From driver displays for Tier 1 automakers to medical devices, appliances, watercrafts and more, Altia marks three decades helping people control their digital world.
Colorado Springs, CO – In 1991, the year Sonic the Hedgehog hit the U.S. and the domain www.microsoft.com came online, four young engineers began selling their unique software that helped companies design better user interfaces. Even Mike Juran, who was named CEO, couldn’t foresee at the time where the incredible demand for GUIs (graphical user interfaces) would take the ambitious startup, which the partners named Altia.
“We knew lots of products were going to need user displays, which sparked our imaginations as to what was possible,” recalls Juran, who remains Altia’s CEO today. “It wasn’t long before we demonstrated how a digital instrument cluster for an automobile could work. We recorded the demo on state-of-the-art equipment—a VHS camera.”
Thirty years after its founding, Altia is an international leader in GUI design and development tools. Its software has been the launching point for displays in the new Cadillac LYRIQ, the Ford F-150 and Ssangyong Motors’ Rexton SUV, as well as products from Beneteau, Carrier, Eaton, FCA, GM, Harley Davidson, HP, Hyundai, Medtronic, Nordic Track, Renault, Stryker, Whirlpool and many others.
In 2011 Altia took strategic steps forward as a high-growth software company, dramatically expanding its reach across all markets. Today the company maintains offices in Colorado, Michigan, Germany, Japan and South Korea; the three-time Best Places to Work, Edie Award recipient and winner of Colorado Springs’ Company of the Year award continues to add staff across all disciplines while helping to shape the future of digital user experiences for manufacturers and consumers worldwide.
Future of User Displays
As Altia moves into its fourth decade, the UI/UX (User Interface/User Experience) field has never been more challenging. Worldwide microchip shortages brought about by the pandemic, as well as a severe shortage of skilled engineering talent, has manufacturers of all kinds of products scrambling for solutions. Products are becoming smarter and more autonomous as well, placing unprecedented demands on GUIs.
As a pacesetter in the GUI solutions market, Altia has solved numerous challenges for its customers. It recently published its first GUI Global Trends Report detailing its take on the future of user displays. Among its predictions:
- Augmented reality will soon be a part of Heads-Up Displays (HUDs) in automobiles, enabling occupants to receive enhanced information about routes, businesses and vehicles nearby.
- In the home, “Holographic Alexa” interfaces may soon connect everything from entertainment systems to refrigerators and lighting.
- GUIs will be judged by manufacturers according to chip flexibility, code footprint, and power efficiency. Electric vehicle OEMs, in particular, will lead the charge for highly power-efficient displays.
- Design teams will continue to be highly dispersed globally, making the need for connected, collaborative design environments imperative.
“People have become completely comfortable interacting with digital devices. It’s not just a part of their lives—their expectations are incredibly high as well. They expect displays to be beautiful, intuitive and highly functional,” said Juran. “Our priority as a global supplier is to enable manufacturers to create GUIs that meet all these standards. At the same time, these GUIs must require fewer engineers to complete, and be so advanced that they fit just about any constraint for power consumption, chip target, or code efficiency. We’ve come a long way since 1991, and as far as we’re concerned the innovations have only begun.”
About Altia
Altia is a software company that provides graphical user interface design and development tools that can be used from concept to final product code. Our GUI editor, Altia Design, offers development teams the capability to implement a model-based development process for clear communication and accelerated user interface development. Our code generator, Altia DeepScreen, supports a vast range of low- to high-powered processors from a variety of industry-leading silicon providers. Altia generates pure C source code that is optimized to take full advantage of hardware resources. Graphics code generated by Altia is driving millions of displays worldwide – from automotive instrument clusters, HUDs and radios to thermostats, washing machines and healthcare monitors. Our mission is to get the
best automotive, medical and consumer interfaces into production in the shortest time on the lowest- cost hardware.
Altia was founded in 1991. Its customers include automotive OEMs and Tier 1s like Continental Automotive, Denso, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Honda, Renault, Magneti Marelli, Nippon Seiki, Valeo, Visteon and more – plus leading consumer device manufacturers like Electrolux, Whirlpool, NordicTrack and many others.
For more information about Altia, visit www.altia.com or email [email protected]. Follow Altia on LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Liz Reilly
Next PR
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