Archive for February, 2012

Feb 26
February 26, 2012 at 11:58

For what it’s worth

Picasso is sitting in the park, sketching. A woman walks by, recognizes him, runs up to him and pleads with him to draw her portrait. He’s in a good mood, so he agrees and starts sketching. A few minutes later, he hands her the portrait. The lady is ecstatic, she gushes about how wonderfully it captures the very essence of her character, what beautiful, beautiful work it is, and asks how much she owes him. “$5,000, madam,” says Picasso. The lady is taken aback, outraged, and asks how that’s even possible given it only took him 5 minutes. Picasso looks up and, without missing a beat, says: “No, madam, it took me my whole life.”

Brain pickings

 

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Posted in Off the record
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Feb 20
February 20, 2012 at 15:20

Is Flash dead and HTML5 it’s killer?

is-flash-really-dead

A lot of our clients and prospects struggle with the current HTML5 versus Flash discussion. What should I choose when I initiate a new online project? Is a mobile strategy the best solution or should I still focus on a more regular online strategy? Or maybe both? In this post, I will give you some insights and guidelines for a balanced and wise decision.

A brief history
In 2010 the late Steve Jobs was already having huge success with the iPhone and the newly launched iPad. In his attempt to free the World from memory demanding applications (and also to protect Apple’s own app store), he banished Flash from Apple’s mobile devices. That was the starting point for a partly just and a partly unfair battle against Flash. In the media Flash was instantly deemed dead, although the promoted new standard HTML5 was not a full substitute for Flash and was still not even close to being ready for full usage. Nevertheless a lot of companies and creative agencies started adopting HTML5 and focused on developing new projects and websites in this newly developed standard. The popularity grew, mainly ignited by Apple’s popularity and the adoption of this standard by search engines and social networks. At the end of 2011, 34 of top 100 most popular web sites are using HTML5 instead of older versions of HTML.

(more…)

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Posted in 3DIMERCE.com, Adaptations
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Feb 17
February 17, 2012 at 15:15

Tesla HTML5 Car Configurator

tesla_product_configurator_3dimerce

A very nice example of using HTML5 for a product configurator comes from electric car manufacturer Tesla. Although the experience may be a bit limited compare to e.g. Flash, the maximum was squeezed out of this new technology. It has all the necessary customization options such as colors, wheels, interior options, other accessories and a great ‘view on the road’ option to see the Tesla Roadster in three 3D rendered environments. The main advantage is off course that it works on both desktops/laptops and on tablets. Also has a good social media share functionality, in order to attract more visitor to the product configurator. They also have a Design Studio for the Tesla Model S and soon also for the Tesla Model X.

Our compliments to Tesla for this great application! Way the go! See it here: Tesla Roadster Design Studio!

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Posted in 3DIMERCE.com, Adaptations
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Feb 2
February 2, 2012 at 11:58

CSI Holland: Inspector De Cock with AR Goggles?

csi versus baantjerIn Holland we used to have our own CSI-ish crime series based on the books of former Inspector Appie Baantjer featuring his brainchild Inspector De Cock. And yes: for the English this is a pretty challenging name, to say the least. The series wasn’t that advanced as the mind-boggling methods of CSI Miami, but now we have a new secret weapon! De Cock fights back!

The University of Delft developed a pair of Augmented Reality Goggles that can be used to virtually investigate a crime scene! NewScientist reports: “A pair of augmented reality glasses could allow local police to virtually tag objects in a crime scene, and build a clean record of the scene in 3D video before evidence is removed for processing.” What about that Horatio Caine?!

The cool thing about the AR goggles are that you can actually walk through the crime scene in which Inspector De Cock can tag all the evidence virtually. So it’s a blend of the actual crime scene and virtual objects which are combined in the head-mounted display receiving 3D video from a pair of attached cameras. By means of hand gestures the left hand can select a variety of tools in floating menus, while the right hand acts as a pointer. The system stores all the markers as part of a 3D model of the actual scene. Wow!

Uncertain at this point is whether TU Delft can build the functionality into the sun glasses of Mr. Caine…

See the video from Mashable for a short story:

Posted in 3DIMERCE.com
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Feb 1
February 1, 2012 at 14:37

Touchy Table with Microsoft Surface 2

In this new year Microsoft and Samsung have launched their new multitouch table with Microsoft latest Surface 2.
With PixelSense™, Microsoft Surface simply turns the displays pixels into ‘eyes’. It actually sees and responds to touch & real world objects, supporting over fifty simultaneous inputs. So not only finger tips will be recognized, but also e.g. a leaflet or packages. The table can even see and recognize text!
Samsung created a new 40 inch table called the SUR40 which can be used as a table, on the wall, or embedded in other fixtures or furniture. A real mindblowing performance and great novelty for point of sale on trade fair and for other events. We can’t wait to combine this with 3D or maybe Augmented Reality!

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Posted in 3DIMERCE.com, Trends & Things
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