Visual Learning Systems, Inc. (VLS) of Missoula, MT was awarded the 2002 ESRI Business Partner Most Innovative Solution Award

MISSOULA, Montana – Visual Learning Systems, Inc. (VLS) of Missoula, MT was awarded the 2002 ESRI Business Partner Most
Innovative Solution Award for the Feature Analyst™ automated feature extraction software extension for ESRI’s ArcGIS™ 8 geographic
information systems (GIS) platform. ESRI is the world leader in GIS software having sold over 1 million licenses.

http://www.vls-inc.com
http://www.featureanalyst.com

ESRI has over 1,400
business partners worldwide developing solutions and software extensions to their product line. VLS introduced the Feature Analyst
technology as a commercial off-the-shelf software in 2001. "ESRI’s recognition of the Feature Analyst extension is a tremendous honor
and accomplishment for our organization." said VLS CEO David Opitz, "Our sole focus is to provide a solution that lowers costs for our
customers. Prestigious awards and recognition, such as this, help validate our technology. We anticipate our software will bridge the
gap between image processing and GIS for decades to come.” Feature Analyst provides the GIS community with a paradigm shift for
extracting information from digital imagery. A GIS project is only as useful as the data upon which it works. Geographic features, such
as streets, buildings, and vegetation are used in a GIS to produce maps and perform spatial analyses for planning, transportation
analyses, defense, telecommunications, and many other applications. Presently, creating and keeping current geographic features is
the central bottleneck for the GIS industry. Until now, GIS technicians had to either accept bad results from hard-to-use image
processing software or hand-digitize the features by hand. This is an expensive, painful, and time-consuming process. As a result,
billions in research dollars have been spent, with little success, on trying to automate the problem of feature extraction from digital
imagery.

The Feature Analyst uses machine learning technology to help crack this tough research nut. Extensive studies have shown that the
product significantly cuts the labor costs for customers. The technology is so noteworthy that NASA and U.S. Department of Defense
have awarded VLS over $850,000 in research grants over the past two years to support their program goals. Traditional image
processing systems, in addition to their functional limitations, are complex systems usable only by trained professionals. The Feature
Analyst, on the other hand, is so simple and intuitive that non-technical users become advanced users after a day or so of training.
“Feature Analyst is very well integrated with ArcView, and the interface is so well designed and intuitive that novices can begin to
successfully classify images with relatively little training.” said Roly Redmond, Director of the Wildlife Spatial Analysis Lab at the
University of Montana.

The award was the highlight of the unveiling of Feature Analyst 2.1 at ESRI’s 2002 Worldwide Business Partner’s Conference. The
reception to the new release was overwhelming as many users, initially skeptical due to past industry failures, immediately saw the
benefits of extracting user-defined features. Jack Dangermond, founder and owner of ESRI, recognized the Feature Analyst during his
plenary speech emphasizing the software’s ability to simply “lift” features from imagery. ESRI representatives have invited VLS to share
their exhibitor booth at the GIS for Transportation Symposium in Atlanta during March 25-27, 2002. In addition, ESRI is investigating
incorporating Feature Analyst into the Production Line Tool Set (PLTS) software used for creating map layers for the U.S. Department
of Defense. An evaluation copy of the Feature Analyst is available at http://www.featureanalyst.com.

CONTACT: Kevin Opitz, VLS, (406) 829-1384
[email protected] http://spatialnews.geocomm.com/dailynews/2002/mar/12/news8.html