News & Events
The Latest News
Learn about the latest in the world of data visualization.
DMI, now Thingz, Achieves Type 1 SOC2 Compliance
DUBUQUE, IA, Apr 20, 2022 – DMI, LLC, a digital transformation company providing reality capture and IoT hardware...
A New Era Begins: DMI is Now Thingz
Welcome to an exciting evolution of DMI/PrecisionReality. We’ve changed our name, but not our purpose. As a trusted advisor with decades of industry experience, we provide the toolkit to [...]
DMI Successfully Completes Type 1 SOC 2 Examination
DUBUQUE, IA, Dec. 2, 2020 - DMI, LLC, a digital transformation company, today announces the release of a remote monitoring solution package on their Precision Reality™ digital twin platform, featuring the latest in laser scanning technology, the Leica BLK247. This offering expands Precision Reality’s robust ecosystem of hardware and software integrations for IoT, 3D visualization, and analytics.
DMI Partners with Wirepas to Optimize Asset Tracking in Digital Twin Platform
DUBUQUE, IA, Dec. 2, 2020 - DMI, LLC, a digital transformation company, today announces the release of a remote monitoring solution package on their Precision Reality™ digital twin platform, featuring the latest in laser scanning technology, the Leica BLK247. This offering expands Precision Reality’s robust ecosystem of hardware and software integrations for IoT, 3D visualization, and analytics.
DMI Publishes Report: Digital Twin Technology for Rural Electric Cooperatives
DUBUQUE, IA, Dec. 2, 2020 - DMI, LLC, a digital transformation company, today announces the release of a remote monitoring solution package on their Precision Reality™ digital twin platform, featuring the latest in laser scanning technology, the Leica BLK247. This offering expands Precision Reality’s robust ecosystem of hardware and software integrations for IoT, 3D visualization, and analytics.
DMI Expands Precision Reality™ Digital Twin Platform with Remote Security Monitoring Solution featuring Leica BLK247
DUBUQUE, IA, Dec. 2, 2020 - DMI, LLC, a digital transformation company, today announces the release of a remote monitoring solution package on their Precision Reality™ digital twin platform, featuring the latest in laser scanning technology, the Leica BLK247. This offering expands Precision Reality’s robust ecosystem of hardware and software integrations for IoT, 3D visualization, and analytics.
Case Study: Bringing Substations into the Office with Virtual Reality
DMI, NRECA (National Rural Electric Cooperative Association), and Jo-Carroll Energy teamed up to explore the benefits of using virtual reality at rural electric cooperative substations. "The project paid for itself in just over two years, solely from reduced drive time of the more than 30 staff who have used VR. The substation selected for the immersive VR is about 50 miles from JCE’s headquarters. Savings from eliminating the need to have staff drive several hours for each training session added up quickly. Other benefits are significant, but harder to quantify. “How do you know the payback on safety and doing the training in a non-hazardous VR environment?” said Skinner. For example, he explained, “Every time you go to a substation with a whole crew, you're going to go over the safety details – what the voltages are, what kind of physical hazards are potentially there, and so on. Most substations are full of rocks. It's not a smooth surface; there are tripping hazards. There's a whole bunch of equipment that you can bump into.” JCE sees that being able to do the training in the office, a non-hazardous area, is a huge advantage.
DMI Adds Nokia Private LTE Networks to IoT Platform
DUBUQUE, IA, Jun. 10, 2019, – DMI, LLC (DMI) is pleased to announce that its Precision Reality™ platform is available to integrate with private LTE networks. In close collaboration with Nokia and hub88, a technology accelerator in Naperville, Illinois, DMI has successfully deployed the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud to stream data through the carrier-grade cellular network into its IoT visualization platform. This high bandwidth, low latency capability adds to DMI’s existing LoRa and Bluetooth offerings and moves the company toward 5G-ready solutions for customers. Nathan Greiner, President, CTO, and Co-founder of DMI said, “Our cooperation with Nokia allows us to dramatically expand the types of data sources we can feed into our platform from our customer applications and securely provide unlimited bandwidth to demanding sensor platforms.”
Precision Energy Solutions Unveiled at Tech Advantage 2019
DMI team leaders Nathan Greiner and CJ Kuehl launched the latest Precision Reality™ industry solution: Precision Energy, at Tech Advantage 2019. Tech Advantage is the technology event of the year for electric co-op professionals, showcasing the latest tech innovations in the energy co-op industry and an excellent platform for kicking off Precision Energy. Precision Energy, a rural electric cooperative focused asset intelligence platform was presented to attendees through a live presentation as well as at a booth on the expo floor to explore more interactive demos with DMI’s hardware and software solutions. Nathan Greiner, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, presented virtual reality training as an asset visualization solution in partnership with Jo-Carroll Energy. DMI laser scanned Jo-Carroll’s substation assets, integrated their existing training materials, and produced a virtual reality training experience in which trainees could safely and cost-effectively train in realistic environments. Visiting the expo booth, Tech Advantage attendees could experience VR training firsthand, immersing themselves in the real substation environment created for Jo-Carroll. In addition, Precision Energy asset monitoring solutions were also on display, revealing a new way to monitor energy co-op equipment with IoT sensors. Combining asset visualization and monitoring, Precision Energy aims to provide a new level of asset intelligence to drive cost savings and risk mitigation.
DMI Team Wins Intel® VR Coder Challenge
Innovative Training Simulator for an Agricultural Sprayer Takes Top Honors in a Field of Eight Intel® Software Innovator Teams An ingenious virtual reality application for farming—a VR simulator to train agricultural sprayer operators—earned Team Crop Dusters top honors in the Ultimate Coder IV: VR Challenge, an invitational competition cosponsored by Intel and Microsoft*. Eight finalist teams consisting of Intel® Software Innovators competed to create the most compelling commercial VR applications, ultimately placing their project in the Microsoft Store – all in eight weeks. Throughout the competition, teams posted their progress on Developer Mesh, an online community where developers share projects, collaborate with others and find and follow world-class innovators.
DMI Develops Model VR for Leica
Leica Cyclone Model VR, developed by DMI, has now been released offering immersive virtual reality visualization for Cyclone 3D models. Model VR was developed as a toolset to publish VR ready files to experience 3D models in an immersive environment, take measurements, mark them up in real time, and save snapshots for smarter design, communication, and collaboration.
DMI at HxGN Live in Las Vegas
This week, the DMI team attended HxGN Live in Las Vegas, the annual tech showcase event from Hexagon, a global leader in digital solutions. Day one was an informative round of immersive training experiences, learning more about Hexagon and Leica Geosystems reality capture technologies, software, and hardware including the newly unveiled RTC360 laser scanner. The rest of the week included a full schedule of keynotes (including the announcement of Xalt), breakout sessions, and floor exhibits from Hexagon and their customers demonstrating the utilization and convergence of the latest emerging technology.
Cooperative Technology Conference – Indianapolis, IN
DMI attended and exhibited at the Cooperative Technology Conference in Indianapolis, IN showcasing Precision Reality™ and related IoT and VR solutions. One solution presented was a Fuse Cutout Fault Sensor. This sensor attaches to a fuse cutout in the field and is activated in a low power mode until the fuse blows. Once the fuse is blown the sensor sends a notification through the Precision Reality™ secure long-range network to the utility alerting them to the blown fuse. From there the utility can visualize the outage on a map layer of Precision Reality™ or immediately respond to the geo-located fuse to repair and replace. This cost-effective process cuts down on time spent locating outages and provides advanced visualization tools for the utility and their network.
IAMC Fall Forum in Richmond, VA
DMI, along with Anixter, Liberty Property Trust and Scientific Games presented "Emerging Technologies Disrupting Real Estate" at the Industrial Asset Management Council's 2017 Fall Forum in Richmond, VA. The panel discussed the changing landscape of the real estate industry from the perspective of both landlord and tenant and the ROI that can be realized from adopting emerging technologies. DMI presented Precision Reality™ to illustrate the transformative effect of an enterprise through the use of big data and advanced visualization.
Precision Reality™ Launch Event
On September 28, 2017 DMI introduced the next industrial revolution encapsulated in our newest suite of solutions called Precision Reality™. Executives that attended were educated on the latest innovations, from virtual reality to internet of things, forming the foundation for a wellspring of untapped enterprise ROI. DMI shared our experience as a trusted advisor within numerous industries. We were also able to share an exclusive look at some projects with our partners. Together, we explored the the impact of harnessing the transformative power of emerging technology in the enterprise.
Telegraph Herald: Tri-State Experts: Gaming Skills Often Translate to the Workplace
“A lot of games are focused on mental ingenuity,” Schuster said. “That carries over for everything. Every company is going to come to a point where they need to ask, ‘How are we going to tackle this situation?’ Using that creative mind to think about things differently can be important.”
Clay & Milk: Design Mill Inc. is Virtually Connecting Fortune 500 Companies
Teleportation exists…kind of. Over a dozen Fortune 500 companies are using the Dubuque-based company Design Mill Inc. because they take laser scans of facilities or properties and convert them into desktop or virtual reality viewing. Then they integrate technology that helps visualize that data in virtual reality, in real time. Some of their clients are in the commercial real estate, technology and manufacturing industries. “If you are sitting in your office in Des Moines and have 100 locations you are responsible, you would have a laser scan of each facility that’s been converted to virtual reality,” Nathan Greiner, President and Chief Technology Officer, explains. “So it has real-time sensor data attached to it. You just pop on your glasses and teleport yourself to that location.” Greiner says colleagues from other parts of the world can be part of the virtual meetings.
Externship Helps STEM Teacher Tie Real-World Concepts to ‘Virtual’ Careers
Design Mill, Inc. in Dubuque provides an emergent line of work, creating virtual reality experiences of warehouses for industrial clients to use in real estate or for employee training purposes. Like most STEM careers in Iowa, new ones like this crop up almost every day. Fortunately each summer, Iowa teachers of STEM subjects have the opportunity to keep up with the trends and immerse themselves in these innovative careers through Iowa STEM Teacher Externships , finding new ways to teach these evolving employability skills and connect what students learn to the jobs in their neighborhoods. This summer, Mike Jensen, an industrial technology teacher at Dubuque Senior High School, is linking up with Design Mill, Inc. to connect his CAD/Modeling classes to the lucrative world of virtual reality.
Silicon Prairie News: Precision Reality brings Virtual Reality to Corporate Real Estate
There are some innovative uses for virtual reality, but too often the technology comes across as more of a novelty, with gaming and fantasy being the primary focus of use. Dubuque, Iowa strategic systems innovator Design Mill, Inc. and Chicago’s Ideas Into Apps have joined forces to integrate virtual reality with corporate real estate through a technology called Precision Reality. Using laser scanning and 3D modeling, DMI and II2a can recreate a company’s assets, such as real estate, an assembly plant or an office building, in the digital world. Workers or investors in Chicago could take a tour of a property in Lima, Peru via their laptop, or using a VR headset. Surveying and equipment manufacturers around the globe have turned to laser scanners for their work, allowing DMI and II2a to line up partnerships with them to scan properties in almost any area. “If we’re working with a Fortunate 500 company, that has a large portfolio of properties,” said Dave Proctor, Chief Operating Officer for DMI. “We’re a software company, we don’t necessarily want to be a scanning company. That’s where our partners come in, allowing us to scan dozens of properties simultaneously.”
HxGN Live
Last week, David Proctor (COO), Nathan Greiner (President/Founder), CJ Kuehl (Vice President), and Alex Schuster (Software Developer), attended the HxGN LIVE event in Las Vegas, Nevada. HxGN LIVE offers new and exciting ways to experience what's unfolding in the world of design, measurement and visualization technologies. The four-day event included previews of new solutions, interactive demonstrations, and unlimited networking opportunities. Our team was especially excited by the release of BLK360 by Leica and by the announcement of the release of DIM’s co-developed product with Leica, Cyclone MODEL VR!
DMI attends AWE USA
With 4700 attendees, 351 speakers, 212 exhibitors and an expo hall of 100,000 sqft. AWE USA 2017 was their biggest event yet! This year’s conference and expo showcased speakers, startups and organizations who are using AR & VR to drive economic growth, encourage empathy and collaboration, democratize healthcare and education, and promote sustainability in the world. Alex, David, and Nathan, represented the DMI team, as they networked, learned, and shared new technologies. The DMI team’s favorite parts were in the Intel booth- watch the attached video to see more of their experience!
Technori Dubuque – May 25 at 5pm
Technori is the world’s startup showcase. Founded in 2010, Technori’s mission is to create momentum for startups by building a community around tech and innovation that enables early stage companies to get in front of hundreds of members of the tech community to share their story and connect with future customers, employees and investors!

