Pioneering Real-time Visualisation

Headquartered in Tel-Aviv (Israel) and operating globally, Eternix is a software developer focused on products and solutions for high-performance visualisation of geospatial data. In recent years, the company has established itself as a pioneer in real-time 3D visualisation, an area quickly gaining popularity and in increasing demand across all domains. Though still a relatively young organisation, Eternix has been successfully challenging major incumbents in the geo-visualisation industry.

Launching the company in 2006 to answer the growing need for advanced geospatial visualisation solutions, the founders recognised the great commercial market potential of sophisticated visualisation software for GIS professionals. Eternix was registered as a private company and began developing its proprietary graphics engine, soon to become its core product portfolio and solution offering. Immediately after starting operations in Israel, the company extended its reach into the international market through direct channels and business partnerships. Since its inception, the company has been moving smoothly along the envisaged technological and business trajectories. Technologically, Eternix has been committed to an innovative approach, developing cutting-edge products and solutions. Business-wise, in its early days the company secured several important contracts, and since then has been continually expanding its international customer base in both the government and the private sectors.

Technology First...
From the very start the emphasis was on building a solid technological foundation. This comprises two pillars: leveraging the power of the graphics processing unit (GPU, now available in the vast majority of standard computers), and an advanced streaming mechanism. This combination allows Eternix to deliver optimum data-processing performance and in just half a decade the company has gained a strong reputation for its software.

Then User Experience
The company’s mission is to provide clients with excellent software products and customer-oriented solutions by taking advantage of its state-of-the-art technology. Eternix is committed to pioneering in the challenging world of geo-visualisation, allowing geospatial professionals to make the most of their data. The company considers its main business both off-the-shelf products for end users and tailor-made solutions for system integrators. Customers come from a variety of industries, but may be categorised as either end users or system integrators. End users are offered a selection of geospatial applications; system integrators, solutions based on the company’s Software Development Kit (SDK) that help reduce time to market and gain a competitive advantage, extending the value of their systems. 

Apps and Extensions
The product portfolio includes a selection of visualisation applications and extensions, addressing most needs of geodata users. The flagship is the Blaze series of products, offering visualisation of data of virtually unlimited size. With the ever-increasing availability and diversity of geospatial data, the Blaze family of products is unique in offering users the ability to work in real time with imagery from different sources (including raster, vector, video, digital elevation models and 3D models). All this is achieved without pre-processing and using average computers and even low-end hardware. Blaze products are able to perform on-the-fly processes that usually require massive computations and to seamlessly display numerous imagery and 3D data files. For instance, Blaze Terra is the only tool that allows on-the-fly visualisation of digital elevation models: by draping any 2D photo onto any elevated model, a 3D representation of terrain features is instantly created, allowing further advanced 3D analyses in real-time. Also, since a common technology underlies all products, different types of data can be displayed in the same scene. For example, a 3D environment can include an elevated model populated by a large set of 3D models, to which vector layers and annotations can be added, for illustration visit website 1.

Close to the Customer
Staying close to the customer and attentive to their needs allows the company staff to meet the most stringent demands of each and every one. Establishing long-lasting relations with customers is a key factor in the company’s management philosophy. Proximity to the customer is the main factor that allows Eternix to gain an unmediated understanding of how to build its intuitive user interface, creating a workflow-oriented environment. According to director of application development Yamit Moskovich, “Our customers have made it clear that they want solutions which are powerful, but also friendly and easy to use. We gain a lot of insights through interacting and exchanging thoughts and ideas with them, and consequently can harness our technology to address their challenges. We understand exactly how our clients work, and can therefore allow them to enjoy an unmatched user experience.” The user interface is optimised for efficient working without the long and irritating software training inherent in other market alternatives. Clients testify that despite their highly sophisticated nature, the company’s products and solutions are surprisingly friendly and easy to master.

Outward Looking
In essence, every GIS-related application could benefit from using software developed by Eternix. Headquartered in a small country, the company is by nature export-oriented, and primarily targets customers in the international marketplace. Eternix has taken all measures to make its offering appealing and accessible to worldwide users, regardless of location. Its products and solutions have already been integrated within a multitude of organisations in numerous countries, thanks to their ability to support hundreds of file formats and thousands of coordinate systems. Furthermore, product language settings can easily be localised. Eternix also designs its software to comply with potential client needs by adopting international geospatial standards, such as common OGC standards. The company follows well-established software development procedures and is ISO 9001:2008 certified. Partnering with other organisations allows Eternix to tap into new markets, so creating synergy, adding value and delivering more comprehensive solutions to end users. For example, the company is working closely with selected providers of high-quality geodata content. Its accurate exploitation tools allow Eternix to help these partners maximise the value of the information delivered to their users.

The Sky’s the Limit
Eternix is a forward-looking and performance-driven organisation. It is therefore important for the company’s management not only to meet the current needs of the geocommunity, but also to establish tools to overcome the challenges of tomorrow. The company envisages itself continuing to innovate, develop pioneering technologies on its R&D roadmap, and bring them to the market. The past few years have witnessed a remarkable increase in adoption rates of GIS technologies across a variety of industries. The explosion in availability of geodata, coupled with its adoption of and increasing role in time-critical missions, has brought geospatial visualisation under the spotlight. Real-time visualisation of 3D data is paramount, and the market continues to demand increasingly better visualisation solutions. Eternix is ideally positioned to continue innovating as a technological leader. “We are often ‘accused’ of being ahead of the market,” says CEO Raviv Brueller. “We admit guilt, and promise to continue to do so.”

Every month GIM International invites a company to introduce itself. The resulting article, entitled Company’s View, is subject to the usual copy editing procedures, but the publisher takes no responsibility for the content and the views expressed are not those of the magazine.