Another interesting control device, which controls the earth with a physical sphere!
On the official website you can find a lot of information about this device and how and why it was made. Globe4D was created as a Multimedia Systems project for the Master of Science in Media Technology at Leiden University, the Netherlands. It is a very cool and interesting way of controlling a virtual earth. Please take a look at the following video from the website:
As you can see, this device takes it one step further than any other device and gives you the actual globe in your hand! Although i am sure the Space Navigator device I wrote about in the previous post is very intuitive to use, this is surely a much more hands-on approach. It doesn’t seem like it has as much content as Google Earth, but it does have the time dimension(4th dimension) where you can go back and forth in time.
I just stumbled across a very cool 3D mouse for Google Earth. The company behind this device is called 3DConnexion, which is part of Logitech, the highly respected Mouse/Keyboard maker. Instead of me explaining how the device works, I think it’s better to show a video of someone who’s actually tried the device. This video is from the Google Earth blog by Frank Taylor:
I am very tempted to buy this device as it’s actually VERY CHEAP to buy, from the official website it only cost about £40!
I found a great article on making animatronics on howstuffworks.com. The article focused on the animatronics for Jurassic Park where made. They discuss how the Jurassic Park movies raised the bar for how life like you could make animatronics. The following is what is required to make an animatronic according to howstuffworks.com:
1. Put it on paper.
2. Build a maquette (miniature model).
3. Build a full-size sculpture.
4. Create a mold (from the sculpture) and cast the body.
5. Build the animatronic components.
6. Put it all together.
7. Test it and work out any bugs.
The article contains a lot of information, and I think it would be best to read the article if your interested. The article focused to much on the hollywood-way of making an animatronic..which is very much a large scale production as we know.
If you want to import models into Google Earth, you have to install the 3D Warehouse network link. This is basically a file that makes it possible to show the models from the 3D warehouse website. People create their 3D models, and can then post these models onto the website. This creates the link so that people can import the models into Google Earth. The following link takes you to a video which shows how to finish up the 3D model and export from SketchUp and make it available for the community
Because I will be creating Grove House as a 3D model with SkethUp and then import that model into Google Earth, I took some pictures of Grove House just before the Easter break.
Below I have posted some pictures I took just before easter of Grove house, which I will use as textures for the 3D model in Google Earth. The pictures link to my Picassa web album.
Found a great resource for creating models out of paper.
On this site they list some PDF files with tutorials on how to create various models. Especially the first PDF file is a nice help for beginners like myself. Origami is another form of paper modelling. It’s looks like more complicated form than the one listed above, as it evolves a lot of intricate paper folding.
WikiPedia has the following information about Origami:
Origami (Japanese: 折り紙 oru, to fold, and kami, paper lit. “folding paper”) is the art of paper folding. The goal of this art is to create a given result using geometric folds and crease patterns. Origami refers to all types of paper folding, even those of non-Japanese origin.
Origami only uses a small number of different folds, but they can be combined in a variety of ways to make intricate designs. In general, these designs begin with a square sheet of paper, whose sides may be different colors, and usually proceed without cutting or fastening the paper. Contrary to most popular belief, traditional Japanese origami, which has been practiced since the Edo era (1603-1867), has often been less strict about these conventions, sometimes cutting the paper during the creation of the design (Kirigami 切り紙) or starting with a rectangular, circular, triangular or other non-square sheets of paper.
I found this article on Howstuffworks, it’s an article on the process of creating a real model out of a 3D model. This process is really complicated and therefore cost a lot of money to produce. They use this same method in the car industry to create prototypes of various components in a car. The following is a picture of a stereolithgraphy machine, taken from the howstuffworks article.
This machine contains four important parts to actually be able to create a 3D model
* A tank filled with several gallons of liquid photopolymer. The photopolymer is a clear, liquid plastic.
* A perforated platform immersed in the tank. The platform can move up and down in the tank as the printing process proceeds.
* An ultraviolet laser
* A computer that drives the laser and the platform
I tried to find some companies that makes these 3D models in UK, and found a company called 3T RPD. They look professional and can create a model out of a CAD design. I looked for some prices on their site, but didn’t manage to find any, which always is a good sign of something that costs a lot of money. It seems like the target group for this company is businesses and not students like me.
Another 3D printer, which looks like a more new and advanced printer than the above. This is from ThingLab, which is based in London. Instead of me explaining what this printer is capable of, I’ll show a video from ThingLab.
ThingLab also provide a 3D printing service, which is very expensive. There is an example on this which shows what it would cost to make a model. Depending on the finish and size, the prices range from around £100 to upwards of £400.
I have decided that the 4th and last etude will be about how I can create a sculpture out of a 3D model. The idea is that I will be creating a sculpture out of a 3D model of Grove House. The 3D modul will be created in Google Earth, and then made in to some form of sculpture, I’m not sure how I will make this, but that’s why I’ve started on this etude.
Second life have recently been in the news alot. It’s an online community where you create a character and you can then use this character in a 3D world called Second Life.
Second Life is a bit like the hugely popular MMORG, World of Warcraft. But difference between these two applications is that World of Warcraft is a game, and Second Life is actually an application where people make real life money, and also buy virtual properties like Islands, houses, furniture. People have actually started their own businesses in Second Life, and are apparently making some significant money this way. Google Earth also have some tools to make a 3D world, people create 3D models of actual buildings/structures and post them online so people can download them to Google Earth and see how a building looks in 3D form. Google Earth is an exploration tool, where you explore the earth and see what people have created, or just take a look at the earth through satellite images. Second Life is also an exploration tool, but it’s much more than that. You create friendships, have customers for your business and much much more. They’ve created it much like the real life, just in virtual form, as the name also implies.
Recently Sony introduced the concept of PlayStation Home for their game console Playstation 3. This is very much like Second Life, and the makers of Playstation Home have clearly taken more than a few hints from Second Life. You can take a look at the PlayStation Home service from the video below.
The main focus around the PlayStation Home service is to let people interact with each other by either typing messages, or talking through a Bluetooth headset. You have your own “home” on this service, where you can show of some pictures, videos etc. Finally it’s a place where people make friends and can invite others to join them in Playstation games right from this Home service.
Because of the very popular Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Disney has decided to update their rides in Disney Land. This is a very good example of how a real life actor is replaces by an animatronic. This makes it possible for the actor to “be there” for the kids, which would otherwise be impossible. It really is quite remarkable how life like they have made the Jonny Deep character, and Johnny Deep has nothing but praise for this animatronic.
I think it’s quite interesting to have a character replaced by an animatronic, just think of the possibilities this could bring us in the future. We might be able to revive famous people from the past, like Einstein, JFK, and even Hitler! But this does sounds really weird, but why not? This would make it possible for people to experience historic events in a new and intersting way. Why not hear John F. Kennedy’s famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech from 1963, West Berlin.
