123D Catch Photo Booth at Autodesk University in Tokyo, Japan

Though many of us are gearing up for Autodesk University in Las Vegas, there are actually a set of AU events that happen around the world.

• 09/13: Autodesk University: Tokyo, Japan
• 10/02 and 10/03: Autodesk University: Russia
• 10/10: Autodesk University: Sao Paulo, Brazil
• 11/07: Autodesk University Extension (AUx): Mexico City, Mexico
• 11/15: Autodesk University: Beijing, China
• 11/27: Autodesk University: Darmstadt, Germany
• 12/03 through 12/05: Autodesk University: Las Vegas, USA (Venetian Hotel)

My colleague, Technical Sales Manager, Hisayoshi Kato, shared his experience at AU in Tokyo. Many of you recall Project Photofly when it was a technology preview on Autodesk Labs. It graduated to become 123D Catch. Well Autodesk Tokyo set up a 3D photo booth to take pictures of AU attendees and convert the pictures into 3D models using photogrammetry. The Tokyo AU attendees loved it.

The Autodesk Tokyo team created their booth using simple autofocus/auto-exposure cameras in 12 iPod touch devices. The snapping of the pictures simultaneously was accomplished with an app called AirCamera. The photos were then uploaded to Flickr, and the Photofly API was used to collect those photos and produce a 180-degree 3D model. Attendees could then view their models on desktops or the web using 123D Catch. From 123D Catch they could then export their models as IPM files and view them on mobile devices (i.e., iPhone iPad, Android) using the Inventor Publisher Mobile Viewer.

The Tokyo team was able to create 3D models for 105 people at the event. They only opened the 3D photo booth in between sessions because they wanted to join the sessions. People visited constantly. They could take a set of pictures every 2 minutes.

Smiling is alive in the lab.