ref: http://www.dexigner.com

March 7, 2011  |  Levent OZLER

Z Corporation and Microsol Resources are hosting an event in New York that will feature case studies highlighting the real-world advantages of 3D printing in architecture.

The event will offer an in-depth look at 3D printers – devices that turn 3D BIM data into very-low-cost scale models in hours & enable architects and designers to model early and often, compressing design cycles and enabling clients to grasp design intent in an instant.

The event will examine 3D printing via four case studies, spanning a range of architectural practices from less than 10 staff to more than 1000.

Panelists will present the process of integrating 3D printing into projects and the design process, and the benefits realised.

via 3D Printing in Architecture: Streamlining the Design Process.

Do everything at the same time. In a normal 3D-Workflow, you need to separate navigation steps to move, zoom and rotate, and then finally you can work. With the 3D-Spheric-Mouse you can do all of the steps at the same time.

This is possible, because the 3D-Spheric-Mouse gives unlike any other 3D-Controller direct control of your 3D-Navigation, without any failure input.  Working with the 3D-Spheric-Mouse feels as natural as drawing with a pen tablet.

Perfect handling - The 3D-Spheric-Mouse’s (patent pending) suspension gives you maximum degrees of freedom to rotate and move your virtual objects in 6 axes with only one hand!

Because the mouse lets you to use your fingers to rotate and your hand to move, there are no interferences or errors while navigating.

The 3D-Spheric-Mouse has not been released yet so the price is unknown – as it is aimed at designers it will not be cheap but you can register and help dictate the price on their website – axsotic website.

1992: The ‘original’ Metaverse is a fictional virtual world, described in Neal Stephenson science fiction novel “Snow Crash”, where humans, as avatars, interact with each other and software agents, in a three-dimensional space that uses the metaphor of the real world.

1997: Active Worlds, based entirely on the novel “Snow Crash”, popularised the project of creating the Metaverse by distributing virtual-reality worlds capable of implementing at least the concept of  the Metaverse.

1998: The online three-dimensional virtual world “There” was created, wherein users appear as avatars and, in addition to socializing, can purchase objects and services using the virtual currency ‘therebucks’, which are purchasable with real world money.

2003: The online three-dimensional virtual world “Second Life” was launched by Linden Lab. The stated goal of the project is to create a user-defined world like the Metaverse in which people can interact, play, do business (using the virtual currency Linden Dollars, also purchasable with real money) and otherwise communicate. It is usually used from a third-person perspective and its current technology does not yet allow the photo-realistic environment described in the Metaverse of the book.

2004: After Linden Lab made its client open-source, OpenSimulator and the closely related Open Life Grid have appeared, developing free virtual world software that are protocol compatible with Second Life. The Open Source Metaverse Project was begun in 2004 but ceased development a few years later in the light of the success of Second Life.

2005: Solipsis began its free open source system aiming to provide the infrastructure for a Metaverse-like public virtual territory.

2005: The Croquet Project began as an open source software development environment for “creating and deploying deeply collaborative multi-user online applications on multiple operating systems and devices”, aiming to be “more extensible than the proprietary technologies behind collaborative worlds such as Second Life”. It has been used to build virtual worlds such as the Arts Metaverse’.

2007: Some companies launched a few social networks completely devoted to metaverse members. The most relevants are Koinup, Myrl, AvatarsUnited. The main issues challenged by these projects are the DataPortability of the Avatar across many virtual worlds and the possibility of managing multiple accounts on a single dashboard.

2008: Google unrolled a Metaverse-like platform called Google Lively through the Google Labs. It was intended that new features would be added over time, but on November 19, 2008, it was announced that the Lively service would be discontinued at the end of December.

2009: New comer ExitReality has taken an open standards and open platform approach to it’s web based virtual worlds, building on the existing web infrastructure to create an open metaverse system – not unlike Second Life in appearance.

2011 and beyond: the convergence of many technologies will contribute to what we will see in the near future – new web applications with virtual worlds, the use of 3D creation and animation tools in virtual environments, digital mapping, artificial life, and the fast changing trends in hardware, software, connectivity, business innovation and the social ‘acceptance’ will drive the transformation of the internet as we know it in the coming decade.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaverse

http://www.metaverseroadmap.org/

“Computers get faster, and then we keep pushing it.”

That was the mantra behind the creation of DreamWorks Animations Megamind, which opens Friday, November 5.

The 3-D superhero flick has used as much cutting-edge technology in streamlining the production pipeline as it has rendering the story onscreen. Good thing too–with the voices of Will Ferrell, Jonah Hill, Tina Fey, and Brad Pitt in a story about a supervillain who finds his life meaningless after conquering the hero, Megamind is the studios most anticipated launch of the year.

full story here - Megaminds Giant Brain: Born in Silicon Valley | Fast Company.

These experimental craft are the work of Sikorsky Aircraft in the US and Eurocopter in Germany. Sikorsky’s X2 and Eurocopter’s X3 (pronounced X-cubed) have propellers for additional thrust. The firms’ technology could help commercial chopper speeds rise by 60 per cent within five years.

A combination of fundamental aerodynamic limits and the need for fuel efficiency mean helicopters today have a top cruising speed of around 300 kilometres per hour. “Helicopters don’t fly fast, managing only about half the speed of an airplane. That’s a severe limitation,” says Gordon Leishman, a helicopter aerodynamicist at the University of Maryland in College Park.

Choppers are often needed where speed is crucial, but injured people plucked from road accidents, oil rigs or mountain ledges, face a slow ride to the ER. “While the helicopter’s hovering ability makes it extremely useful, its lack of speed often means people cannot be treated in what medical teams call the ‘golden hour’, where the ability to save life is strongest,” says Leishman.

via Airwolf 2010: The race to build superfast choppers – October 2010 – New Scientist.

Nestlé Frances has deployed experiential 3D technologies to support its marketing strategy for new Breakfast Cereals with the rollout of a new immersive virtual reality application.

The campaign, which coincides with the launch of Luc Besson’s latest movie Arthur 3 – The War of the Two Worlds, follows the success of an augmented reality game released in Chocapic and Nesquik cereal packs in France at the end of 2009.

Using cut-out glasses provided on the Nestlé cereal packs in this latest campaign, video gaming fans can try out a unique 3D virtual reality experience. Each of the 3D glasses are equipped with a ‘magic square’, which is detected by the user’s Web cam and eliminates the need for a keyboard, mouse or joystick, allowing them to drive the motorcycle in the game simply by moving their head and body.

In addition to enjoying the game on their home computer using the red and blue 3D glasses, people with 3D TV screens can also join in by connecting their computer to these latest-generation devices.

http://www.onwindows.com/Nestle_3D

In other words, it’s the name given to a flat monolayer of carbon atoms that are tightly packed into a 2D honeycomb lattice; like a molecular chicken-wire that is one atom thick.

It’s essentially the basic building block for graphitic materials of all other dimensionalities; it’s a stepping stone to building bigger things. Graphene in itself however wasn’t discovered until 2004 in its full observable and testable form.

Since then, in the past 6 years, scientists have discovered that the substance retains some amazing properties. Some say that it will be heralded as one of the materials that will literally change our lives in the 21st century.

Not only is graphene the thinnest possible material that is feasible, but it’s also about 200 times stronger than steel and conducts electricity better than any material known to man—at room temperature.

Researchers at Columbia University’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering who proved that graphene is the strongest material ever measured said that “It would take an elephant, balanced on a pencil, to break through a sheet of graphene the thickness of Saran Wrap.”

via Graphene Will Change the Way We Live | Dr. Kaku’s Universe | Big Think.

The focus of the session was virtual worlds, and the academics were discussing whether to take their virtual campuses out of Second Life in protest, after the company that runs the online environment announced the end of a generous education discount.

“We find ourselves in a critical point right now,” said AJ Kelton, director of emerging instructional technology at Montclair State University. “And that is what do we do?

I’ve got this investment that I’m really invested in, how do we proceed forward? You either stay in Second Life or you get out. You stay in, or you find a way to transition and you get out.”

via The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Aston Martin confirmed that the Cygnet luxury city car – originally shown as a concept car in March – is to go into production in 2011 at the company’s Gaydon headquarters in Warwickshire. The Aston Martin Cygnet is a city car that sets a new benchmark for compact luxury, building upon nearly a century of experience building high performance sports cars, luxurious long-range grand tourers, and extremely competitive racing machines.

Cygnet demonstrates Aston Martin’s commitment to innovation and integrity.

“It is time to think differently. Aston Martin is honest and we don’t make compromises,” said Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez. “Whatever we do, we do right. If we do performance, we do performance; we don’t downsize or compromise our sports cars. The Cygnet needs to satisfy the demands of emissions and space. It is a car without compromise, just like every other Aston Martin. Our customers need a small car for urban and city use, and they want the right tools for the right job, to downsize creatively without compromising intelligence, artistry and personality.”

http://www.dexigner.com/news/21624

At the River Valley High School in Singapore, the passive stereoscopic equipment makes up the Virtual Reality Laboratory but the most important component of the class is the content.

Chow Ban Hoe, the subject Head of Biology was heavily involved in content creation because the process needed someone with expertise in pedagogy and subject matter. Working alongside on this innovative project is Associate Professor Cai Yiyu from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and Zepth, a solution provider in immersive technology.

Almost all of Chow’s class (97 per cent) surveyed said that the Virtual Reality Laboratory helped them to grasp the subject better, regardless of their initial level of knowledge. 90 per cent of the students said this new way of learning has generated more interest in Biology. River Valley High School is a leading public school which attracts the top ten per cent of students in Singapore.

“The 3D animation has really helped me gain another outlook in the structure and internal working of cells, plus illustrate effectively the units of DNA, which was very interesting. This is as good, if not better than, a practical lesson,” said one of the students.

“I believe that virtual reality technology would be a key technology to reshape our lives in the 21st century. It already has a wide diversity of impressive and practical applications, such as 3D medical imaging, military training, visualisation of complex scientific data, and molecular modelling,” added Chow. “the 3D environment enables students to reach many complex worlds – from biomolecules to solar system – to gain a deeper and better understanding of difficult concepts.”

http://www.futuregov.asia/articles/2010/oct/11/science-brought-life-virtual-reality/