It is Alive in the Lab

Project Chronicle Updated on May 1 -- Try It

Leverage your hardware to add more to your visual training materials.

Project Chronicle is our technology preview from the Autodesk Research team that lets you make better training videos. Instead of just a screen capture and voice narration, Project Chronicle also records the timing and details of workflow information, such as the tools, settings, and dialog boxes that are used during the workflow. You upload your "chronicle" to the Project Chronicle web server and invite individuals, groups, or the public at large to admire your training prowess.

Autodesk started its second quarter of our fiscal year that ends on January 31, 2014. That why all of our new products are called 2014 by the way. One of the neat things about Project Chronicle is that it works with our 2014 products. You can see the list at:

• Supported Applications for Project Chronicle

On May 1, the first day of the new quarter, I got my first Autodesk Labs update for the quarter. The research team gave me an update that addresses some AutoCAD and AutoCAD issues reported via the feedback process of Autodesk Labs. You can download the updated Project Chronicle from the Autodesk Labs site.

• Download Project Chronicle from Autodesk Labs

As always, keep that feedback rolling in. There are a variety of ways to reach us.

Amelioration is alive in the lab.

Autodesk Research: Project Cyborg

Can human body parts be regenerated?

Autodesk Research is dedicated to innovation and discovery. Their interests range from methods to help users learn powerful digital prototyping tools, to visualization and simulation techniques which enable designers to achieve new levels of performance. Advancing the state of the art in human-computer interaction, computer graphics, and digital design technology, they collaborate openly with researchers at leading universities around the world including those related to bio-engineering.

There have been a few stories about 3D printing as it relates to human biology:

• Can Doctors 3D Print A Kidney?
• Anthony Atala: Printing a human kidney (includes an interview with Luke M. who received a 3D printed kidney from his own cells)
• 3D printed organs from regenerative living cells

Project Cyborg is an Autodesk Research project for a cloud-based meta-platform of design tools for programming matter across domains and scales. Project Cyborg leverages Autodesk Cloud Computing in a web-based CAD shell for services such as modeling, simulation, and design optimization. Researchers, developers, students and citizen scientists can use Project Cyborg to advance their own projects and share their work with others and may even use Project Cyborg as a marketplace. (Buy one kidney, get one kidney free?) Project Cyborg allows users to create specialized design platforms specific for their domains, whatever their domains happen to be, from nanoparticle design to tissue engineering, to self-assembling human-scale manufacturing.

Learn more about Project Cyborg.

When it comes to biological engineering, Autodesk Research wants to learn if Project Cyborg fits like a glove? Scientists working on solutions like cancer killing robots could benefit from technologies that are part of Project Cyborg. Those who wish to work with Project Cyborg can contact Autodesk Research at next@autodesk.com.

Biology is alive in the lab.

Updated Project Chronicle Now Supports AutoCAD 2014 and Revit 2014

The Autodesk Research team provided me with an update of Project Chronicle today. Recall that Project Chronicle is a way to create training materials that leverage metadata (i.e., commands, dialog boxes, settings) to provide more than just screen shots with voice narration.

• Check out Project Chronicle on Autodesk Labs

With this update, Project Chronicle supports the following applications.

Autodesk AutoCAD 2014	AutoCAD 2013
Autodesk AutoCAD Architecture 2014	AutoCAD Architecture 2013
Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014	AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013
Autodesk AutoCAD Electrical 2014	AutoCAD Electrical 2013
Autodesk AutoCAD Map 3D 2014	AutoCAD Map 3D 2013
Autodesk AutoCAD Mechanical 2014	AutoCAD Mechanical 2013
Autodesk AutoCAD MEP 2014	AutoCAD MEP 2013
Autodesk AutoCAD Plant 3D 2014	AutoCAD Plant 3D 2013
Autodesk AutoCAD Utility Design 2014	AutoCAD Utility Design 2013
Autodesk AutoCAD LT 2014
Autodesk Revit Architecture 2014	Autodesk Revit Architecture 2013
Autodesk Revit MEP 2014	Autodesk Revit MEP 2013
Autodesk Revit Structure 2014	Autodesk Revit Structure 2013

 

Software Development Manager, Thomas White, notes that this update also fixes a bug related to snipping portions of a video.

Extending learning to 2014 is alive in the lab.

Project Chronicle Defect Correction Now Available

The Autodesk Research team released a Project Chronicle update today that corrects the problem where the audio/video can get out of sync when removing a section. AutoCAD and Revit users who wish to make more powerful training videos can download the technology preview at:

• Download Project Chronicle via Autodesk Labs

While we are at it, here's a new video:

Updates are alive in the lab.

Updated Project Chronicle Now Available via Autodesk Labs

An announcement from Autodesk Research...

Software Development Manager, Thomas White, provided me with an updated Project Chronicle installer. I made it available for download via the Autodesk Labs web site. The Autodesk research team then made the corresponding changes to the Project Chronicle web site, so we're good to go. Recall that Project Chronicle is a free technology preview from Autodesk Research that makes it easy for AutoCAD (all flavors) and Revit users to capture, share, and learn from software workflows. Project Chronicle consists of a recording utility to capture recordings, and a web site that displays the recordings as Chronicles, interactive video tutorials.

• Download Project Chronicle so you can work with the Project Chronicle web site

In addition to new features (i.e., delete video sections, embed chronicles in your pages, share chronicles via groups, download your videos), this update contains some defect corrections based on your feedback. The Autodesk Research team is eager to continue to get your feedback on this technology. They would love to hear your stories of how you showed someone else what to do. There are a variety of ways to provide feedback.

eLearning is alive in the lab.

Meet Project Chronicle's Ruslana Steininger

Got a Project Chronicle question? Ask Ruslana Steininger.

Project Chronicle is our free technology preview where we look at ways of improving video tutorials. After all, videos are the new textbooks. With Project Chronicle, you can record an AutoCAD or Revit session with screen shots and voice narration, just like normal, but Project Chroicle also automatically captures metadata (e.g., commands, dialog boxes, and settings) as part of the process. You share your chronicle with other users via the web. They can watch your training sessions with traditional play and pause, but they can also search the metadata to locate topics of interest. The team is looking for feedback on how the metadata enhances the learning experience.

You can get started yourself with Project Chronicle by downloading it today.

// Download Project Chronicle via Autodesk Labs

If you have a problem or suggestion, there are a variety of ways to contact the Autodesk Research team that is developing Project Chronicle.

Many of your feedback requests are answered by Ruslana Steininger who is a Software Quality Assurance Engineer in the Research Transfer Team. She was an intern at Alias in 2002 in Research and came on board as a QA contractor in 2007. The team kept extending her contract for almost a year, and then they hired her full time in 2008. Ruslana has been with Project Chronicle from its inception and is one of our Project Chronicle experts. Ruslana received her Honors Bachelor of Science degree in Software Engineering from the Computer Science Department at the University of Toronto in 2003. Prior to that she pursued a degree in Journalism at Ivan Franko Lviv State University in Ukraine. Ruslana enjoys furthering her education and has completed multiple training programs within Autodesk and external professional courses such as the Oracle 10g Database Administrator program (Humber College, Toronto) and the professional Business Skills and Communication course (Dale Carnegie Group). Ruslana is fluent in three languages (English, Ukrainian, and Russian) and has a working knowledge of Polish, French, Spanish and German. Her hobbies include improvisation, poker, yoga, photography, animation movies, hiking, and travelling.

Expertise is alive in the lab.

Venn and the Art of Autodesk Communities: An Inquiry into Values

Enlarge

Today is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The words in this YouTube video about Autodesk employees using a Raspberry Pi computer to read to the blind may sound familiar. I have the day off. Let's have some fun.

There are various parts of Autodesk that reach out into the world — each catering to a specific community. In looking at the Autodesk Beta program versus Autodesk Labs, I created the diagram above. The parts of the company included:

• Autodesk Education students.autodesk.com — part of our Reputation, Consumer, and Education division
• Autodesk Research www.autodesk.com/research — part of our Office of the CTO
• Autodesk Labs labs.autodesk.com — part of our Office of the CTO
• Autodesk Beta beta.autodesk.com — distributed among the various product development teams
• Autodesk Subscription Center subscription.autodesk.com — part of Global Customer Support and Operations
• Autodesk Dealer Network partners
• Autodesk Developer Network adn.autodesk.com — part of our Worldwide Sales and Service division

The communities that these teams reach out to include:

• students
• research community
• early adopters (consumers and professionals willing to experiment with technology previews)
• testers (customers who help prepare products for release)
• subscription holders
• customers (superset of previous 3 listed above; not all customers are on subscription)
• developers

As turns out Autodesk Labs is very similar to Autodesk Beta. Both are based on software that is not a product yet. Both are driven by feedback. There are two key differences.

• TIMING: One is that technology previews happen much earlier in the life cycle than betas.
• PARTICIPATION: The second is that betas are conducted under non-disclosure agreements, but technology previews are wide open to the general public. Participation on betas is by invitation from the product managers.

Each Autodesk community has its own purpose and value. At Autodesk we have different teams that address the needs of each community. Some are more alike than others, but we don't have a one size fits all approach.

Comparison is alive in the lab.

Updated Project Chronicle Now Available

You've got an extension.

Though the Project Chronicle technology preview has no specific end-date at this time, the executable you use to create the chronicles does indeed have a time-bomb. For existing users. the time-bomb is set for today. Fear not, there is an update available that extends your ability to capture, share, and learn from software workflows. You can download it from the Autodesk Labs site:

• Download Project Chronicle

This update contains some defect corrections based on your feedback. The Autodesk Research team is eager to continue to get your feedback on this technology. They would love to hear your stories of how you showed someone else what to do. There are a variety of ways to provide feedback.

Learning is still alive in the lab.

Project Chronicle Now Available for Download

Project Chronicle is a free technology preview from Autodesk Research that makes it extremely convenient and easy for users to capture, share, and learn from software workflows. Project Chronicle consists of a recording utility to capture recordings, and a website that displays the recordings as Chronicles, interactive video tutorials.

// Download Project Chronicle via Autodesk Labs

The Chronicle Recording Utility allows you to capture your workflow from within AutoCAD and Revit. There is a specific list of supported applications on the Autodesk Labs site.

// See list of Project Chronicle Supported Applications

(not your grandfather's Camtasia -- shows commands too)

The utility records a continuous video screen capture and optionally voice narration. What makes Project Chronicle unique is that is also records the timing and details of workflow information, such as the tools, settings, and dialog boxes that are used during the workflow. Captured data is then uploaded to the Project Chronicle Website where other users (that you grant access) can view a video of the workflow. Additionally, the captured workflow events are displayed on an interactive timeline, enhancing the viewing and learning experience. Pretty cool huh?

Technology previews are about feedback. We would love to hear your stories of how you showed someone else what to do.There are a variety of ways to provide feedback.

Non-book-learning is alive in the lab.

Magic Finger: The Future of Touch Interaction

You may like the touch input offered by your tablet or mobile device, but imagine if your entire surrounding environment was touch sensitive. This would allow any physical object, including your own body, to serve as a peripheral input surface for digital devices such as cell phones, MP3 players, and gaming systems.

A team of research scientists at Autodesk Research has now made this possible. In collaboration with research intern Xing-Dong Yang from University of Alberta and professor Daniel Wigdor from University of Toronto, research scientists Tovi Grossman and George Fitzmaurice has created a proof-of-concept device called Magic Finger, which allows touch interactions to be carried out on any physical surface.

Magic Finger is a thimble-like device worn on the user’s finger. It combines one of the world’s smallest RGB micro cameras with an optical motion sensor. Together, these sensors allow Magic Finger to not only sense finger input, it can determine what it is the user is touching, such as a shirt, a table, or human skin. This means that you could perform different actions depending on what object you are touching.

The team has explored a variety of interactions and applications that Magic Finger could support. For example, if you ever receive an unwanted call when your Smartphone is in your handbag, you could simply tap the handbag to mute the notification. The Magic Finger could also be used as an input proxy for other wearable devices. For example, tapping on your wrist could bring up your calendar on a head-mounted display such as Google Glass.

The team performed a controlled evaluation of Magic Finger’s capabilities. They collected 22 different textures from a large variety of everyday objects, e.g. table, clothes, skin, phone, etc. They found that Magic Finger can distinguish the tested objects with an impressive accuracy of 99.1%.

Autodesk has shown its continued interest in what the future may hold for how we interact with technology. Before Magic Finger becomes a reality, future work will be needed on miniaturizing the Magic Finger device, and resolving practical issues, such as Midas touch, power, and communication issues.

The work will be published at the UIST 2012 ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology. The full paper, and additional details, can be obtained from the Autodesk Research Website.

Pixlr-O-Matic is easy and fun

Pixlr is our web-based photo editing solution. It is being developed as part of Autodesk Research in the area of visualization. When you go to the http://www.pixlr.com home page, you see:

You can open the photo editor itself:

or you can try Pixlr-O-Matic by selecting Retro vintage effects:

In addition to using both on the web, I have Pixlr-O-Matic on my iPhone and iPad. While on a recent flight to Houston, I experimented with it.

That is the Cathedral of Christ The Light in the background behind my wife.

Effects like fire are applied with one-click.

I added the greenish glow and the pinstripe edge.

I found it easy to add overall coloring effects, special effects, and give my images interesting borders. You too should give it a try. You can even buy additional effects. For $0.99, I opted to get a set of firework effects:

It makes me think "Why would I ever post just a regular picture on Facebook again?" It's so easy to get fancier.

Fancification is alive in the lab.

Autodesk Research featured on Discovery Channel Canada

As a follow up to my blog post, Autodesk Research Investigates Implanted User Interfaces, Senior Principal Research Scientist, Tovi Grossman, was interviewed by Discovery Channel Canada.

// Watch the interview

Tovi comes on at 3 minutes into the clip.

Giving new meaning to man plus machine is alive in the lab.

Autodesk Research Investigates Implanted User Interfaces

I've got you under my skin
I've got you deep in the heart of me
So deep in my heart that you're really a part of me
I've got you under my skin
  "Under My Skin," Cole Porter as popularized by Frank Sinatra

Noah Cole is our Senior PR Manager. This past week he traveled to Toronto to visit the Autodesk Research team.

// Learn more about Autodesk Research

Autodesk Research is part of the Office of the CTO (OCTO). Autodesk Labs is also part of OCTO. Autodesk Research is focused on innovation and discovery in the realm of design technology and was originally part of Alias before acquisition by Autodesk in 2005. The group has grown in recent years to include almost 40 researchers, mostly PhDs and many with strong ties to the University of Toronto. In addition to these 40 researchers, there are a rotating number of PhD students from other universities working at and with the Research team

Noah filed this trip report. With his permission, I decided to share it with It's Alive in the Lab readers.

---

Implanted user interfaces allow users to interact with small devices through human skin. (a-b) This output device is implanted (c) underneath the skin of a specimen arm. (d) Actual photograph of the LED output through the skin. (e) This standalone prototype senses input from an exposed trackball (f) and illuminates it in response.

Implanted devices have existed for a long time in the medical domain, allowing patients to take advantage of state-of-the-art technology to live a normal life. However, these devices typically require experts to operate, and there is no way for users to interact with them, for example, to check their status. But what if people could directly interact with implants? This could not only radically change the capabilities of medical implants, but could fundamentally change the relationship between people and their interactive devices.

A team of research scientists at Autodesk Research has now investigated this future possibility. In collaboration with research intern Christian Holz, research scientists Tovi Grossman and George Fitzmaurice explored how people could directly interact with very small devices when they are implanted under skin.

The team created a number of small hardware prototypes to examine input and output through skin. The prototypes included components capable of sensing touch, pressure, and hovering gestures above the skin. A microphone was used to test the feasibility of audio input. The prototypes also included LED light output, a speaker for audio output, and haptic output through vibration. The team also tested how well Bluetooth communication and inductive charging would work through skin. In addition to testing fully implanted devices, the group also introduced the idea of implanted devices with “exposed components,” such as a light or trackball, protruding from the skin.

In collaboration with Prof. Anne Agur from the Department of Anatomy at the University of Toronto, the researchers performed a technical evaluation of these components implanted under the skin of a specimen arm. They systematically determined the extent to which the components of their prototypes worked through skin. For example, the study demonstrates thresholds for which light can be seen through skin, and for which audio can be heard. The observations and measurements show that all components remain functional when implanted under skin, including Bluetooth communication and wireless inductive charging.

Technology, and the way we use it, continues to evolve at an incredible pace. As a software company, Autodesk has a vested interest in what the future may hold for how we interact with technology. While we should not expect to see this type of research guiding product development any time soon, we might imagine a future where people can interact with electronic devices that are permanent components of their body. This work takes a first step towards understanding how exactly this might be accomplished, and begins to ask and answer some of the important technical, human factors, and medical questions.

The work will be published at the CHI 2012 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. The full paper, and additional details, can be obtained from publications page of the Autodesk Research Website.

---

Thanks Noah. This really is technology that can get under your skin.

Implantation is alive in the Lab.

Autodesk Research and University of Toronto Receive Synergy Award for Innovation from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Autodesk Research is dedicated to innovation and discovery of new technologies to help solve some of the world's most complex design problems, from pressing ecological challenges to the development of scalable smart infrastructure. Autodesk Research is studying a broad range of topics -- from methods to help users learn powerful digital prototyping tools, to visualization and simulation techniques that enable designers to achieve new levels of performance. Advancing the state of the art in human-computer interaction, computer graphics, and digital design technology, Autodesk Researchers collaborate openly with researchers at leading universities around the world.

// Learn more about Autodesk Research

A 20-year partnership between the University of Toronto and Alias/Autodesk Research has made Canada a leader in the expanding field of visual modeling used in film, animation, architecture, medicine, and a variety of other fields. Begun by Eugene Fiume at the University of Toronto’s Dynamic Graphics Project and Gordon Kurtenbach and Bill Buxton from Autodesk, this unique partnership has produced volumes of research, dozens of highly skilled computer scientists, and numerous patents and awards that include a Technical Academy Award and an Academy Award nomination for Film Animation. More than 100 papers have been co-authored by Autodesk Research and alumni from the University of Toronto. Autodesk Research has provided many diverse opportunities for internships across many disciplines, including computer graphics, human computer interaction, physical simulation, green initiatives, and computer aided geometric design, with many interns from the University of Toronto ultimately being employed at Autodesk in Toronto. Over 100 graduates of the University of Toronto have worked at Alias/Autodesk with more than half still at the company.

The Synergy Awards for Innovation were launched in 1995 by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) to recognize partnerships in natural sciences and engineering research and development between universities and industry. Since their inception, the awards have honored the most outstanding achievements of university-industry collaboration in the natural sciences and engineering. Winners receive $200,000 research grants. Way to go team!

Celebration is alive in the lab.

Autodesk Labs' Place In The Autodesk World

A National Football League (NFL) team has 55 players on its roster. Anyone who has attended an NFL game is familiar with the barking of "Programs. Get your programs! Can't tell the players without a program. Programs..."

"Autodesk. Autodesk. Get your [computer] programs! Can't tell the divisions without a program. Autodesk..." Autodesk has a research division, a labs division, a beta program, and organizations like Global Customer Support & Operations. We don't have 55 divisions, but just the few (of the many) I have listed is a decent number.

As ideas develop over time, they tend to start out as research, appear as technology previews on Labs, get developed further and tested as betas, and then get supported as released products.

• Autodesk Research is dedicated to innovation and discovery in helping to solve some of the world's most complex design problems, from pressing ecological challenges to the development of scalable smart infrastructure. The interests range from methods to help users learn powerful digital prototyping tools, to visualization and simulation techniques which enable designers to achieve new levels of performance. Advancing the state of the art in human-computer interaction, computer graphics, and digital design technology, the research team collaborates openly with researchers at leading universities around the world.
  http://www.autodesk.com/research/

• Autodesk Labs is home to innovative new technologies and collaborative development. Its mission is to involve customers in the progress of design technology solutions. The user feedback provided to Labs is really on product ideas, while they're still in an early conceptual stage. Labs explores and develops technology that is commercially relevant to customers in design – whether they're involved in architecture, manufacturing, civil engineering, movies, games, or other industries. Through an online forum, Labs provides the public with free, early access to prototypes, technology previews, and experimental web services.
  http://labs.autodesk.com/

• As its name suggests, the Beta Portal is home to the Autodesk beta program. When existing products are nearing a new release, product development teams make builds of the software available for beta testing. This is typically done under nondisclosure agreements (NDA), since the software is not yet completed. The aim of the beta program is to put the software through its paces using real-world customer data, in other words, to do testing above and beyond the dizzying array of tests that quality assurance teams routinely conduct. The emphasis is on whether or not the software works.
  http://feedback.autodesk.com/

• The Autodesk Subscription Center is the place for customers who are on subscription to go to for software upgrades, licensing, and technical support. Recently the Subscription Center was enhanced to offer rendering in the cloud, optimization in the cloud, energy analysis in the cloud, and collaboration in the cloud. As you can tell from the previous sentence, some of the benefits of the Autodesk subscription program leverage the Autodesk Cloud.
  http://subscription.autodesk.com/

Cartography is alive in the lab.

You can now sign up for Project Chronicle

"I heard the king was dying. I heard the king was dead,
 And with him died the chronicles that no one ever read." - Kansas

Autodesk Research is dedicated to innovation and discovery in helping solve some of the world's most challenging problems. Their interests range from methods to help users learn powerful digital prototyping tools, to visualization and simulation techniques that enable designers to achieve new levels of performance. Advancing the state of the art in human-computer interaction, computer graphics, and digital design technology, the research team collaborates openly with researchers at leading universities around the world.

The research team has a technology that will preview on Autodesk Labs soon. Many of you may have seen it demonstrated at Autodesk University.

// Learn more about Project Chronicle

The download is not yet available. For now, you can sign up for the mailing list. When I add the download to the Autodesk Labs site, I will email those on the mailing list to let them know.

Keeping knowledge alive is alive in the lab.

CommunityCommands for AutoCAD graduates from Autodesk Labs

The CommunityCommands for AutoCAD technology preview allowed you to take advantage of the Customer Involvement Program (CIP) and receive command recommendations from the user community. The technology preview has ended. Thanks to everyone who downloaded the technology preview and provided feedback.

A non-expiring version of the technology is available on the Autodesk Subscription Center. AutoCAD 2010 and 2011 users can still download the 90-day technology preview from the graduates page.

Graduation activities are alive in the lab.

Updated CommunityCommands for AutoCAD Now Available

Learn new commands from the community: People helping people.

Yesterday Senior Software Developer, Justin Matejka, and Senior Software Developer, Wei Li, gave me an updated installer which I was happy to place on the Autodesk Labs web site. You can get it from:

free download of CommunityCommands for AutoCAD via Autodesk Labs

The big change in this update is that the CommunityCommands plug-in now supports the verticals and AutoCAD LT, and with one install, it will work on all of them.

1. AutoCAD Map 3D
2. AutoCAD Civil 3D
3. AutoCAD Mechanical
4. AutoCAD P&ID
5. AutoCAD Electrical
6. AutoCAD Architecture
7. AutoCAD Plant 3D
8. AutoCAD MEP
9. AutoCAD
10. AutoCAD LT

CommunityCommands supports 2010 and 2011 versions.

When it comes to updating technology previews to garner more feedback, it is alive in the lab.

Updated CommunityCommands for AutoCAD Now Available

CommunityCommands for AutoCAD is the right medicine for discovering new commands.

Take advantage of the Customer Involvement Program (CIP) and receive command recommendations from the user community. CommunityCommands is a plug-in for AutoCAD that compares your workflows with those of other users in the community and recommends new commands which might be particularly useful for you. The CommunityCommands for AutoCAD technology preview was updated yesterday to include some defect corrections based on your feedback.

Free Download of CommunityCommands for AutoCAD via Autodesk Labs

So download this utility and try it. While in AutoCAD, execute a command and see what the collective user community believes are related commands. Resistance is futile. Be assimilated. It's fun. In this case the AutoCAD community as a Borg is used for good, not evil.

They say just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. Well just a tip from the community helps your productivity go up. 

Getting even better connected to group thinking is alive in the lab.

CommunityCommands for AutoCAD now offers recommendations on 2011 commands

source: Comic Book Gallery

The CommunityCommands for AutoCAD technology preview was updated yesterday to include a new command matrix. This updated matrix includes tracking of new commands released as part of AutoCAD 2011.

Free Download of CommunityCommands for AutoCAD via Autodesk Labs

So download this utility and try it. While in AutoCAD, execute a command and see what the collective user community believes are related commands. Resistance is futile. Be assimilated. It's fun. In this case the AutoCAD community as a Borg is used for good, not evil.

Getting connected to group thinking in a 2011 way is alive in the lab.

CommunityCommands for AutoCAD is serious business

I just finished reading a research paper entitled "CommunityCommands: Command Recommendations for Software Applications" by Justin Matejka, Wei Li, Tovi Grossman, and George Fitzmaurice. As their name suggests, the Autodesk Research team has done a lot of research before developing the CommunityCommands for AutoCAD Technology Preview. From the Autodesk Labs site:

Take advantage of the Customer Involvement Program (CIP) and receive command recommendations from the user community. CommunityCommands is a new plug-in for AutoCAD that compares your workflows with those of other users in the community and recommends new commands which might be particularly useful for you.

This makes it sound simple, right? Wrong. There is some serious data crunching behind this technology. Some fun facts from the Autodesk Research team's paper:

• Although AutoCAD has over a thousand commands available, the largest group of users only use 31 to 40 different commands.

• Personal assistance programs normally look for repetitive behavior and automate the repetition. In contrast, the CommunityCommands for AutoCAD Technology Preview looks for commands an AutoCAD user has never used. ("Tell me what I don't know.")

• Movie rental sites that recommend movies are based on the user's ratings (1 to 5 stars) of movies previously watched. If the ratings aren't honest then the recommendations won't be accurate. (Does Shaan Hurley really want to admit that he gave Steel Magnolias 5 stars?) The CommunityCommands for AutoCAD Technology Preview is based on what commands users actually use, not ratings of how often they think they use certain commands. (The data does not lie.)

• A good recommendation is a command that a user was unaware of but would actually use. Recommending a command that the user already knows is a waste of time. Recommending a command that is not useful for the given circumstance is also an ineffective use of time.

• Command recommendations can satisfy both short and long term usage goals. Short term recommendations can apply to the task at hand (based on commands used in the last 15 minutes). Long term recommendations for education can be based on usage over weeks of time.

• There is a delicate balance between helping the user learn and impeding his work. Thus command recommendations need to be easily available but not interrupt the user's work flow ("Here is your recommendation. Click OK to continue." is a bad idea.). The CommunityCommands for AutoCAD Technology Preview supplies commands in its own AutoCAD pallete. Clicking on a command button activates the command. Hovering brings up a tooltip. ("How easy is that?")

Their paper was chock full of the science behind their efforts with data, analysis, and case studies to back it up. So let's not let all of this research go to waste. Become part of the experiment:

CommunityCommands for AutoCAD Technology Preview home page

After a brief period of usage so the technology preview can learn your habits, you should get recommendations of previously unknown commands that apply to what you are doing. Let us know how this turns out at labs.acad.commcmd@autodesk.com. You'll be glad you "..." I predict you can fill in the blank here.

You can find out more on the Autodesk Research site. Looking at the theory behind the practice is alive in the lab.

CommunityCommands for AutoCAD Now Available

What command should I learn next?

Some people are curious about signing up for our Customer Involvement Program (CIP). They wonder what we do with the CIP data that we collect. Typically, we look at aggregated data for trends, to help understand how customers are using our products. Since we collect this data already, wouldn't it be cool if you too could benefit from it? That's the intent of the Community Commands for AutoCAD plug-in.

Free download of CommunityCommands for AutoCAD via Autodesk Labs

The plug-in allows your copy of AutoCAD to communicate with our collection of aggregated CIP data. As you use AutoCAD, recommendations are generated for commands that other users like you have used, but you haven’t. These recommendations don't come from us - they come from the community of AutoCAD users around the globe based on their day to day usage patterns. So come aboard and leverage the power of the community. We don't bite. Let us know what new commands you discover via this process at labs.acad.commcmd@autodesk.com. Your responses will be kept confidential in case you admit to learning something you should have known.

Allowing users to help other users without even trying is alive in the lab.

Autodesk Research Microsoft Surface at Autodesk University

The Autodesk Research team helped us with the Discovery Space at Autodesk University. Autodesk Research team members, Alex Tessier and Mike Glueck, received a shiny new Microsoft Surface for the Autodesk Labs booth. They unpacked it and in only a few hours, placed some content on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz9JmF13FtY

After it was all set up, I experimented with it briefly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqMVIlCzFV8

Even while holding the FlipCam in one hand and using the other to interact with the device, I was able to conduct a brief demo while filming - sorry for the unsteadiness. :-)

Walking and chewing gum is alive in the lab.

Autodesk Fluid (technology used in Maya) for the iPhone Now Available

Senior Research Scientist, Jos Stam, works in Autodesk Research group at our Toronto office. As a follow up to his SIGGRAPH 1999 paper on “Stable Fluids,” he developed an iPhone application that is a basic solver behind Autodesk Maya Fluid Effects. Playing with smoke is fun on the iPhone.

My son's iPhone in his ASU cover

For those of you with iPhone, you should check it out. It has been rated 4.5 stars out of 5. Just type in Autodesk in the search part in the App Store straight from your device. You can change settings for color, swirl, and gravity. This is fun and looks so real. Let us know what you think of it at TheLabs@autodesk.com.

New Autodesk Research site

Okay maybe we don't have lab coats and safety glasses. Maybe a Bunsen Burner would singe our fingers. That doesn't stop us from doing research. We have requirements analysis, usability studies, design approaches, coding standards, automated regression testing, debuggers, and defect tracking systems. Autodesk has some pages on our main site related to some of our research efforts.

http://www.autodesk.com/research

As mentioned on the site, Autodesk Research represents a ten-year endeavor to advance both our leadership position and our ever-growing understanding of technology and its application. Autodesk Research scientists seek to significantly strengthen the company’s position as a catalyst for advancing the state of innovation in the arts and the sciences. Check it out.