Our Annual Convention was in Vegas in June. If you missed it you missed a great deal of excitement about DaVinci, our forthcoming field data and sketching app, and Armstrong, a ground-up rewrite of WinTOTAL in cleaner, more flexible, more powerful C# ("C-sharp") code. A public beta version DaVinci is available for download and testing right now from the link above, while a public beta of Armstrong should be available soon. Learn more about Armstrong by clicking here.

Rick Grant, a veteran mortgage technology reporter, attended the convention and was impressed by the labs project in particular. He rounded up his impressions in an article for us. Excerpt:

I wasn't sure how this was going to work out when Chris Low took over the podium to give attendees a look at the new DaVinci software, codenamed Area 51. When he put the electronic pen to tablet and sketched out a ground–floor plan in less than 30 seconds, complete with dimensions that could be adjusted just by scribbling the new number on the vector, the crowd actually erupted into applause.

Clearly, this is something appraisers feel they could use in the field. In fact, [Dave] Biggers told the audience that "this product is designed so you can enter data the way you inspect a property."

Low went on to show how scribbles on the TabletPC would automatically load data — sketches, but all other inspection data, too, DaVinci being designed as the next generation of Pocket TOTAL — into the formfilling software the appraisers are already using. In effect, the notes the appraiser makes in the field will become the new way they fill the forms.

One of our Research Fellows, Jeff Jones, had this to say:

From the prospective of a Research Fellow, I hoped for but certainly never expected the overwhelming interest in all we had to demonstrate at the show. The booth was high–tech and very well designed. It allowed plenty of room to move around from station to station and its open plan encouraged attendees to step inside and check out the emerging technology. Each person I encountered was genuinely interested. They asked insightful questions, made useful suggestions, gave feedback and challenged me as a labs Research Fellow. It was a learning experience for everyone.

One gift that keeps on giving from the Convention: Podcasts, starring Dave Biggers, Adam Calvery, the Research Fellows and more. Listen to them from the labs home page or here on the blog (either way, choose 'Listen To Podcasts' on the right menu). The first three are interviews with Dave on the labs and what it's working on -- invaluable insight for anyone interested in the appraisal profession.