Image Source: http://ironmanmovie.marvel.com/
Autodesk Labs Marketing Manager, Amanda Collins, asked me: "Have you seen Iron Man?" Actually, I have. I took my children. They are 20 and 17. Amanda thinks the fight scenes are just OK, but what really blows you away is Tony Stark’s lab. Check out the Popular Science review of the movie: http://www.popsci.com/entertainment-gaming/article/2008-05/tony-starks-iron-man-dream-lab.
Amanda notes: Maybe it’s not Tony Stark’s dream lab, but at Autodesk Labs, we're cooking up some sizzling software … She filed this report.
You won't find many robots to hose you down, but stroll through the Labs workspace, and you may feel like you've walked onto a movie set. One day you might see a manager having the shape of his head captured on-screen with a 3D laser.
Down the hall, programmers and designers use broad gestures to manipulate designs on a giant multi-touch wall.
As part of our study of human-computer interaction, an engineer in another room tests his integration of a digital pen and Autodesk Design Review software
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You overhear snatches of conversation about the number of customers who want remoting capabilities within three years, or debates as to whether resistive sensor technologies can be added to mousepad material. And, oh yeah, computers show up everywhere. Four desktop configurations hum busily in a “hive,” laptops run next to tablet PCs, and dual monitors sit on every desk.
Wait. Hold on. Before you get the impression that it’s “all too technical,” let’s rewind a bit. Not everything is so serious. You can’t help but see that humor is alive and well in the lab. Servers have nicknames like "Batman," “Robin," "Alice," and "Mad Hatter." Plastered to one wall is a huge banner of a happy pup (breed = Autodesk Lab, of course). Someone has sketched a picture of Eeyore on the white-board. He looks across the room to where someone else has drawn a sundial to catch the afternoon shadows. Note that the rough, hand-drawn sundial actually works. These are, after all, engineers.
Autodesk Labs is home to hot new design technologies. And way cool stuff. What you see one day may differ from what you see the next. It all depends on what ideas are happily bubbling at the time. Stay tuned.
Technologies from Labs are like most movies - you know there will be a sequel. Thanks, Amanda.
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