Advances

(Advances gives a glimpse of the many significant research projects at the university. Tell us about your discoveries by e-mailing: wisweek@news.wisc.edu.)

Booming e-business sinks Madison roots
A university computer scientist, whose software ideas are powering hot Web sites like Ask Jeeves!, hopes to find fertile ground for high-technology employees in Madison.

Raghu Ramakrishnan, a UW–Madison professor currently on leave from the computer science department, founded a company called Quiq Inc. in Madison two years ago. The company, which specializes in building online information networks, has seen fast growth in the past year, capped last month by a $15 million venture capital investment.

For the life of the company, Quiq has split its operations between Madison and Silicon Valley. Quiq has all along been a UW–Madison-inspired innovation, with four of Ramakrishnan’s former students at the core of the company. Quiq is software that essentially creates “knowledge networks” online by linking together a company’s consumers. It allows customers to interact directly with each other to answer questions or get advice about a product.

On “Ask Jeeves!,” one of the Web’s premiere question-and-answer services, Quiq developed a software program called Answer Point. If users do not get the answer they were looking for from the Ask Jeeves database, they can post to Answer Point and pose that same question to millions of Ask Jeeves’ regular users.

For companies, the technology could end up improving the quality and speed of customer service, and also help companies track customer issues with their products. It will be the first approach to customer service that actually grows as the customer base grows. Ramakrishnan says its appeal lies in a question of who consumers trust: The car salesman or the people who already bought the car?

Trace Center improves access to electronic devices
On any given day, people encounter a constellation of devices meant to simplify life, from automated teller machines to one-touch microwaves. But the benefits often elude people who are visually impaired or physically disabled.

One solution has emerged from the Trace Research and Development Center, a group devoted to designing a more accessible world. Center director Gregg Vanderheiden created and patented a system through WARF that will work on a wide range of electronic products, providing easy use without the need for visual cues.

With one to three added buttons – one diamond-shaped for selecting and two navigational arrows – the technology allows users to scroll through a talking computer menu. No vision is required since the user can use the speech output to access functions.

Called EZ Access, the system is available on touch-screen technologies such as information kiosks. It is being demonstrated on automated teller machines and being developed for voting booths. The Trace Center also has a blueprint for using the technology on cellular phones.

“This is a technology that you can put on virtually any electronic product,” says Trace engineer Chris Law, one of its designers. “We envision a situation 10 years from now where a person can buy a home stereo and be confident they can use it without needing to rely on vision or reading.”

EZ-Access adds only about $100 to the cost of a $10,000 ATM machine. Law says the organization has had more than 300 commercial inquiries about the technology. Interest is being driven by regulatory changes that will soon require more expansive disability access.