Orator Plus: Small Improvement Creates Strong Operations Center

This screenshot of an Orator Plus session shows live GPS tracking (upper left), an interactive GIS application (lower left), a live video feed (upper right), an imagery service (lower middle) and other window launch buttons (lower right).

Little things can be frustrating. For decades I struggled with a silly irritation — finding a can opener that worked well. I tried many different styles — push types, camp knives, rotary types and even several electric models, but none were satisfying. I assumed that that was that. Then I came across one that seemed too good to be true, a hand crank Swing-a-Way version that used a 1938 patent in which the serrated drive wheel and cutting wheel were interconnected with simple drive teeth.

The original design Swing-a-Way without drive teeth.

This seemingly small improvement made a world of difference. The manual Swing-a-Way was smooth, easy to operate and never stalled. My wife and I threw away all our other can openers and have never looked back. The patent has long expired, so many foreign-made openers use the same design, with EZ-DUZ-IT being the only remaining U.S. manufacturer of the original design.

A Swing-a-Way with drive teeth.

The addition of those simple drive teeth made the difference. Orator Plus is similar — it’s an improvement over traditional presentation software that is more than just a “dog-and-pony show” creator. Orator Plus robustly displays multimedia, web feeds, and live applications on one screen with an overarching whiteboard in a completely stable, collaborative environment.

Sharing Geospatial Information

In geospatial work, we frequently need to display GIS applications, imagery, diverse data sources and other applications to an audience in a non-linear format. Additionally, we may need to create an emergency operations center or industry logistics management center that can reliably access multiple data sources in an easy-to-use environment that is more robust, versatile and stable than simple presentation software. Orator Plus does that.

Most of us have made extensive use of PowerPoint, leading to pushback and jokes about PowerPoint poisoning. There are also quite a few competitors to PowerPoint, including the non-linear Prezi, GoAnimate, Google Docs, SlideSnack, Zoho Show, and PowToon. PowerPoint and others are mostly designed to do presentations in a linear fashion. A user can also include hotlinks to outside content and even the ability to launch third-party applications from within PowerPoint while jumping from slide to slide. The limitation is that the systems are not designed to run multiple applications while jumping from one to another in an operational collaborative environment. It’s easy to get lost, trip or choke the system.

In an alternate approach, some software environments that permit the use of multiple windows such as Windows itself or specialized systems such as DexPot. The very Mac-like Windows 10 will also have the same kind of multiple virtual windows. However, in my experience, the ability to customize and manipulate the multiple virtual windows also makes the system potentially confusing, corruptible and not reliably stable.

Orator Plus

Orator Plus is designed to overcome the above limitations with a simple authoring and display environment. The best way to understand Orator Plus is to view a video overview of the system. Also, here are 12 video clips that show the system in use by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, as well as in other applications.

Orator Plus operation starts with an authoring tool that imports electronic content, including still images, still panoramas, maps, floor plans, 3D models, LiDAR data, archived video/audio files, live video/audio feeds, sensor data such as NBC, thermal, shot detectors, etc., document files of any format, Flex applications, GIS services, GPS vehicle tracking, websites, online databases, interactive panoramic video routes. and much more.

Once loaded, users can manage objects individually or in groups. Relationships can be established between discrete objects, information, files, and more. The look and feel of the system can be customized. When finished authoring, the user can create a portable executable file that is ready to run on any PC, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Although the Orator Project Files are web-enhanced, they are not web or network dependent. If connectivity is lost, the Orator Project Files can run on a stand-alone basis with available local data.

According to the Orator Plus team, the following Orator Plus features are unique enough to permit sole-source procurement:

1. Portability — Orator Project Files will run on any laptop or PC, or stream to a tablet or smartphone with no pre-configuration required. Project Files can be transferred or conveyed in any manner the owner desires. Orator Project Files are web-enhanced and enriched, but they are not web-dependent. When there is no network access, Project Files can operate on a self-contained basis.
2. Integrated viewers — Any type of video, audio, sensor, or application can be run within an Orator Project File with no plug-ins or downloads required. Fully integrated viewers and engines are designed to support all content accessed through the Project File. Viewers for images, video, or any panoramic still image, including GigaPan, and panoramic video are integrated.
3. Touch interactive — Orator Project Files can be driven by a standard mouse, a gyro or “air” mouse, a stylus used in conjunction with an e-beam, or using a finger on a smart board or any other touch-enabled screen. No special software is required to use Orator Plus in any touch-enabled environment.
4. Zero installation and zero footprint — Orator Plus Project Files are fully contained executable files that install nothing and simply run, but when removed, leave no trace behind.
5. Facilitates rapid analysis for decision support — With the intuitive, icon-based file menu display, even “big data” is easy to filter and sort, enabling fast access to whatever a user desires in support of any requirement.
6. Multiple screen capability — With four dynamic windowpanes that can be resized and used simultaneously with either stand-alone or with interactive, related content, the Orator Plus operating environment allows users to “anchor” their activity in one window pane and use the others to support, enhance, explain, and quickly move from the micro to the macro without losing continuity in pursuit of their objective.
7. Integrated security features — The Orator Project File owner can stipulate any level of security desired. The entire Project File can be secured, as can discrete content contained within. Additionally, the Orator Project File can be “time-bombed” to self-scrub from the user’s device based on parameters such as start dates, end dates, time of day, number of times the file is used, and more.
8. Integrated white-board feature — Every Orator Project File contains a robust white-board feature that is simple to use. Designed as a collaborative, multi-purpose tool, the white board supports single-screen or full event capture so that scenarios can be developed or incidents and events can be managed real-time and then played back in after-action reviews. Individual white-board projects allow for multiple layers so scenarios can be pre-loaded for training and exercises, making the white board a powerful instructional tool. White-board projects can be saved outside the Orator Project Files but can only be opened by authorized users who have been issued copies of the originating Project File.

A short list of real-world uses:

• Advanced site surveys
• Route analysis and documentation
• Operation center or common operational picture
• Table-top exercises
• Tactical response planning
• Interactive training and CBT modules
• Forensic scene documentation and presentation
• Facility crisis response plans

Orator Plus has a strong user base, including federal, state, and local agencies. Clients include the United States Secret Service; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Department of Homeland Security; Transportation Safety Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Central Intelligence Agency; and others. If you are looking for an operations center as well as a collaboration and presentation system, Orator Plus may be worth your consideration.