Virtual Spectator blot on iVistra launch

By PETER GRIFFIN

IVistra, the data visualisation company set up by IT entrepreneur Craig Meek, unveils its technology today with a cloud hanging over it in the form of legal action with Meek's former company, Virtual Spectator.

Meek has been quietly working on visualisation technology for the past year and freight company Tranzlink is his first major client.

Using mapping data from aerial mapping and photography company Geosmart, Meek and a team of contracted developers have created a fleet tracking system for Tranzlink which uses global positioning system (GPS) and the Vodafone mobile network to plot the position of trucks nationally and visually displays productivity and financial data about the freight operation.

Around 55 trucks are tracked using iVistra's system from Tranzlink's operations centre in Penrose, and that number will rise to 110, including refrigerated trucks.

The software has the slick front-end reminiscent of Virtual Spectator's consumer sporting products, but Meek said it had been built from the ground up using none of the technology he helped develop at Virtual Spectator.

"There's not one single piece of code that could be referred to [as being Virtual Spectator's]," said Meek.

While fleet tracking is one use of the visualisation software, Meek says it is equally useful for any company with a retail chain or geographical network wanting information about company property.

"You can zoom down to a particular store and check what its profit and loss position is for the month. It's the concept of turning data into pictures," said Meek.

IVistra also dabbles in sports visualisation software, but Meek said he wanted to initially focus on the business sector.

"There's a whole lot more value. It's real money and real returns," he said.

But iVistra is tied up in legal action with Virtual Spectator, which Meek left following the company's takeover by Endeavour Capital.

Last August, Virtual Spectator took iVistra to court claiming it had found a confidential iVistra document that contained Virtual Spectator intellectual property.

The strange case has had infrequent court hearings since then, but Meek claims Virtual Spectator recently dropped its legal action, 10 days before a key court date.

"We've written confirmation that they've withdrawn their claim. We're cleaning up the final wording now," he said.

But Virtual Spectators lawyer Kelly Wilshire, of Minter Ellison Rudd Watts, rejected that, saying iVistra was still being pursued with legal action.

"The proceedings are still on foot. The allegations have not been withdrawn," she said.

Virtual Spectator's executive chairman, Neville Jordan, confirmed the suit was still under way.

It is understood iVistra wanted to bury the legal hatchet before releasing its technology, which is being presented to potential customers today in Auckland.

Meek said he planned to keep iVistra a lean company, contracting development work to outside firms. He had global ambitions for the company and had built a partner network which he hoped might also act as a sales channel.

For shifting sensor readings and GPS data around the network, iVistra had partnered with Vodafone. Hewlett Packard was a partner for servers and tablet PCs, which can host the visualisations.

The software could tap most back-end databases and financial software systems and iVistra had partnered with SAP to develop that part of the technology.