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By DON DODSON Copyright 2005 The News-Gazette CHAMPAIGN – David Goldberg says his company's technology aims to turn the World Wide Web "inside out" and make users the focus. "In order to turn the Web inside out and make users the center of the Web, Nextumi is using adaptive technology that learns people's preferences and then brings content, contact and commerce to people's lives," said Goldberg, Nextumi's chief scientist. The idea: to find out what people are interested in and then bring them what they want. By personalizing the process, the company hopes to make Web results more relevant to the user. Goldberg compared – and contrasted – Nextumi's technology with those currently used by Amazon.com and other Web sites. "Suppose you go onto Amazon and are buying a book. Amazon comes back and gives you a list of books you might like. It's a recommender system that makes the buying experience relevant," he said. Nextumi is another step up. "This is sort of a recommender system on steroids," Goldberg said. For example, Nextumi could suggest a good vacation spot based on multiple personal preferences. "Let's say you like to travel to exotic locations, like to drink wine and are interested in golf and tennis. It may be there's a cluster of people with similar interests out there, and those people may be visiting certain vacation spots," Goldberg said. "Based on knowing your preference for all three, Nextumi can recommend other locations that people in the same cluster are visiting this year," he said. Goldberg said his company will likely introduce its technology through various Web sites. The company is already working with an existing Web site where "there's a substantial user community to demonstrate the technology," he said. Goldberg would not disclose which site Nextumi has been working with. But he said, "We're thinking that some time next year, people will see the (Nextumi) name on certain select sites in one form or another. Initial exposure to it will be Web site by Web site." Nextumi's function can be "like a search box or widget on a particular site," he said. "It could be a downloadable tool bar that will help them with a particular site." Goldberg said the company plans to license the technology to Web site owners interested in "driving traffic" to their site. He decried the invasiveness of pop-up ads directed to users based on personal preference. Instead, he looks to Google as a model technology. "The model Google used in creating a search engine is admirable," he said. "Eventually, they turned on the advertising spigot, but primarily their goal was to create a great search engine." Goldberg said Nextumi was "off and running" last August and now has 10 full- and part-time employees, most based in Champaign. Most of the hires have backgrounds in computer science. "Right now, we're in the development stage, and it's mainly technical kinds of help we need," he said. "But we'll be needing marketing and operational kinds as time goes on." Goldberg said Nextumi is committed to doing research and development in Champaign-Urbana, thanks to the presence of the University of Illinois. Whether the company's other operations remain in Champaign is not yet clear, he said. Goldberg, 51, has been a professor of general engineering at the University of Illinois since 1990. Born and raised in Detroit, he received his bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering from the University of Michigan and returned there to get his doctorate. He taught in the engineering mechanics department at the University of Alabama for six years before coming to Illinois. Goldberg said he has long aimed to have a technology start-up of his own "but got sidetracked being a college professor for 20 years." "Fifteen years ago, when I came to the university, I was surprised or shocked by the lack of entrepreneurial activity on campus. But efforts like IllinoisVentures and the (Illinois Emerging Technologies) fund are helping Illinois take its rightful place in entrepreneurial technology," he said. Goldberg said Nextumi's main investor is Cincinnati-based Blue Chip Venture Co. Tim Schigel, a Blue Chip director who leads its information technology practice, is serving as Nextumi's interim chief executive officer while the company looks for a permanent CEO. Doug Dennis, Nextumi's chief operating officer, was formerly president and chief executive officer of Cincinnati-based CAD Centric Systems, a company that developed software for computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing. Nextumi is a made-up name that has "a Japanese high-tech sound to it," Goldberg said. "Nextumi had kind of a Web sound to it, but it was also a play on 'next to me,'" he explained. |
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