I’m in love . . . with the future of GUI.  This future that dismisses carpal tunnel syndrome and gets the whole body involved in digital data. 

I see it as liberation.  How tired are we all from hour after hour of desk + computer screen + mouse?  Life is best experienced, not watched on a screen and awkwardly shifted through with a cursor. 

Thanks to Benoit (remember Mr. Flashy and Capture the Motion Commotion?), today I came across Oblong’s g-speak spatial operating environment video.  Turn up your volume and listen well to fully get into the emotion of this video.  Does it make you fall in love as well?

Notice the sign language used to interact with the data.  It looks a bit like a free-style modern dance performance.  I love it because it links our most powerful communication system, body language, to the power of computers.  And as Richard pointed out in his blogpost Say It in 3D!, body language is our natural 3D language. 

I went nuts when I read Oblong’s origins webpage.  They really go full out to communicate differently.  They are profound, yet understandable.  Here’s a tiny sample of excerpts from the orgins link that struck me:

Substantial swaths of human brain are dedicated to understanding space, understanding geometry, understanding physical structure. A cartoon of a messy desk surface doesn’t much tax these swaths. The swaths can work harder, ought to be made to. You propose that information — and maybe especially the newly-blooming internet — has a topology but not yet a topography.

 . . . and  . . .

This does not mean that the graphics should look more like the real world. Your brain does not actually care about that. It means that perhaps the graphics should behave more like the real world.

If you’re into this kind of stuff, or even if you don’t think you are but liked The Minority Report, you’ll really dig reading about Luminous Rooms and the I/O Bulb. 

What I like best is that Oblong doesn’t present itself as About Us.  Oblong on its deepest level is About You.  YOU are the interface.  You Are Oblong. 

Hoot if you like this too!

Best,

Kate

  

Post your 3D Creativity and win an Apple iPod Touch!

Create and Convince, the two obsessions of Creative Designers.

Yes, creation has always been the key mission and challenge for Designers. Working on future products, trying to anticipate and visualize the future consumer trend is a difficult exercise.

Creation always start with a drawing, by sketching your ideas coming from multiple sources of inspiration; from your living experience, nature or existing products. But there is an additional way creativity can also be a source of instant inspiration.  It’s about sculpting!

Yes sculpting is materializing your creation in three dimensions, but it is also a source of Creative inspiration while you are shaping your object. It is during this mental iterative process that the shape you are forming is also influencing your creativity. The level of interaction you can have and feel with your shape finally inspires your creativity.

The first expression of Creativity for designers starts with a drawing by sketching in 2D their Design intent, and with CATIA we give the ability to transform this 2D design expression into a 3D reality.

Since a few years, a new generation of young Creative Designers also expresses their creativity in 3D. With new technologies like 3D Subdivision surfaces combined with the level of interactive manipulation and user experience, 3D becomes a real creative tool. Giving the ability to designers to create in 2D but also directly in 3D like a sculptor with Virtual Clay modeling.

This new paradigm of modeling gives Creative Designers the ability to express ideas and creativity in 3D.

With this “Creativity in 3D” contest we would like to give you the opportunity to share your creations made with Dassault Systèmes CATIA product. To participate, just post on the blog your 3D Products Creativity with screenshot, Rendering, Videos or Link to Videos. Feel free to add any comment or details about your visuals.

Share your creativity, Blow away the DS community . . .

. . .  And win an Apple iPod Touch.

And a physical Prototype of your creation !!!

 

Post your 3D creation until the 7 May 2010.  On May 19, 2010 a Dassault Systèmes jury including our DS Design Studio will publish the five best creations in 3D on our community website and the top three winners will receive an Apple iPod Touch.

And by the way, if you have any thought about Creativity in 3D feel free to leave a comment !

—————— BREAKING NEWS !!! ———————–

Our Partner Value Print is pleased to offer a free physical prototype to the 3 winners.

The prototype will be made by Rapid Prototyping at a 15 cm size.

 

 

 

 

Good luck!

Xavier

 

 

click here for the Winners announcement !

          … and watch the Best-of Video

Ok, ‘turbomachines’ don’t actually make the world ‘go round, but they have been the catalyst of human advancements for thousands of years—from the early Roman water wheels of the first century B.C. to the modern power turbines, and aircraft engines of today.

I am amazed by the massive size and complexity of steam, gas, and hydro turbines found in power plants all over the world.  Here’s an interesting link to simple explanations about different types of turbines and how they work.

Like all manufacturers, Turbomachinery companies are facing increasing environmental and economic pressures causing them to seek greater efficiency, both in their product development processes and in the performance of their products. Power plants and the steam turbines that drive them must be able to ramp up and ramp down to meet changing energy demands on a regular basis.

During peak power demand cycles, steam turbines need to be able to start-up rapidly, handle load and temperature changes predictably, and withstand the stress of dynamic operating conditions reliably.

To meet these market demands, Alstom Power in Switzerland is using Abaqus FEA from SIMULIA to cut design cycle time, reduce development costs, and improve the reliability of their turbomachines. Check out their case study “Fast-Starts Help Squeeze Watts”.

Turbomachinery designers and engineers also have to take into account a range of design variables of complex, multidisciplinary systems—from the turbine, the compressor, the combustor, the casing, the rotors and bearings—all must work in tandem in extreme conditions of temperature, pressure, and high forces on the rotating components.

How is it possible to account for all of the design variables and optimize these complex machines? Check out this view point article “Assessing Variability to Achieve Robust Design” by Alexander Karl, from Rolls-Royce (on page 4 of INSIGHTS magazine).

If you want to learn more about how Abaqus and Isight are being used to analyze and optimize Turbomachinery performance, do a quick Google search; ”Turobmachinery + analysis + Abaqus” or, ”Turbomachinery + optimization + Isight”. You’ll quickly find an incredible wealth of information.

Plus, you’ll discover—like I have—that Turbomachinery does make our world go ’round.

Without turbomachinery, we would be in the dark and grounded. Instead, we enjoy electricity convinently at the flip of a switch and global air travel comfortably at 30,000 feet.

Bon Voyage,

Tim