Enterprise visualization software company iRise has released version 8.10 of its visual prototyping platform this week. In response to increasingly high user expectations and "consumerization of IT" trends, iRise says that it has produced a means of creating ultra-realistic visual simulations of new iPad and Android apps.

Additional new features include the ability to use system fonts, the option to model "push transitions", and the ability to review simulations directly on mobile devices. Previously, this process would have required that users go through iRise Definition Center server access.

In the face what iRise has called "elevated application expectations" from users due to the ease of use of the latest mobile platforms, the firm says that its new offering will help cut development time by speeding up the requirements-specification process and eliciting early feedback from stakeholders before coding starts.

"The iRise platform flips the old software development paradigm on its head. Stakeholders get to see and test software before it's built, rather than when it's almost fully completed, by using the visualization to try the types of things they'll do when the application is fully coded," said Maurice Martin, president, COO and founder of iRise.

Similar to computer-aided design (CAD) tools for physical products, simulations built with iRise act as working models or "visual blueprints" for complex business applications. Users can use the simulation the way they will interact with the final version. Once everyone on a project has used a new prototype and agrees on how the application should work and what it will look like, iRise helps generate HTML for the final coded user interface.