The Weather Company expands Max Ecosystem for weather and traffic

The Weather Company, an IBM brand, will launch a new presentation tool and rollout updates to its augmented reality and analytics solutions during the NAB Show.

“Our expanded product offerings for the Max Ecosystem will fundamentally shift the way weather is presented across all content platforms,” said Mark Gildersleeve, president of business solutions, The Weather Company.

The Max Ecosystem, formerly WSI, will show updates including:

• Max Connect, a groundbreaking new application that enables presenters to interact with augmented reality elements in real time while continuously facing the audience. An iPad-based app, Max Connect removes the need for presenters to be tethered to one location, and enables them to maintain control over their show as they move freely around the studio or report remotely from location during breaking weather events.
• The addition of virtual sets to Max Reality, an industry-leading solution that uses advanced augmented reality technology to create dynamic, 3D visualizations of storms and atmospheric events. The new virtual sets can be easily integrated using the existing chromakey technology and familiar Max workflow that the presenter has already invested in, and will allow presenters to quickly and easily pull together rich augmented reality visualizations when speed is critical (ie: during severe weather). When there is severe weather, Max Reality is the ideal solution to deliver weather explainers to drive viewers to take action for their safety.
• The addition of social posting to Max Engage, a robust analytics engine that constantly monitors weather events and serves up the content to tell the right weather story to the impacted mobile audience using geo-fenced push notifications. Now, meteorologists will be able to publish concise and contextual hyper-local weather and traffic information directly to social platforms on a daily basis, which is critical for increasing engagement on other easily monetized platforms like web and mobile. And when there is severe weather, this solution will provide meteorologists with a fast and automated way to send geo-targeted customized push alerts to mobile users who are in the path of impending destructive weather.

“Through innovations to Max Reality, we’ve made it easier for presenters to deliver immersive experiences that bring the audience into significant weather events, conveying the impact in a way that’s never been done before. And, with Max Engage, stations now can deliver the most important content to audiences wherever they are, and right when they need it most,” added Gildersleeve.

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NAB attendees can see the new features of Max Reality, Max Connect and Max Engage at The Weather Company’s booth (SL6104), which will include a complete virtual set.