4D Pipeline - Visualizing reality, trends and breaking news in 3D, CAD, and mobile.

I've dealt with over 120 3D / 2D Vector formats in my time (the Right Hemisphere platform read about this many), you name it, I've had to deal with it. I know them all and hate them all ;-)  

For the last 15+ years people have talked about one 3D file format to rule them all. It hasn't happened in MCAD, it hasn't happened in DCC/3D, and it's not going to happen in AEC CAD.

That said, it's good to be aware of the main formats, those that are open and those that are proprietary. 

Whether you deal with DWG, DWF, DXF, SKP, IFC, OBJ, 3DM, i-models, or other; this article is useful to you. It's a good overview to the main format supported formats in architectural iOS Apps. It's also part of a good series on iPad Apps for architects

http://architosh.com/2013/03/ultimate-ipad-guide-apps-for-architects/

Let me know any questions you have.

Virtual Reality is back and maybe this time to stay!

I recently had a chance to try Oculus at the NVIDIA GTC event and saw firsthand why it's impressing a whole lot of people.

I've been playing with VR headsets for the last 15+ years and this is by far the best experience I've had. What's even better is it's at a cost of  ~$300 (which will probably get even cheaper) (compared to $25K 10 years back).

What's also great is that this is being integrated with existing systems, both content creation tools and viewers and also computer game middleware technology (Unity, etc). Today it's primarily focused on gaming but I really hope we will also get to see some great solutions in Manufacturing, Design, and AEC.

Can't wait to play with my dev kit!

About: Oculus VR, have raised $2.4 million from a Kickstarter campaign (one of the most successful ever). The company was founded by Palmer Luckey and the co-founders of Scaleform.The Oculus Rift has been endorsed by big names such as John Carmack, Gabe Newell, Cliff Bleszinski, Michael Abrash, Tim Sweeney, Chris Roberts, David Helgason, and others.

The consumer version is planned to support 1920x1080 resolution.

Powerful and compelling analytics by Forrester.

Some of the key findings:

- Technology has found that employees believe so much in the post-PC devices that they're willing to pay for them themselves to use at work -

- Gartner predicts Macs will be as accepted by IT as Windows PCs by 2015.

- Use of multiple devices is already common.

- More people choose or bring their own PCs than you'd think. 

- The number of people accessing the Internet through PCs in the USA will shrink from 240 million in 2012 to 225 million in 2016. Tablets are using used at roughly the same levels (from 39% to 49%) everywhere – at a work desk, home, cafe and traveling. Use of multiple devices is coming (29% already use 3 or more devices). PC rules, but mobile is getting bigger

- Tablets will be a big proportion of computing devices in use.

- Cloud storage and data syncing is commonplace.

- IT must plan on sourcing technology from Apple and the Google Android ecosystem.

- Microsoft's role as an IT provider is its to lose.

After a huge prelaunch and a tremendous amount of attention from the AEC industry, M-Six VEO is now officially live.

They plan to revolutionize the AEC (+O Owners) industry with their platform that has been in stealth mode now for I believe a few years.

Website looks great, and I'm downloading the trial right now. 

Very interested to see if lives up to the hype.

The AEC/BIM software industry is so exciting right now, we've got big ole Autodesk going mobile/cloud with 360, we've got great groups like Gehry buying up and building their online BIM 3D platform, we've got fresh approaches coming in from bim+ (www.bimplus.net); add to all this we've online viewers from Sketchfab and GrabCAD, content libraries from BIM Object, Sketchup being eaten by Trimble, Rhino, GRAPHISOFT and Vectorworks continuing to do good things, beautiful collaborative renderings from Bloom Unit, and so much more. It's fantastic.

Anyway, Check out M-SIX VEO and let me know your thoughts.

Some good market numbers/metrics again. Also some insights into PTC.

The battle for CAD/PLM continues. PTC vs Dassault vs Autodesk vs Siemens ...

Dassault System's CEO, Bernard Charles, and Autodesk’s CEO Carl Bass talk about the mobile revolution, the cloud, and social product development. PTC's CEO Heppelmann directs his gaze at the customer and their perception of what customers really want and really need. Who's right? Time and revenue will tell.

I'm looking forward to the day a 3D printer can print a 3D printer :-)

So, I've held back on talking about 3D Printing for a while but it's now unavoidable. It's clearly past a fad stage and people are now using 3D printing for new workflows and significant process improvements. Be it a dentist who can now more economically make molds for tooth fillings, or a design engineers who can experiement and better communicate automotive designs, 3D printing is significantly helping.

It's also changing where manufacturing is done, moving manufacturing back to being closer to the customer ( http://www.futureworld.org/PublicZone/MindBullets/MindBulletsDetails.aspx?MindBulletID=637)

This scoop link is good example to how Ford is using it (Additive Manufacturing).

Apps, Apps, and Apps.  Will there be an App Marketplace for the car?

Let's think about it. For a marketplace to be successful you need a combination of suppliers + consumers + focused content. 

If this goes into all Ford cars then you certainly have a huge potential consumer base; and it looks like Ford is opening this up to developers (suppliers and content providers), so it could be very good, with many potential Apps which would specialize in improving the vehicle experience.

The key to me is finding content and suppliers that really do this, rather than just taking the mobile Apps and porting them to the Ford App world (why not just connect my phone via bluetooth, etc). 

That said, there are ton of exciting Apps ideas that could do amazing things for the in-vehicle experience.

(Could also create some great liability cases :-) For example, an App distracts the driver, who's fault?) 

If you've been reading my blog for a while you will see that one of the things I'm very excited about are the changes and opportunities in the BIM and AEC/O (Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Owners) space.

With similarities to the manufacturing PLM space, the AEC BIM space is finally modernizing itself and starting to take advantage of all the tremendous advances in mobile, collaboration, cloud, access anywhere, etc.

It's awesome to see 3D Visual BIM data becoming more and more accessible to downstream people, i.e. not just Architect and Engineers but owners, facility managers, and building occupants.

This is a great article as it reminds us that there are still truckloads (pun) of opportunities in the construction and field BIM space. We've seen a few AEC ISV companies operating in this space namely Vela (bought up by Autodesk) and also Latista. However I am sure that in the coming months we'll see more. In particular, we'll see more easy to install Apps for the field (and FM) that work with existing BIM data (if you haven't already, take a look at the bim+ approach www.bimplus.net ).

Exciting times ahead in the for Owners and Consumers of BIM data and all those wanting to interact and access information from buildings and from the process of building buildings.

I'm very interested in this. There are a ton of solutions that really fit well for an in-car experience. The key for the App developers is to make compelling Apps that make sense and work well from within the car. 
I love that this will result in Apps that let me better engage, use, and understand my particular vehicle, it's location, and what can be done with it. 
I'm glad Ford has taken a open approach and not start with some closed

proprietary system. 

I hear the terms guerrilla marketing and social marketing a lot. Very few people are specific with what this is and how it works.

It's taken me a long time to "get it" and I'm still learning a lot on this area. Hubspot not only make a great platform for helping Inbound Marketing but  they also practice what they preach and do a damn fine job at it. 

If you followed this article from start to finish you will almost certainly improve the profitability of your business. 

Marketing can often seem like witchcraft, it shouldnt be like this. What I love about the principles outlined in this article is that they are based on solid facts and evidence based information 

1. Inbound Marketing is *Predictable*.

2. Inbound Marketing is *Trackable*.

3. Inbound Marketing Efforts Can Be *Directly* Attributed to Revenue.

4. Inbound Marketing Only Requires Small Bets that Can Each Generate Big Returns.

5. Inbound Marketing Creates the Foundation for Generating a *Measurable* ROI from Advertising.

6. Inbound Marketing Creates Content That Will Have a Positive Impact on Your Business Long into the Future.

7. Inbound Marketing Attracts a *Global* Audience.

8. Inbound Marketing Analytics Enable Improvement Over Time.

9. Inbound Marketing Results are *Cumulative & Compounding*.

Finally, be sure to look at the newspaper diagram and the final diagram in this article. 

The revolution is here! Power to the people! :-)

IT/Software will never be the same again. 5 years ago we made software for the desktop. Now we think mobile and cloud first. So much so that I can almost not imagine starting a new piece of software for Microsoft Windows only. 

Here is a  simple summary of how to seize the opportunity -
1. Data Anytime, Anywhere.

2. Pick A Tool, Any Tool.

3. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD).

4. Let Me In.

5. Be Social.

6. The Business Proposition.

7. I Can Do It Myself, Thank You.

Another excellent article by Steve Blank. He gives a great overview on how a "big company" can have a fast and efficient boot camp process to develop breakthrough products and new business opportunities.

Awesome read.

Autodesk continues its acquisition spree, with the latest acquisition of PI-VR  (visualization solutions in automotive and manufacturing).

This is after Autodesk as already acquired similar companies in the past like Opticore, and another German visualization company Numenus.de.

It's also an interesting acquisition as this software will once again compete with Autodesk Showcase.

This leaves Automotive companies now have one less competing visualization solution provider (good and bad). It's now Autodesk, Autodesk, Autodesk, or RTT, Bunkspeed, or a few others.

I suspect, RTT and Bunkspeed, will continue to innovate and set the pace for Autodesk to follow.

More analysis to come.

Are you defining a new market? or are you improving an existing one? This is such a fundamental question but it is one that is often passed over or incorrectly answered. The answer to this question changes almost every aspect of your business strategy.

This article is not only is a good reminder of why Lean and Agile can work so well, the image/table captures the difference between sustaining innovation and disruptive innovation.

CSR’s Sirf Technologies division and WifiSLAM claim to have figured out how to map indoor locations when you’re walking with your mobile phone inside a building. I really hope that we get to see this work in practice (with good precision) in 2013. 

Having the ability to get to less than a meter precision inside a building is a very powerful technology breakthrough that would enable many more workflows and usecases. Currently GPS/Wifi is not precice enough for many workflows (only getting to around 3 meters at best).