscape that describes our (Ocean Cold's) operations. Equally juxtaposed to the frequently changing business processes is the frequently changing inventory management system we are using, Datex Footprint. With each new version comes changes to the database schema and new entities that can be exposed through new Fact/Dimension relationships. A rapid software release cycle ensures that there is always new things on the horizon.