Worldwide marketing of THEME
PatternVision signs exclusive agreement with Noldus Information Technology for worldwide marketing of Theme software
Wageningen, 19 July 2002 - Noldus Information Technology today
announced that it has signed an agreement with PatternVision Ltd,
developer of the ThemeTM software for pattern detection in sequential
data. Theme is a powerful research tool that is able to detect patterns
in complex data sets. It uses unique methods and algorithms to identify
hidden relationships that cannot be found using conventional
statistical techniques and is particularly suited to the analysis of
behavioral data. The agreement entails the joint development of Theme
towards full-scale commercialization, and makes Noldus the worldwide
exclusive distributor of the package.
Strategic agreement
Noldus
Information Technology will market and sell Theme exclusively under its
own brand name using its worldwide distribution network, while
PatternVision will continue the technical development of the software.
Theme already has users in a wide variety of application areas,
especially in the behavioral science community. Now that Theme is ready
for commercial release, Noldus Information Technology is ideally placed
to take care of its sales and marketing. "We believe that the agreement
will lead to substantial business opportunities for both parties and
that it will stimulate further development of innovative research tools
for behavioral scientists", said Janet van Vreeswijk, product manager
at Noldus Information Technology's international headquarters.
Theme
Theme
is built on a unique algorithm that searches for hidden repeated
patterns in behavior and interactions, based on a model of the temporal
organization of behavior. It considers both the order and the time
distances between behavioral event types as well as hierarchical
organization. According to Magnus Magnusson, developer of Theme and
president of PatternVision Ltd, "The software behaves as an evolution
program, in the sense that it detects complex patterns gradually as
combinations of simpler ones and deals with combinatorial explosions
through competition between patterns such that only the most complete
patterns are retained (survive) while partial detections are discarded.
Theme can detect complex repeated patterns that are hidden to observers
and very hard or impossible to detect with other available methods."
The software includes various tools for the filtering and analysis of
detected patterns on the basis of their frequency, complexity,
structure, actor identity and behavioral content. Theme has been used
extensively in studies of human communication, spoken dialogue,
gestures, protocol analysis, etc. Other potential applications are the
analysis of human-system interaction and navigation patterns in
software user interfaces or web sites, detection of drug effects on
behavior, behavioral disorders in human and animals, etc.
About Noldus Information Technology
Noldus Information Technology,
founded in 1989, develops and markets innovative software tools for
behavioral research. Its products enable scientists to study behavioral
processes, automate measurements, improve the quality of their data,
increase productivity, and make optimal use of human or animal
resources. The company operates from offices in The Netherlands,
Germany and USA. Sales and customer support are facilitated by a
worldwide network of distributors and resellers.