A 3D modeling company in Tysons is trying to change the way U.S. armed forces, governments and disaster aid organizations strategize.

Vricon, a Tysons based company, uses imagery from satellites to map out land in acute detail to provide clients with geospatial data and solutions that can be used for planning and preparation.

Headquartered at 8280 Greensboro Drive, the company works with the federal government, armed forces, telecommunication companies and emergency responders, according to the company’s website.

Barry Tilton is the vice president of engineering and CTO for U.S. government programs at Vricon. He joined the company in 2017 shortly after its founding in 2015 and now works closely with company executives to develop the software and mapping tools.

The company is currently working on developing a tool that would allow troops to train for situations and eventualities in foreign or unfamiliar places.

There is no way of knowing where the next global conflict will occur, he said, but this technology allows armed forces to “modernize” their tactics.

Currently, the army uses high-resolution gaming models for training, Tilton said, adding that before the technology, training was limited to a smaller number of scenarios.

“The folks in the training environment wanted to get a set of tools that more accurately reflect the kind of information available to a warfighter in operation,” he said.

When it comes to international affairs, Vricon’s executives understand the power of their product, and Tilton said that company executives are careful when releasing data to companies or entities.

The CEO and the company’s board will work with the State Department when they receive data requests that might be used for nefarious purposes, he said, adding that they have denied requests for information in the past.

“If we are dealing with other countries, unless there is a good working relationship and a trusting relationship with the U.S., we will only provide countries data of their own area,” he said. “There is no real harm in giving people knowledge of their own country.”

When Hurricane Maria swept through Puerto Rico back in 2017, Vricon worked in coordination with the U.S. government to build an accurate before and after 3D comparison to help survey damage.

Once a storm clears up, Tilton said Vricon can prepare a model of a disaster zone relatively quickly — within two weeks — once the storm clears out.

To make a comparison, the team recollects data from scratch since things change so dramatically after storms hit. To get an accurate image, the company will take five or six satellite images before creating updated maps, he said.

In the coming weeks, Tilton expects the company to begin work on a model that will assess the damage in the Bahamas from Hurricane Dorian.

Vricon has also done work to preserve culturally significant sites in the Middle East. The company recreated an ancient Syrian citadel near Aleppo that was under threat of destruction from bombing so historians could understand what was lost, Tilton said.

“It was experimental in the idea we’ve never done anything like that,” he said.

Since Vricon is still a somewhat young company, they are still in the midst of forming partnerships and establishing themselves in the industry, Tilter said. They recently partnered with Apollo Mapping in Colorado and are working to see how their technology might be able to assist humanitarian organizations as well.

“We are engaging with NGOs to see what might be provide-able and under what circumstances,” Tilton said.

Images via Vricon

The Weekly Planner is a roundup of interesting events coming up over the next week in the Tysons area.

We’ve scoured the web for events of note in Tysons, Vienna, Merrifield, McLean and Falls Church. Know of any we’ve missed? Tell us!

Tuesday (Sept. 12)

• Mayor at Your Service — 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall (127 S. Center Street) — Susan Shaw from the Virginia Department of Transportation along will join Town of Vienna Mayor Laurie DiRocco to discuss the I-66 expansion project near the Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Metro station. The event is free and open to the public.

Wednesday (Sept. 11)

• Canvas Painting — 7-9:30 p.m. at Muse Fairfax (2920 District Avenue, Suite 100) — An instructor will teach attendees how to paint a road and nature scene. The event is $35 and open to all ages.
• Yoga with Alyson — 10 a.m. at Caboose Tavern (520 Mill Street NE) — For $10, participants can take part in a yoga class. All experience levels are welcome and guests should bring their own mats.

Friday (Sept. 13)

• DMV 2 Go Full-Service Bus — 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Falls Church City Hall parking lot (300 Park Avenue) — The Department of Motor Vehicles will host a pop-up full-service office, helping people to obtain identification cards. The service will also help people apply for various licenses including fishing and hunting, driving permits, ordering disability placards and registering to vote.

Saturday (Sept. 14)

• Red Cross Wilderness First Aid — 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Campaign Pay It Forward (9893 Georgetown Pike, Suite 105 — This two-day training course prepares attendees for dangerous wilderness scenarios and how to take care of medical emergencies in the field. It costs $150 and everyone is welcome.
• Vienna Quarterly Recycling Day — 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Northside Property Yard (600 Mill Street NE) — People can come and recycle unusual items such as chemicals, appliances or small electronics. No TVs or dangerous items will be accepted.
• Comedy and Cocktails — 8 t0 10 p.m. at Falls Church Distillers (442 S. Washington Street A) — North American Comedy Distillery Tour will bring nationally known comedians to Falls Church for an evening of humor. Presale tickets start at $20.
• 2019 Wolf Trap Ball: Singapore — 7 p.m. at Filene Center (1551 Trap Road) — This black-tie gala supports Wolf Trap’s arts and cultural foundation while allowing guests to enjoy a classy evening with Singapore Ambassadors Ashok Mirpuri and Gouri Mirpuri. Email Wolf Trap for tickets.

Sunday (Sept. 15)

• Tysons Farmers Market — every Sunday through November from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at 1961 Chain Bridge Road — The weekly farmers market features local produce, meats, eggs, hot foods, baked goods and more. In addition to food, attendees can enjoy live music, cooking demonstrations and kids events. The market accepts SNAP and matching on all SNAP purchases.

Image via Wolf Trap

Tysons may not have the liveliest nightlife at the moment, but that could soon change as more late-night restaurants and places to hang out open. “Tysons After Dark” will highlight a different spot every week.

As mocktails become increasingly popular around the country, diners and happy hour-goers can enjoy alcohol-free cocktails at Tysons-area restaurants.

According to CNBC, fewer Americans are drinking alcohol. In 2018, alcohol consumption fell by 1.6% across the globe. To meet the growing demand for alcohol alternatives, many restaurants are adding mocktails to their menus so they can cater to “sober-curious” customers.

Tysons Reporter compiled a list of local places now offering booze-free adult beverages.

• True Food Kitchen (2910 District Avenue Suite 170): The Mosaic District spot offers a variety of mocktail-type drinks that offer guests refreshing beverages without the ABV. Their drinks range from $4-$7.50 and include mixed teas, fruit juices kombucha, herbal essences and soda waters. For example, the “Original Ginger” — or the “O.G.” — drink includes lime, honey and bubbly water. Another option for guests is the “Hangover RX,” which includes pineapple, orange, honey and coconut water.
• American Tandoor (7943B Tysons Corner Center): Staff at the Tysons Center Corner location on the first level offer guests eight different mocktail options, including flavored sodas and a blackberry or mango lassi.
• Earls Kitchen (7902 Tysons One Place): Located on The Plaza by the mall, Earls Kitchen has six non-alcoholic drinks. One of the first options on the menu is the “Calamansi Caipirinha,” which includes Calamansi, pomegranate, green tea and fresh lime juice. Prices range from $4-5.
• La Sandia (7852 Tysons Corner Center): Diners have a choice of seasonal mocktail or other traditional Mexican non-alcoholic drinks such as Horchata at the Mexican restaurant.
• ENTYSE (1700 Tysons Blvd): The wine bar and lounge at the Ritz-Carlton serves up seasonal mocktails. The menu currently features the “Pretty in Peach” with peach nectar, raspberry, blackberry shrub and lemon; the “Tire Swing” with strawberry, mint, lemon and club soda; and the “Kernel of Truth” with ginger, pomegranate shrub, lime and Himalayan salt. Prices range from $14-$16.
• Founding Farmers (1800 Tysons Blvd): The farmhouse-inspired restaurant offers an alcohol-free drink called “Today’s Rickey” that is made with lime juice, jerk soda and the syrup of the day for $5.50. (The raspberry version is apparently popular.) Diners can also find cold-press juices and sodas made from scratch on the menu.

Photo via True Food Kitchen/Facebook

Diners can spot Stanley Cup champ Alexander Ovechkin’s signature on a painting of himself at Randy’s Prime Seafood and Steaks in Tysons.

A spokesperson for the restaurant confirmed to Tysons Reporter that the Washington Capitals captain signed the painting.

The painting — one of five paintings in the restaurant by artist Jack Gable — depicts Ovechkin on the ice holding the Stanley Cup triumphantly above his head.

Randy Norton, the CEO of Great American Restaurants and the restaurant’s namesake, previously told Tysons Reporter that the Ovechkin painting “was the easiest one to pick” when he planned the paintings with the artist.

Norton called the Washington Capitals winning the Stanely Cup last year as “such a wonderful event.”

“I can still see the people celebrating in the streets on the streets around the arena,” Norton said.

https://twitter.com/MLB_News247/status/1169318294932705281?s=20

https://twitter.com/CapitalsDist/status/1169330590069510145?s=20

Firefighters have extinguished a dump truck fire that broke out this afternoon by the Nouvelle Apartments in Tysons.

Fairfax County Fire and Rescue said they were on scene at Westpark and Jones Branch drives around 12:25 p.m., according to a tweet. The truck was by the construction site for the Monarch, a 20-story condominium tower northeast of Tysons Galleria.

One reader sent a video to Tysons Reporter showing the front part of the truck in flames and firefighters hosing the truck down.

The fire department tweeted that people can “expect delays in the area.”

Units currently on scene of a dump truck fire on Westpark Drive and Jones Branch Drive in the Tysons area. Fire has been extinguished. Expect delays in area. #FCFRD #FairfaxCounty #traffic pic.twitter.com/Bh5pj4srGz

— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) September 5, 2019

Image courtesy MBA

A husband and wife team have opened a business franchise that cleans and does maintenance on homes in the Tysons area.

Carmen Hendricks and Chad Akers, who both have backgrounds in real estate, decided to join the TruBlue Total House Care franchise after looking for affordable home care in the area, according to a press release.

“There was definitely a need for a holistic, reasonably-priced approach to exterior and interior home maintenance in this area that could help seniors stay in their homes longer and be great for busy professionals, like ourselves, who want to spend less time working on their own homes and more time with family and friends,” Hendricks said.

TruBlue Total House Care of Vienna provides handyman, maid, lawn and seasonal services in Vienna, Oakton, Tysons, McLean, Great Falls, Falls Church and Dunn Loring.

The business offers a monthly maintenance program, along with services to homeowners, realtors and rental property owners who need help with moving maintenance and commercial services for business clients.

“We both love this area, but have never felt like we’ve gotten to know the community or the people who live here, other than those we have met through work,” she said. “We want to be the neighbor you can trust with all of your house care needs.”

Photo courtesy TruBlue Total House Care of Vienna

A Tysons-based company aims to keep companies and government agencies secure by curtailing and catching employees’ risky behavior.

ClearForce offers a customizable employee risk management platform for private and public sector organizations. Started in 2015, the company is located at 8000 Towers Crescent Drive, Suite 1525.

CEO Tom Miller told Tysons Reporter that the company has an ideal headquarters because of “the level of talent and expertise with not only national security but also with analytics” in the Tysons area.

“This may be the perfect location to start a company that is focused on security,” he said.

While Miller declined to say how many clients ClearForce has, he said “some” are located in the Tysons area.

The platform continually monitors employees’ activities inside and outside of their organizations. Information can come from peer reports, arrest records and complaints, Miller said.

On the front end, the portable platform helps organizations discover risky behavior — from a physical risk like working with kids or an information access risk — by providing real-time alerts for high-risk behavior, Miller said.

Miller pointed to two main “red flags” for risky behavior that ClearForce has seen over and over again — patterns of low-level criminal activity and disengagement.

“Everybody hires individuals they trust, but over time, things happen,” Miller said, adding that “life events” can lead employees to feel disengaged at work.

How does ClearForce flag disengagement? Miller said that peer complaints, reports about bullying and harassment, complaints from outside of the organization, whistleblower reports and reports of criminal activity tied to an individual can indicate an issue.

While some places have self-reporting policies, Miller said that “doesn’t happen often, especially when it puts the job at risk.”

Usually, each organization will assign people from the legal, security and human resources divisions to have access to the information ClearForce collects about the employees. Meanwhile, employees who use the platform can access a portal where they can submit self-reports and peer reports.

“It’s not designed to be a punitive system,” he said, stressing that the information in the platform can encourage preemptive actions, like counseling and wellness programs. “It’s not designed to replaced HR.”

The platform works slightly differently for each organization. It is tailored to match organizations’ policies and level of scrutiny needed for different employees, contractors, volunteers — anyone associated with each place.

For example, Miller said that driving under the influence charges may be more important for ClearForce to monitor for employees who drive than ones who don’t.

Companies only doing background checks before hiring employees or rechecking could miss negative information about employees, Miller said.

“Static point-in-time behavioral checks are outdated today,” Miller said, adding that most organizations do a pre-hire check and then an annual check.

“The difference between rechecking and continually evaluating is you’re exposing yourself to gaps,” he said.

The subscription fee for the platform depends on the number of the employees in the system from each organization interested in using it.

“Every employee wants to work in a safe and secure workplace,” Miller said.

Image via Google Maps

Fairfax County police arrested two D.C. men in a parking garage near Tysons Corner Center for alleged larceny on Labor Day (Monday).

While police were investigating several car break-ins in a parking garage in the 1900 block of Chain Bridge Road, they said they saw a man crouched behind a car.

“He was arrested and officers then found another man sitting in a white van that contained stolen property from the earlier thefts,” according to the police report.

The two men were charged with seven counts of larceny from a motor vehicle, destruction of property, possession of burglarious tools and possession of stolen property. They were held without bond.

Last Saturday (Aug. 31), police arrested a 24-year-old Fairfax man in connection with a stolen auto from the Tysons Galleria parking garage.

“Officers used garage surveillance footage to locate the suspect in the mall,” police said.

Police arrested and charged the man with auto theft, possession of burglarious tools, possession of forged banknotes, possession of marijuana and displaying altered/fictitious registration. He was held without bond.

Image via Google Maps

Tysons Reporter is back with its new monthly crime map showing where the incidents occurred in Fairfax County Police Department’s McLean District Station.

We went ahead and pulled together all of the incidents noted for the McLean District Station in FCPD crime recaps from Aug. 1-31, weeded out the ones that are not in the Tysons Reporter coverage area and plotted them in the interactive map above.

The McLean District Station covers crime in Merrifield, Dunn Loring, Falls Church, McLean, Tysons and Great Falls.

The map only includes information from FCPD and does not include reports to the police departments in the Town of Vienna or the City of Falls Church.

Use the icon in the top left corner of the map to toggle between the various types of crimes displayed.

Fairfax County’s weekday police recaps are not comprehensive lists of every incident and the addresses are approximate. FCPD also notes that information in the recaps “is generally based on initial reports made to the police department.”

Anyone with information about any of these crimes should call 703-691-2131 or 1-866-411-TIPS(8477).