It is Alive in the Lab

Announcing Autodesk SketchBook Mobile for the iPhone and iPod touch

Product Line Manager, Thomas Heermann, shared some good news with us today. We’re excited to announce that Autodesk is the first major design software company to offer an iPhone app for industrial designers and the creative community. Autodesk SketchBook Mobile is a professional-grade paint and drawing application designed for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch. The App is available for download for US$2.99 on the iPhone App Store worldwide.

SketchBook Mobile offers a full set of sketching tools and delivers them through a streamlined and intuitive user interface. With the same paint engine as SketchBook Pro, SketchBook Mobile delivers sophisticated brushes and fluid pencils for digitally capturing ideas as napkin sketches or producing artwork on-the-go.

Check out this YouTube video: SketchBook Mobile iPhone App from Autodesk which demonstrates:

• Multitouch Navigation
• Double-Tap Corner capability
• Over 20 Brushes
• Synthetic Pressure Sensitivity
• Dynamic Resizing
• Customizable Brushes
• Gallery
• Save Work-in-Progress
• Directly Email Pictures
• Import Images from Library or Camera
• Full Palette of Colors
• Interactive Color Wheel
• Store Custom Colors
• On Canvas Color Picker
• Landscape and Portrait Symmetry
• Layers with Reordering and Merging capabilities

Based on the iPhone App user culture, we also offer a ‘free’ version called ‘SketchBook Mobile Express’, but for $2.99, I want the real deal. I am buying it now.

Extending design to multitouch handheld devices is alive in the lab.

What's Your Recommendation for New Hardware?

I was contacted by Dan Bayer of Miron Construction. They inquired about new technology:

They have questions surrounding the use of multi-touch technology and how to position their organization's hardware technology for potential upcoming Autodesk technology. Their initial thoughts were looking at more of a 3D stereo immersive environment; however, they have re-thought their approach and are now focused on the tools they use to communicate and coordinate. At Autodesk University 2008, they tried out all of the tools that Autodesk Labs had available and were blown away by the interaction these tools afforded and immediately saw the value for internal as well as external presentation uses. Miron is interested on your thoughts or opinions on potential hardware based on the likelihood Autodesk products will interact with miltitouch technology. They use nearly all of the Autodesk building solutions tools as part of their 3D and 2D communication tools for buildings.

I shared with them the prospect of Microsoft Windows 7. Windows 7 will be multitouch enabled. We at Autodesk Labs anticipate a variety of devices being available when this operating system is released. An example will be the HP TouchSmart that we featured a special Autodesk Labs version of Autodesk Mudbox on at Autodesk University. When considering multitouch, something to take note of is the number of simultaneous inputs a device allows. The Perceptive Pixel device allows virtually an infinite number of devices. As such at Autodesk University, we used 10 inputs (10 fingers at once) to reset a model in an Autodesk Labs version of Autodesk Design Review. Such a gesture would not be possible on a device like the iPhone which only allows 2 inputs.

I am curious as to what other Autodesk Labs visitors think about available devices. What are your thoughts? Please let us know at thelabs@autodesk.com.

Inquiring minds wanting to know your thoughts are alive in the lab.

inhabitat: HP Announces Flexible Computer Screens On the Horizon

My alma mater has been at it again.

Arizona State University’s Flexible Display Center and HP recently announced a prototype of a flexible lightweight computer screen that is created in a similar roll-to-roll manufacturing process as thin-film pv, These new computer screens are printed onto plastic sheets that are virtually indestructible, use less energy, and are less costly to produce than conventional screens. These new displays could potentially use up to 90% less materials by volume to produce as well.

HP Announces Flexible Computer Screens On the Horizon

Imagine unrolling an E-sized sheet on the hood of a pickup truck at a construction site with a wireless internet connection to Buzzsaw and having the workers build from the most up to date drawings. It can happen in our life time.

Keeping you abreast of other forms of human-computer interfaces (besides multi-touch screens) is alive in the lab.

Do It Yourself Multi-touch Development

At Autodesk University we had the Perceptive Pixel Multi-touch Wall in the exhibit hall. Though I have not blogged about multi-touch in a while, this sparked renewed interest in this topic. A Mr. Richard Feder of Fort Lee, New Jersey wrote in:

I am working on an interactive application using multi touch screen technology. I am interested to know what kind of software packages or software development kits are available for the touch screen technology interface? I want to find an open source piece of software in this area to test some ideas out on. I am interested in smaller multi touch screens if you are aware of any.

Autodesk Labs Human Computer Interface Software Developer, Eddy Kuo, and Geospatial Senior Systems Developer, Hans Kellner, had immediate answers:

Here are sources for multi-touch and more
http://www.openframeworks.cc/
http://www.nuigroup.com/touchlib/

Here are cheaper and smaller size multi-touch displays:
http://touchkit.nortd.com/index.html
http://ssandler.wordpress.com/MTmini/

For a broad overview of this topic, you may wish to look at Dan Saffer's Book Designing Gestural Interfaces:

Designing Gestural Interfaces

Thinking about using just our fingers to tell a computer what to do is alive in the lab.

Autodesk Gallery: Augmented Reality Demo

Autodesk Labs Software Developer, Eddy Kuo, and Technical Evangelist from the office of the CTO, Brian Pene, have been working on augmented reality. Augmented reality is the ability to add 3D computer models to real world scenes. This is typically made possible by inserting a marker into a scene, viewing the scene with a video camera, and using computer software to replace the marker with an image of the model. As the marker is moved, the computer model is correspondingly moved, and the streaming video is updated. All of this happens in real time. By now you've all seen the motorcycle demo from AU:

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YXdjNofHgI
non-YouTube: Download through_the_screen.mp4 (2940.1K)

Prior to AU, Brian Pene filmed an architectural-based demo of this at our Customer Briefing Center at One Market Street in San Francisco. I placed a low quality version of his video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCtP8QOrjgM  

For you non-YouTubers or those who want a higher quality movie, you can see the view as:

Download Autodesk_Gallery_2008_Pene.mp4 (44320.6K)

Exploring another way to experience a design before it is real is alive in the lab.

These kids today...

I went to De La Salle High School in New Orleans. I am a computer scientist today because I took a BASIC programming class in high school. It was taught by our math teacher. I saved my programs as holes punched on paper tape. While on the computer, time flew by. I knew this would be a good way to spend 8 hours a day. Little did I dream it would some day become 13. :-)

I got this email today:

Scott

Last week we tried the Wii remote in class here at Wheeler High School. I got it installed, tried it out ahead of time, and then let the students use it to show off their creations. Everyone thought it was cool, but it did tend to crash if they moved too fast. I put some photos of us using it at

http://wildcatdrafting.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=324&Itemid=1

Keep up the good work. I enjoy reading about the things y'all are doing in the lab. When I can, I add it to the class.

Jack Reece
Engineering Drawing and Design
Wheeler High School, Room 002
www.wildcatdrafting.com

High schools have advanced way beyond paper tape. What a great gift for the Labs team. Thanks for your feedback Jack. I am delighted that potential computer scientists of tomorrow are getting exposure to new technologies today. Autodesk Labs is proud to do its part.

Augmented Reality 3D Motorcycle demo

Yesterday I showed Jeff Kowalski's main stage presentation that features the 3D motorcycle; however, before this presentation came to life, Eddy Kuo and Brian Pene had it working at the San Francisco office.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YXdjNofHgI

A lot of work goes into making Autodesk University happen, but we get so much out of it.

Celebrating the completion of another successful AU 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.

Assembling the Multi-touch Wall for Autodesk University

Today the Autodesk Labs team spent the day setting up our Discovery Space in the Exhibit Hall. I helped John Schmier assemble the Perceptive Pixel Multi-touch Wall. Although this was my second time assisting with this task, this was the fourteenth time for John. Our multi-touch wall really gets around, e.g. Civic Center North in San Rafael, Customer Briefing Center at One Market in San Francisco, TED Conference in Monterey, and Autodesk University in Las Vegas. I filmed snippets of our work.

We look forward to showing off Autodesk Design Review and Autodesk Mudbox running on the multi-touch wall. The gesture-based updates we have made to these applications specific to multi-touch interaction demonstrate different and better ways to work with design data.

Multi-touch is alive in the lab.

YouTube: Windows 7 PDC, Autodesk Demo

You've seen him on his Mudbox video that I posted:

• Exploring Mudbox (Autodesk Labs version) with Multi-touch.

I've written about him on this blog:

• Exploring Mudbox on a Multi-touch Device.

Senior Systems Software Developer, Hans Kellner, participated in the Windows 7 developer conference today. Once again he showed a special Labs version of Mudbox enabled with multi-touch:

• Windows 7 PDC, Autodesk demo.

Leveraging the abilities of upcoming operating system technologies is alive in the lab.