Mediating Mediums: The Digital 3D
In the recent months we have been covering numerous topics relating to augmented reality. As this concept and form of language continues to develop, we are continually updating our library. Recently, we received a link to Harvard GSD student Greg Tran, whose thesis explored “architecture’s ability to mediate spatial and perceptual experience.” His exploration into techniques that engage and allow for an immersive experience for architects to design with presents an interesting proposal for the future of our profession. The technology, in its current state is largely unexploited and employed as a standalone object, rather than a holistic experience and progressive tool. See his video and proposal for an enlightening take on how we can use this technology for the advancement of architecture. Greg Tran is the recent Thesis Prize Winner – Harvard Graduate School of Design 2011. Be sure to check out the extended video here, and the presentation script here.
Digitally Connected Smart House
Openarch recently unleashed their prototype of a completely digitized smart house to the public. Designed to adapt to its inhabitants, all components of the house are connected to the internet creating a parallel home on the web. Real time data feeds continuously to provide information and the ability to control any aspect of the digital house through a gestural interface – parting from the traditional mouse and keyboard.
One of the most interesting aspects of the smart house is the integrated video mapping system that incorporates sensors and cameras to display information ranging from exterior weather conditions to Twitter followers onto any surface in the home. They have even invented their own operating system called D. OS (domestic operating system) which facilitates the exchange of the tremendous amount of information flowing through the various spaces. The smart house is conceived as the catalyst for a much larger vision of a smart city, where the exchange and interaction of information flow seamlessly.
ARmedia Augmented Reality Plugin 2.0 has been released
Inglobe Technologies released last week the new version 2.0 of the ARmedia Augmented Reality Plugin for Google SketchUp and Autodesk 3ds Max, after presenting a preview of the software at the Google 3D Basecamp 2010.
Thanks to AR-media™ Plugin v2.0 architecture, engineering, construction firms and professionals can now enjoy the potential of Augmented Reality technology by means of a plenty of new and useful features inside their preferred 3D modeling software.
ARmedia Plugin’s Augmented Reality allows AEC professionals to visualize and study their 3D creations directly in the physical space that surrounds them through a suitable visualization interface.
The new version of the software enhances and completely replaces the former ones by adding new and useful features that allow users to design complex and astonishing Augmented Reality scenes, and to manage a variety of parameters that are crucial in the workflow of every AR project.
For more information, including a trial version of the software, click here.
Augmented City: the future of Augmented Reality in Architecture?
Augmented Reality amazed us over the last few years, evolving into something beyond simple visualization.
Augmented City, a video by Keiichi Matsuda, envisions a future on which AR interfaces are part of our environment. We have seen some interesting examples on visualization, installations, and even as a marketing tool.
How do you imagine a future on which AR is incorporated into the spaces we design?
Give Me More / EPFL+ ECAL Lab
The DMY International Design Festival Berlin Award annually highlights the most exceptional works in contemporary product design, with strong consideration of the teams’ approaches, rather than just their final results. This year, a facet of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne - EPFL + ECAL Lab – was named one of the winners for their exhibition ‘Give Me More’. Eight installations depicted augmented reality scenarios, combining analogue materials and digital applications to “turn technology into a new medium.”
More about the winning exhibit after the break.
Augmented reality on your desktop, thanks to Sketchup
Augmented Reality is a new technology that is starting to spread. Basically, it consists on mixing 3D model with live footage in real time. This concept has been applied to futuristic interfaces, and it can be very helpful for architects as it allows you to take 3D Models a step further, placed on the real world and show it to your clients.
Thanks to the AR-media Plugin for Sketchup, you can start playing with Augmented Reality. This plugin allows you to place the 3D Model over live video from your webcam, and move it around as you can see on the above video. The plugin calculates the planes on the live footage thanks to a sheet you need to print out, which allows the software to calculate the distance and inclination.
So, all you need is Google Sketchup (free), a webcam, then download the trial version of the AR-Media Sketchup plugin (limited to 30 seconds), print the sheet and you can start playing with your models.
We just did it at the office with Aravena´s ORDOS 100 model, and it´s very impressive. Try to use a small model to start, since the 30 sec countdown starts running when the software launches and it can take a while to start completly, depending on the model.
Another video after the break.
