Editorial Pointers

I don’t pretend to appreciate the entertainment value of the dark, dismal slash-and-bash game environments where you tell the good guys from the bad by the ferocity of the weaponry, the distortion of their torsos, the amount of blood spilled, and the distance it splays. But there’s no ignoring the fact the technology that delivers the speed, immersive graphics, navigational command, interactive control, and pure visualization and computational power behind these games (and their tamer, though equally complex counterparts), is finding an appreciative audience in the research community for its potential in non-entertainment applications.

This month’s special section explores an array of such apps, including the purely scientific, now made possible by game engines, graphics, and interaction technologies. Senior Editor Andrew Rosenbloom called on noted researchers working on some of the most innovative non-entertainment uses of game code and development methodologies. Their articles illustrate current and future industry and research implementations, including how health-care providers treat phobias; how e-businesses can and will benefit from new interactive, intuitive tools; how programmers use sensory and auditory interfaces; and how social robots (recently named one of the six revolutionary technologies that will change the world) will one day care for the sick and teach the young.

Other topics and technologies of interest in this issue include Alan Karp’s comprehensive account of the development of and ideals behind HP’s e-speak open software platform. Daniel May and Paul Taylor examine the beneficial uses of patterns as a general-purpose knowledge management tool. The telecommunications industry certainly found partnerships a positive force in a struggling economy. Still the key to success, say Varun Grover and Khawaja Saeed, is in the advantages each partner brings to the table. And Lee, Lee, and Larson examine strategies some firms take to exploit Web-based sales opportunities while reducing turf wars with manufacturers and intermediaries.

In his latest installment of "Technology Strategy and Management," Michael Cusumano warns of the inherent weaknesses of horizontal software markets, suggesting it’s sometimes more profitable to think vertically. And NSF Director Rita Colwell traces—and celebrates—the cyberinfrastructure revolution, contemplating the lessons learned along the path to wisdom in this month’s "Viewpoint."

Diane Crawford
Editor