Interior Designs and the Use of 3D Walkthroughs and 3D Renderings

3D Walkthroughs and 3D Renderings are not only effective tools for the sales and marketing of new property developments.

Interior Designers, Home Theater Specialists, Kitchen and Bathroom Re-Modelers and General Contractors are all starting to utilize 3D technology as sales and marketing tools as well.

3Dwalkthroughs.com has witnessed an increasing number of home improvement vendors wanting to use 3D technology to present very realistic options to their clients as a way of closing a sale.

An example of this would be for a Home Theater installation company to measure a room and then present a very realistic 3D Rendering of the finished product showcasing the specific audio/video components they represent. Another example might be for a Kitchen/Bath Remodeler showing a very realistic finished bathrooom with the specific bathtub and vanity products that they sell.

As 3D technology continues to become more affordable we believe that it will be utilized in almost every industry across the board.

iTouch - The New 3Dwalkthroughs.com Business Card?

The Apple store on 57th street in NYC was lucky enough to receive a large delivery of iTouch units 2 weeks before they were supposed to be released.

Braving the lines, even first thing in the morning on a Tuesday, I picked up a 16GB unit. Many of the features are similar to the iPhone except for the phone capabilities and integrated camera.

On a positive note, you do not need any kind of calling or wireless plan to utilize the iTouch. The downside to not having a plan is that you only receive an internet connection if you can pick up an unsecured wireless network.

Much like the iPhone, 3Dwalkthroughs.com views the iTouch as a valuable tool to demonstrate our products. I have already loaded a whole bunch of 3D Walkthroughs, 3D Renderings and 3D Floor Plans onto my iTouch. It will be very convenient to pull out an iTouch during an imprompteau meeting and effectively show our products. I am sure we will experience more cool features over the weeks to come. In the meantime, the iTouch makes for a great mobile business card.

Student Safety, Emergency First Responders and 3D Mobile Technology

An incident Tuesday at St. Johns University in Queens has revitalized 3Dwalkthroughs.com's efforts towards finding ways to utilize our technology to make students and emergency first responders more aware of their surroundings during a crisis situation.

While watching news coverage of the event unfolding at St. Johns, I learned of a company called Mir3. One of Mir3's products, inCampusAlert, successfully sent text messages to students at St. Johns informing them of Tuesday's crisis in real time.

It is becoming apparent to me that all of the technologies that can make a difference in terms of the safety of students and emergency first responders already exists today. The challenge is making all of these technologies work together. Examples of these technologies include: Text Messaging, GPS Technology, 3D Walkthroughs, 360 Degree Real Time Camera's, Mobile Phones's Supporting Video, etc.

One of our ideas includes a secured real time broadcast which launches during an emergency and is sent to specific mobile devices. The broadcast would include a realistic 3D Walkthrough of the entire location, use GPS technology to show a person exactly where they are within the facility, and make suggestions as to the best way to find an exit.

We are actively looking for partners to help us devlelop this product.

NY Times Launches Mobile Real Estate Services - 3D Walkthroughs To Go?

The New York Times has recently launched a new service that provides access to real estate listings directly from a mobile device.

The service offers the ability for anyone to search for properties by entering specific property criteria (such as location, price or listing ID), send the property information to a friend's mobile phone or link to a mobile Web page containing full information and photos (if available).

As mobile phone technology continues to improve, 3Dwalkthroughs.com believes the media platforms supported by mobile devices will expand. For example it is probably just a matter of time before you can send a friend a link to a 3D Walkthrough or 3D Rendering to be viewed directly from a phone.

Some of the newer mobile devices such as the Iphone will also allow people to experience interactive capabilities of products such as our Interactive 3D Floor Plans or 3D Walkthroughs. The launch of the NY Times mobile service validates the importance of catering to a mobile market.

About New York Times Mobile Search

From your mobile phone you can go to http://mobile.nytimes.com/realestate (or http://m.nytimes.com/re ). From there you can search for a real estate listing, either by typing in the listing ID or by selecting search criteria such as location, price, number of bedrooms or specifying only new listings or listings with open houses. You may receive up to 200 listings at a time, displayed 10 per page. Click "Next" or select a page number to access the next set of listings or click "modify search" to narrow your search criteria and results.

3D Modeled Avatar Used To Help Doctors Visualize A Patient's History

Researchers at IBM announced a prototype visualization software that allows doctors to interact with the medical data of a patient by using a 3D modeled avatar containing all the patients records.

The technology named the Anatomic and Symbolic Mapper Engine (ASME)allows a doctor to click on a particular part of the avatar "body" and search a database of medical records to retrieve relevant information.

"It's like Google Earth for the body," said IBM Researcher Andre Elisseeff, who leads the healthcare projects at IBM's Zurich lab. "In hopes of speeding the move toward electronic healthcare records, we've tried to make information easily accessible for healthcare providers by combining medical data with visual representation, making it as simple as possible to interact with data that can improve patient care."

An example of this technology in action would be for a doctor to click on the spine of the avatar and instantly see all the available medical history and information related to that patient's spine, including text entries, lab results and medical images. If the doctor is interested in additional information related to a specific part of the spine, the doctor can zoom in, narrowing the search parameters by time or other factors.

One of the main challenges in the early adoption of this technology is the sharing of information among hospitals, clinics and other providers in a way that protects individual patient privacy.

3Dwalkthroughs.com envisions a future where this technology will evolve to a doctor treating a patient from a remote location through an avatar that links the patients real time condition to the doctor's computer.

Read the full article from CNNMoney.com HERE>>>

3D Internet - Part 2

A week ago 3Dwalkthroughs.com mentioned the keynote address to be given by Intel's CTO Justin Rattner describing his view on a 3D Internet and how it could transform the online experience.

Intel is taking the 3D internet extremely seriously because it will take large increases in computing power to make a 3D internet possibile. As one of the largest chip makers in the world, this could significantly benefit Intel's bottom line.

Along with an increase in processing power, Justin also pointed out some other elements that will need to be improved to make a 3D internet a reality. These elements include: Improved servers that handle many concurrent users, more realistic graphics, standardized user interface and avatar specifications and better navigational devices.

3Dwalkthroughs.com is actively researching the various programming protocols which will be the building blocks of a 3D internet. As part of this research we have been testing the integration of 3rd party avatars into our 3D walkthroughs and Interactive 3D products.

Each week we will give an update on the findings of our research into the upcoming 3D Internet...stay tuned.

MySpace Mobile - Another Step in The Virtual Direction

In what 3Dwalkthroughs.com believes to be another step towards the convergence of social networking platforms and virtual worlds, MySpace.com has announced the launch of a free version for mobile phones.

Starting today, anyone with a Web-enabled mobile phone or PDA can access a scaled-down version of MySpace which can be used to update friend requests, post messages or just surf a mobile ready version of the site.

While users will be subject to advertisements, provided and powered by Baltimore's Millennial Media, we still believe this is an important step forward towards the coming 3D Internet.

John Smelzer, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Fox Interactive Media states "We believe that everybody who's accessing the Internet from a PC will access the Internet from a mobile device… It will become a mainstream activity."

As mobile phone technology continues to improve, allowing for fully interactive content, (i.e. The ability to access/interact with a virtual world through a mobile device)so will the speed of the convergence of social networking platforms and virtual worlds.

While we have been able to view our 3D Walkthroughs on an iPhone, we still are looking forward to the day when one of our clients can fully experience one of our Interactive 3D products directly from their mobile device.

Interactive 3D Walkthroughs - Encourage Public Dialogue To Overcome Opposition

3Dwalkthroughs.com has been suprised by the quick uptake of our Interactive 3D Walkthroughs as a tool for encouraging public dialogue.

3D Walkthroughs, 3D Floor Plans and 3D Renderings are generally utilized as pre-sales marketing tools for new property developments. However these tools are also being used as a way of introducing development concepts to the public in hopes of overcoming public opposition to the project.

Interactive 3D Walkthroughs can be created to allow the end user to offer feedback and suggestions directly from the presentation. By thinking through all the possible objections that the developer is sure to face on the road to getting their approvals, the 3D marketing tools can be utilized to effectively address these concerns.

An example of some of the objections developers are likely to face include: Traffic Flow, Security, Disproportionate Building Sizes, etc. All of these objections can be addressed from a well thought out 3D presentation. Developers would be wise to consider these tools especially for more controversial projects.

Meez - Easily Create a Custom Avatar For The Upcoming 3D Internet

San Francisco based, Donnerwood Media recently launched the beta version of their new website Meez which offers advanced avatar-building technology and a huge selection of content options. The Meez website enables consumers to create highly-customized 3D avatars in minutes which can be used all over the Internet as personal identifiers.

The staff at 3Dwalkthroughs.com had some good laughs testing out this new website. It was extremely easy to create a customized avatar that is suprisingly similar to our real life appearances. It was also funny comparing how we view ourselves to the avatars we have created on the Meez site. I created the avatar representing myself in about 5 minutes.

Custom Avatar creation will be a critical component in the rise of the 3D internet. If you have some time I would recommend registering on the site and creating a 3D Avatar. It is free and a lot of fun.

Real 3D Views Delivered On Any Screen? (Revolver Ltd.)

The founders of imaging technology start-up Revolver Ltd. have launched a new product said to deliver 3D animation which currently exists in computer games and films, to many readily available screens such as: Internet Browsers, Mobile Phones and microwave display panels.

While there are no samples on their website their technology sounds very intriguing. 3DWalkthroughs.com will be exploring this technology in more detail to determine if any synergies exist that might give our 3D Walkthroughs and Interactive 3D Floor Plans another edge over competitors.

Here is additional information about this new product taken directly from the Revolver website.

Technology

Revolver’s technology, OL3D™, overcomes this challenge by enabling 3D content on any 2D environment without installation of complicated 3D hardware and/or software. OL3D™ uses data manipulation algorithms on the polygonal data of 3D models, providing real-time rendering of 3D content in 2D computer graphic environments such as Adobe Flash, Java and other 2D environments.

The solution is based on the OL3D™ core technology which rapidly creates real-time interactive 3D-based content such as games and animations on 2D environments, and solves familiar problems such as CPU efficiency, large file sizes, long development cycles, restricted content and applications, and third party development platforms. This makes OL3D™ very simple to implement in a cross platform context that also is relevant for commercial use.

About Revolver
“We are very pleased and proud to provide developers and designers with the capability and simplicity to present rich 3D content in devices and displays. The ability to develop and implement native real-time 3D content on any 2D environments will enable content providers to offer a much richer and expanded content delivery across the various platforms and to significantly increase the end user’s experience and satisfaction.” Amir Fischer, CEO, Revolver.

Some New Changes at 3DWalkthroughs.com

Over the last few days you might have noticed some changes that are taking place on the 3Dwalkthroughs.com website. Aside from an updated flash element which incorporates some of our latest 3D Renderings, we have also incorporated a Quick Start button which will give potential clients a much quicker way of getting in touch with one of our representatives.

Another change is the beta launch of our Interactive 3D Floor Plans. An Interactive 3D Floor Plan is comprised of a fully customized interface which can include many different media types including: Highly Detailed 3D Floor Plans, 3D Walkthroughs, Photo's, Video, PDF's Property Information and more.

An Interactive 3D Floor Plan can be delivered on a CD, posted on a website or viewed on a kiosk in a sales office.They are PERFECT for Marketing: Condo's, Hotels and Resorts, Adult Community Centers, Vacation Homes, Campus Communities, etc.

Stay tuned over the next few weeks as we will be rolling out a bunch of new products and services which are all on the cutting edge of 3D technology.

3D Worlds Made Easy

As 3Dwalkthroughs.com has been discussing over the last few months it is just a matter of time before the the convergence of the virtual worlds and social networking platforms kicks into high gear.

Today, a free tool, Metaplace has launched that allows anyone to create a 3D online world for a PC or mobile phone without any programming experience. It is quite possible that Metaplace might be the fuse that is responsible for the explosion of virtual social networking platforms.

Metaplace was developed by Raph Koster, a developer of multiplayer online games such as Ultima Online.

The main difference between Metaplace and other virtual worlds is that it is completely web based and does not require any large downloads. It has been built to be used for gaming, socialising or e-commerce, can be embedded in a webpage, facebook profile or blog.

"We are out to democratise virtual worlds and bring them to absolutely anybody," said Mr Koster, founder of Areae, the company behind Metaplace.

"You can come to the site, press a button and have a functioning virtual world that supports multiple users in about 30 seconds."

"We modelled this on the web," said Mr Koster. "You can think about each world being a webpage and every object within in it is a link."

Another feature of Metaplace is that once created, a link can be easily mailed to someone and instantly they are logged in to your world.

One of the biggest and most exciting aspects of Metaplace is that it is free. This will open up the door to many creative applications that were not previously doable due to budgetary concerns.

We are just starting to jump in with both feet and will report on our findings. I wonder how well it will intergrate with some of our existing products such as: 3D Renderings and 3D Floor Plans...check back soon and we will let you know.

Taking The Rise of a 3D Internet Seriously

The CTO of Intel, Justin Rattner will be giving a keynote presentation entitled: “Research & Development: Virtual Worlds – The Rise of the 3D Internet” at the Fall Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco.

Intel, has also announced its acquisition of Havok, a provider of software and services used by game developers and virtual worlds such as Second Life.

As more large companies are taking the coming of the "3D Internet" seriously, 3DWalkthroughs.com is actively pursuing various relationships to prepare for a revolution in the way we interact with the internet. We are looking forward to Justin's keynote presentation and hearing his views on the future.

We predict that in order for companies to stay competitive in the near future, their websites will need to incorporate at least some degree of interaction in the 3rd Dimension as well as incorporating a social networking component. It is just a matter of time before a virtual sales person will meet you at the front door of a 3D Walkthrough and give you a personal tour.

3D Virtual Worlds and Social Networking Sites are Targeted By Online Criminals

A six-month threat report released by computer security experts, Symantec, states: "There is an increasing trend towards attacks on social environments like Facebook and Linkedin, where the quality and quantity of private information is such that attacks can be more focused."

In other words, online criminals can incorporate information gathered from social networking sites and virtual worlds to add legimitacy to fraudelent emails by being highly specific in nature. By referencing a person's hobbies or past weekend activities in an email, an unsuspecting victim might be more likely to give access to their private banking account information.

While 3Dwalkthroughs.com certainly is not suprised that this type of activity is starting to become more prominent, we hope that it does not ultimately hinder the convergence of virtual worlds and social networking platforms. As we have been predicting for the past year, we believe it is just a matter of time before most online social platforms will involve the ability for avatars to walk through and interact in very realistic 3D environments. It will be a shame if the movment towards this convergence is slowed down because of a few "bad eggs".

3D Walkthroughs in Israel?

Much has been discussed lately about the boom in high-end real estate development occuring in Israel. Along with an increase in development, Israel is also experiencing a large overall increase in the price required to own one of these luxury development properties.

Similar to New York, the potential buyers of these luxury properties are somewhat insulated from the real estate crisis facing the rest of the world. They are generally people with large assets and/or foreign investors with deep pockets.

3Dwalkthroughs.com believes this is the perfect market to promote 3D Walkthroughs, 3D Renderings and Interactive 3D Floor Plans for two main reasons:
1) The price tag of these developments coupled with the sophistication of it's buyer warrant the use of a more sophisticated marketing tool.
2) As many of these investors are foreign investors, using marketing tools such as a
3D Walkthrough allows them to see the property in fine detail from a remote location way before the property is built.

I guess it is time to meet with our travel agent and start planning our trip to Israel.

iPhone - Mobile 3D Walkthroughs

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was going to be taking the plunge and test driving an iPhone. One of my main motivations for wanting to switch to the iPhone was the desire to load some of my 3D Walkthroughs and 3D Rendering samples on a device that was extremely easy to carry.

I can honestly say that after a week of showing 3dwalkthroughs.com samples to various clients from the iPhone, I am extremely pleased.

The iphone display is crystal clear and really provides a good sized screen when turned to a horizontal postiion. Because the response from clients has been so positive I really feel the iPhone can replace my laptop in many instances.

The next generation of the iPhone will certainly be an effective way for developers to mail out full multi-media listing presentations directly to a potential buyer's iPhone. I will continue you to post my experiences with the iPhone as I have more time to play with it.

Print a 3D Model of Your Property (Desktop Factory)

3Dwalkthroughs.com is always on the lookout for innovative uses of 3D Technology. Today, I came across a Pasadena-based company, Desktop Factory, that has developed a lower-cost 3D desktop printer as compared to it's costly predecessors. Desktop Factory announced that the company will begin accepting reservations for its forthcoming printer, with intentions to bring 3D printing to the masses.

Imagine being able to print a durable 3D Model of a property as a complement to a 3D Walkthrough or 3D Rendering. The 3D Model could be painted and enclosed in glass in a sales office, making for a very effective marketing tool or even as a tool for architects to better gauge the end result of their drawings before a property is built.

ABOUT DESKTOP FACTORY
Our Passion
Our goal is to one day make 3D printing as common in offices, factories, schools and homes as laser printers are today. Just as desktop publishing exploded as prices dropped and laser printers became ubiquitous, so too will new uses for 3D printing emerge as devices become inexpensive and widely available.

Desktop Factory was started by Idealab in 2004 to realize this goal. Collectively, our team has over 100 years of experience in 3D printing, laser printing and CAD/CAM. We are combining these talents to bring 3D printing capability to designers, engineers, students and eventually hobbyists and other home users.

A Chink in The Armor of NY Real Estate?

An article in today's NY Sun describes various tactics used by developers to offset the slow but evident effect the mortgage crisis is having on residential real estate in Manhattan.

For months, industry experts and local NY developers have thought they were insulated from the residential crisis blanketing the rest of the country. With various new incentives being offered to try and lure buyers to new developments, this insulation seems to be getting thinner.

Some of the incentives 3dwalkthroughs.com has seen offered by NY developers include: The promise to cover buyers' closing costs, offering brokers higher commissions, paying two months of maintenance and the first month of common charges and insurance, etc.

It will be interesting to see if brokers react to potential higher commissions by investing in marketing tools such as 3D Walkthroughs and Interactive 3D Floor Plans or they simply rely on the "sweeter" deals that can be offered by these new developer incentives.

Can 3D Walkthroughs Benefit Emergency First Responders?

3Dwalkthroughs.com is very confident that 3D Walkthroughs and Interactive 3D Floor Plans will continue to be the pre-sales property marketing tools of choice for new development projects. However, on the day after 9/11 coupled with this morning's earthquake that toppled many buildings in Indonesia, I cannot help but wonder how our technology can be utilized to benefit emergency first responders, trapped in an unfamiliar setting.

Clearly one of the concerns with archiving interior 3D walkthroughs would be security. If detailed layouts of public properties are available to everyone, this potentially gives the "bad guys" information they can use to harm us.

Another issue is the ability to send these 3D products to emergency first responders while they are on their way to an event. As mobile technology continues to improve this should become less of an issue, but it does seem to pose a problem today.

Needless to say we are very open to any suggestions that might address these 2 issues and allow us or any other 3D company to offer emergency first responders a tool that will help them better navigate in unfamiliar surroundings.

Charleston Your Home - Embracing Web 2.0 Technology

Every once in a while 3Dwalkthroughs.com comes across a company that has the "IT" factor. Whether it be the companies marketing materials, business philosophy or disposition of the business owner, you just know the company is going to be succesful.

Over the past month we have been speaking with real estate broker, Diane Szoke of South Carolina. Diane has just announced the launch of her new real estate agency, Charleston your home, and we believe her company is a perfect example of this phenomenon.

Charleston Your Home offers the flexibility of a boutique agency, the scope of a national company, and committed sales associates who excel in marketing properties across the Lowcountry.

Diane is committed to adopting the best of Web 2.0 technology and as a result is able to offer her clients a dynamic and successful Internet marketing plan, a must in today's complex, fast moving marketplace. 3Dwalkthroughs.com is working very hard to ensure that our 3D Walkthroughs, 3D Renderings and Interactive 3D Floor Plans meet her high standards.

Although Charleston Your Home is licensed to sell real estate in both South Carolina and North Carolina, Charleston Your Home can still be of service to other areas as well. If you hear of anyone who is thinking of buying or selling a home, and want to deal with a company on the cutting edge, give Charleston Your Home a call (843)324-9645, or visit their website: CharlestonYourHome.com

Are 3D Virtual Worlds The Future Of Global Commerce? ICANN CEO Says "YES"

ICANN CEO, Paul Twomey recently told the audience of the 2007 Influence Forum, that virtual worlds are the future of global commerce.

He feels that fields including retail, client services, B2B and advertising would all be using some form of virtual platform to compete in the future.

3Dwalkthroughs.com has been cultivating various relationships with companies we believe to be emerging players in the virtual world arena. As we have been speculating over the last few months we also believe the convergence of virtual worlds and social networking platforms is set to explode.

While virtual worlds such as Second Life has been getting some negative press lately, we think more focused applications of virtual world technologies will start taking shape.

One of our goals is to push the envelope with regards to the level of realism that can be achieved graphically in a virtual world environment. If the same level of realism can be achieved in a virtual world as we can achieve with our 3D Walkthroughs, 3D Renderings and 3D Floor Plans, we believe an increased number of companies will take this technology more seriously.


About ICANN

Short for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a nonprofit organization that has assumed the responsibility for IP address space allocation, protocol parameter assignment, domain name system management and root server system management functions previously performed under U.S. Government contract.

ICANN was created by the late Jon Postel in the fall of 1998 in response to a policy statement issued by the US Department of Commerce. This statement called for the formation of a private sector not-for-profit Internet stakeholder to administer policy for the Internet name and address system.

Thus far ICANN has taken various measures to oversee the domain-name registration system's transition from government hands to private hands and to coordinate its decentralization and the integration into a global community.

Stimulating an Emotional Connection To A Property

3Dwalkthroughs.com is committed to pushing the boundaries of what can be acheived with 3D Walkthroughs and Interactive 3D Floor Plan technology.

Over the past few months we have been carefully dissecting competitive products and noticed a common theme. Many companies have gotten better at showing rooms but are still missing the boat when it comes to understanding the overall goal of 3D visualization technology.

It is our belief that for a 3D presentation to be truly effective it needs to strike an emotional chord with a viewer. Simply showing a room is not enough to create this type of emotional connection with a property.

Music, transitions, lighting, camera speed, people, cinematics, post production editing etc. are just some of the tools that need to be used to make a presentation much more powerful and likely to make a potential buyer stop in their tracks.

We are getting ready to launch the beta version of our new line of products and I urge you to take notice of our focus on addressing the details mentioned above and how it differentiates us from other 3D products you have seen in the market place.

Slow Housing Market Helps New Concepts Get Noticed

3Dwalkthroughs.com was recently approached by Brian Kuhn of Developers Marketing Services regarding his very innovative new development concept. We are looking forward to working with Brian to create very realistic 3D Walkthroughs and 3D Renderings which will be integrated into a virtual sales office to promote the project.

About Crystal Palaces Structures
(Information was Generated Directly From A Press Release)

Brian's concept, a ‘Climate Tempered Community™’, or CTC, is a new kind of condominium design that uses clear, retractable roofs to cover highly landscaped common areas between buildings,allowing residents to enjoy the ‘outdoors’ all year long.

As the name implies, the objective of a Climate Tempered Community™ is not to provide a controlled environment, but rather a 'tempered' micro-climate within the enclosure. The interior temperature is allowed to fluctuate with outdoor conditions, but is kept above freezing year round. The structure is warmed predominately by ‘passive’ solar energy during the winter,minimizing energy costs while maximizing its use. During summer months the roofs are opened,exposing the 'concourses' to rain and warm breezes. The design utilizes many other ‘Green’energy and sustainability features.

Homes at a CTC look like neighboring homes from the outside, but the rear facades of the enclosed units can sport a Floridian or Southwest design, depending on the motif of that complex. While one 'street' could mimic St. Petersburg, another could look like Scottsdale or Tucson. Interior palm trees, streams, and gardens give the projects a 'Disney-like' quality, while pools, cabanas and even putting greens for golfers provide year-round ‘outdoor’ activities. Some units even have decks that look like ‘docks’, overlooking the stream and Koi Ponds.

...we will keep you posted on any new developments regarding this exciting new concept.

3D Virtual Tours By EveryScape - The Cure For The Common Virtual Tour

As we have written about in some of our previous postings, 3dwalkthroughs.com believes there will continue to be an explosion of applications and mash-ups designed to make Google Earth more interactive and detailed.

We recently came across a company called Everyscape that offers a unique twist on the common virtual tour. Immersed in a 3D environment users can tour an area and add their own content including: relevant links, personal reviews, rankings and more.

After a little research we uncovered that the company was previously Mok3 Inc., selling technology and services to resort hotels.

Their technology is a nice complement to Google Earth and they plan on virtually mapping cities throughout the world.

We believe the day is fast approaching that we can integrate our high resolution 3D Walkthroughs and 3D Renderings into Google Earth to effectively showcase properties that are not yet built.

We highly recommend checking out their technology.

Real Estate Tools Built for the iPhone

An article today in RISMEDIA describes the release of new lead routing tools built specifically for the iPhone.

3Dwalkthroughs.com expects to see many new applications built for the iPhone and marketed to real estate professionals. While I have personally been holding off on joining the iPhone craze, that will end after I make my purchase this weekend.

I am very curious how effective the iPhone is going to be for sending and receiving media formats such as 3D Walkthroughs and 3D Renderings. It will be interesting to witness the speed of delivery, visual quality and allowable interactivity of our various media formats once I get comfortable with all the iPhone features. I will certainly keep you posted...

RISMEDIA, August 23, 2007—a la mode, a real estate technology company, has announced the release of lead routing tools built for the iPhone(TM).

This announcement highlighted a number of new feature integrations with the iPhone, following earlier lead management features introduced in August. iPhone lead routing and management functionality is part of a la mode’s broader “real estate now” mobile technology initiative.

a la mode is the first company to provide brokers and agents the ability to manage and route Web site leads on an iPhone. a la mode’s lead routing capabilities for the iPhone come at a time when:

— Almost three quarters of all home buyers consider a real estate agent’s
response time either a “very important” or an “extremely important”
factor in their decision when choosing an agent to work with. Nine out
of ten Internet home buyers say the same.

— Forty-seven percent of home buyers who use the Internet to select an
agent and 43% of non-Internet buyers say they select their agent
because the agent is either the first or the quickest to respond to his
or her inquiry.*

“The mobile era has changed how real estate business is done,” commented Rusty Lindquist, a la mode’s Vice President of Broker and Agent Products. “Other systems equip users with mobile access to data. But that’s no longer enough in today’s ‘real estate now’ climate.”

Brokers and agents need the ability to process that information, and act on it instantly, Lindquist stressed. “Sometimes that means immediately sending a lead to a particular agent, or agent team, and sometimes it means routing leads directly to an automated drip marketing campaign based on their specific responses to a lead form,” Lindquist said.

“Our new mobile lead routing and management features allow agents and brokers the mobile flexibility to process leads on the go.”

The newest iPhone integration with a la mode’s Agent and Broker XSite Web sites allow real estate professionals to immediately assign a Web lead to an agent, directly from their iPhone, or to a routing group, for “round-robin” group distribution. Also with the update, agents and brokers alike can assign a lead to a la mode’s automatic marketing suite, XSellerate, and immediately start a drip marketing campaign targeted specifically to the lead, such as first time buyers, high-end sellers, and so on.

Real estate lead routing and management for the iPhone enables real estate professionals on the go to more effectively manage, monitor, and respond to leads — even when brokers and agents are away from the office.

“While our mobile tools will work on any Web-enabled mobile device, the iPhone gives REALTORS(R) a unique and compelling navigational experience that lends itself well to new and advanced users alike,” Lindquist said.

Real Estate Shows Launches Their New Internet Flyers

Real Estate Shows just announced the launch of their new Internet Flyer, created in just seconds from any show made using their online tool.

3Dwalkthroughs.com has been anxiously awaiting this launch as we believe Internet Flyers are a very easy and effective vehicle for delivering our 3D Walkthroughs, 3D Floor Plans and 3D Renderings, in one aesthetically pleasing interface.

In addition, Real Estate Shows has made it very easy to distribute their products to real esate portals such as: GoogleBase, Edgeio, Ooodle, PropSmart, Trulia and others.

The Internet Flyers can also be used as individual listing websites!

Here is a Real Estate Show and Internet Flyer consisting entirely of our 3D Walkthroughs, 3D Floor Plans and 3D Renderings.

3D Technology - A Valuable Tool Serving The Fashion Industry

3Dwalkthroughs.com is always excited when we come across "cool" uses of 3D Technology. We found a company in Tel Aviv, Israel, Browzwear International, that has designed a 3D software geared towards the fashion industry. Apparently Browzwear has just released a powerful new update to their software which they claim to be the strongest real-time 3D engine in the fashion industry.

They have a very interesting product displayed on a well thought out website. One of the partnerships we are about to announce (not in the fashion industry) could certainly benefit from their technology. We also believe this type of technology will would be a great asset to the our belief in the rapid convergence of the virtual world and social networking platforms.

Browzwear Launches the Most Advanced 3D Fashion Design Software

TEL AVIV, Israel, September 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Browzwear International,
the pioneer of 3D fashion design and communication software, today
announced the release of VStitcher(TM) 4.01, the next generation of its 3D
fashion design application. VStitcher(TM), the strongest real-time 3D
engine in the fashion industry, is revolutionizing fashion design with a
collection of new design and communication features.

Browzwear's software, implemented by more than 150 industry leaders, is
unique in its ability to simulate real-life fabric draping in real time.
Now, with its improved 3D presentation and development capabilities,
true-to-life adult, child and infant avatars, new clusters, garments, 3D
environments and accessories, the VStitcher(TM) software is redefining the
fashion industry and attracting the attention of major brands.

VStitcher(TM) integrates conventional design techniques empowering them
with real-time, true-to-life 3D technology. The powerful software
infrastructure utilizes the CAD-CAM industry standard, enabling users to
create a virtual 3D garment. The prototype garment is then modeled by an
exceptionally detailed, 3D human figure (avatar), customized to a huge
array of parameters such as age and gender, body measurements, posture,
skin tone, hair style, and even the stages of pregnancy. Inherent CAD
capabilities such as moving and dragging points and curves enable
modification of 2D patterns with fast 3D results.

Recently Aviela Sherbu-Cohen was named new CEO of Browzwear.
Sherbu-Cohen comes to Browzwear with twenty years of managerial and
marketing experience in the textile industry as VP Marketing Development
and Design for Tefron Ltd. and Gibor Sabrina Ltd., and over 7 years as a
board member in Macpel Industries. Sherbu-Cohen holds an MBA with a major
in Marketing and minor in Operations Management, and a BA in Linguistics,
with a minor in Mathematics and Computer Sciences from Tel Aviv University.
Having lived abroad, she mastered languages including English, Hebrew,
Romanian, Portuguese, German, French, and more.

"Browzwear's software is specially developed to ease the transition for
garment and textile companies looking to advance into the new 3D Generation
software," says Aviela Sherbu-Cohen, Browzwear's CEO. "The new
VStitcher(TM) is proof of Browzwear's firm commitment to push the limits,
and explore the promise of 3D fashion design. We hope to give our clients a
competitive edge based on better brand-manufacturer collaboration while
allowing designers to maintain and enhance their freedom and creativity".

The VStitcher(TM) is not simply a design tool but rather a
communication solution, optimizing the entire product lifecycle from
concept to shelf for cost-effectiveness, time efficiency and flexibility.
As a born-for-the-Web application, VStitcher(TM) ensures real-time 3D
representation of the garment design at any remote location, enabling
immediate feedback from clients, designers and decision makers.

About Browzwear
Browzwear International develops and manufactures advanced 3D fashion design and communication software for the garment and textile industries.

The company founded in 1999 is headquartered in Tel Aviv. Its vendors
distribute its products worldwide to over 150 industry leaders in more than
25 countries. At the core of Browzwear's success is its commitment to the
3D Generation of software design solutions, a commitment which led to the
development of the first and most powerful real-time 3D engine in the
fashion industry.

REAL ESTATE IN A 3D WORLD

3Dwalkthroughs.com would like to wish all of our family, friends and clients a very relaxing Labor Day.

The following article from the San Francisco Chronicle is rather long but very relevant, therefore we are posting the entire article devoid of any comments.

REAL ESTATE IN AN UNREAL WORLD
Tom Geller, Special to The Chronicle

Sunday, September 2, 2007

The weather is perfect for an open house. The listing agent greets you at the door and you enter the clean, rambling home, its lofty rooms done tastefully in muted cream with brown accents. Touring upstairs, you remark to a winged white tigress that the bathroom would look better with colored lighting; she touches a panel on the wall to make the change, considers, then agrees.

This isn't Narnia; it's Second Life, a virtual world where more than 1.5 million "residents" use computers to control graphic representations of themselves and interact with others as they wander through realistic landscapes that other residents have created.

The game's large audience has attracted real-world businesses, such as Circuit City, Toyota and Sears, that attempt to attract customers to their Web sites by "building" stores in Second Life.

Now, Second Life is a venue for selling another big-ticket item: homes.

The appearance of real-world home models in online worlds such as Second Life acknowledges that Americans are spending more time in virtual spaces that go beyond the Web. Sites such as Realtor.com already provide home buyers with basic property details, photos, and occasional movies of prospective properties. But immersive, 3-D online experiences such as Second Life, Google Earth and Google SketchUp go further by allowing visitors to fly over the city, stroll around the neighborhood, and even walk in the front door - without leaving the computer keyboard.

Last month, a Seattle-area Coldwell Banker office created a virtual model of a real-world 5,700-square-foot new home on Mercer Island, listed for a little more than $3 million. While several real estate companies have used Second Life to advertise their services, this is believed to be the first time a real home has been available for touring in this environment. Listing agent Suzanne Lane ("Suzanne Ibanez" in Second Life) said she's been happy with the response.

"We've had tremendous interest. About 3,700 people have come in and walked around, including quite a few who are capable of buying this level of home," she said. "It's a property that does command a worldwide market, so we're really excited about this new avenue because it's more worldwide."

She's still not sure whether Second Life will ultimately help her sell the house. However, she's optimistic about the project as a general marketing tool. "I've fielded quite a few questions from people who say they're potential buyers," she said. "The actual home is sort of a launch pad for more information."

The real-world house was left unstaged, its empty rooms devoid of furniture, art, and the cliche breakfast tray in the master bedroom. The home's Second Life version could have been filled with such homey touches at a tiny fraction of the cost of a real-world staging, but Charlie Young, Coldwell Banker's senior vice president of marketing explained why it isn't.

"We made a decision to represent it exactly as it exists in the real world," said Young, who is known as Spuds Carter in the virtual world. "Even the handles on the kitchen cabinets are the same. If you look out the back window, it's the real view. Just because you're not actually in the listing doesn't mean you can't experience what it's like."

The Mercer Island home is part of a larger strategy for Coldwell Banker, which opened its Second Life office in March and revealed that it had secretly been buying virtual property for development and resale.

Such online property is commonly purchased and developed by players who subdivide, assemble, and build virtual homes, just as in the real world. The game's currency (Linden dollars) is convertible to U.S. dollars on an in-game exchange known as LindeX, so such practices have resulted in real payoffs for savvy land developers, including at least one self-reported millionaire. (Coldwell Banker's virtual homes in the game's Ranchero section sell for the equivalent of $20 to $50.)

But from the beginning, the company has treated its forays into Second Life as an extension of its real-world business, creating another way to connect potential buyers with its Web site.

Indeed, the Second Life project was led by Coldwell Banker's ad agency, Kinesis Advertising, which in turn hired Florida's Code4Software to do the actual development. Coldwell Banker says the cost of building a presence in Second Life, including its land and offices, was less than $50,000. The Mercer Island building required a fraction of that sum. However, Young said, he believes the high cost of 3-D modeling will keep home listings from being commonplace in Second Life for a while.

Code4Software President Jared Freedman (Ancient Shriner in Second Life) pointed out that every object in such shadow-world buildings has to be created online, "even a rock by the road, or a weed." But he said the real-life modeling projects are worthwhile, even if they are limited or imperfect.

"Virtual showings have a very bright future, Freedman said. "Fuel costs and traffic congestion are increasing. If you can have a mechanism to help a prospective buyer narrow down their choices for which homes they want to actually visit, you're saving the buyers gas and time, saving the agent gas and time, and saving the homeowner an intrusion. You can make a decision if you want to actually visit the location in person. There's no other way you can convey this amount of information."

(Mash-ups) Virtual Worlds + Social Networking + 3D Walkthroughs

An article in today's NY Times discusses some of the recently launched Mash-ups systems that are poised to hit the mainstream. Yahoo, I.B.M., Microsoft and others are creating systems to let ordinary people (non-programmers) create useful computer applications by combining, or “mashing up,” different online information sources.

3Dwalkthroughs.com believes that these mash-up systems will speed up the convergence of virtual world platforms and social networking platforms. We also believe that it will decrease the time for our 3D walkthroughs and Interactive 3D products from becoming an integral part of the forthcoming "realistic visual social networking platforms". We are looking forward to the day when a platform like "Second Life" looks as realistic as actual video, and has the same number of active participants as a MySpace of FaceBook.

NY TIMES
September 2, 2007
Novelties
Do the Mash (Even if You Don’t Know All the Steps)
By ANNE EISENBERG
POP music has its mash-ups that combine tunes and vocals from different songs. YouTube viewers do it, too, mixing together segments from various music videos.

Now mash-ups are poised to hit the mainstream, and to spread well beyond music. Yahoo, I.B.M., Microsoft and others are creating systems to let ordinary people who’ve never been near a Java class create useful computer applications by combining, or “mashing up,” different online information sources.

If the technology catches on, many of us may become part-time programmers, instead of waiting for the people in information technology to help.

Here’s just one example: An employee at a chain of hardware stores creates a mash-up that combines inventory data, storm forecasts and the telephone numbers of branch managers. Then, when snow is on the way, the application sends text messages to the managers’ cellphones, telling them how many shovels to order.

Devising that sort of mash-up, which handles multiple data sources to produce a customized solution, is typically the province of a professional. But the new systems are designed, their creators say, so people with modest technical skills can tailor applications to their needs — while writing little or no code.

For now, the technology is free, as its creators race to sign up customers, extend their franchises and perhaps someday dominate the field. Some of the new systems are aimed at businesses, others at consumers who want to entertain themselves by creating games or ornamenting a blog.

Yahoo’s mash-up tool, Pipes, was introduced in February; no separate software plug-ins are required to try the technology.

Imitating someone else’s program on Pipes is a good way to get started, said Jonathan Trevor of Yahoo, who is one of Pipes’ creators. For instance, a user could start by choosing a sample mash-up that combines apartment listings in a neighborhood with addresses of nearby day care centers, then change the neighborhood and services as needed. “Pipes can be a gradual introduction to Web programming,” he said. “You can start by tweaking someone else’s program and then branch out on your own.”

People can view thousands of mash-ups, created by Pipes users, that are displayed on the site. One program starts with messages people send one another when participating in Second Life, the virtual world. The messages are combined with a translation service, Babel Fish, and converted to the recipient’s language, for example, English.

Pipes is currently in a testing phase. “We’re evolving and changing as people tell us what they need,” Dr. Trevor said.

Another new mash-up system, Popfly from Microsoft, was released in a test form in April. John Montgomery, a program manager on the Microsoft team building Popfly, and one of its originators, said his goal from the start was to build an entirely Web-based tool that ran on a browser, and was easy to use. “We wanted to make the programs so simple,” he said, “that people could use them without writing a line of code.”

Popfly’s target audience is consumers, starting with the MySpace generation. “We want to give them a rich set of tools,” he said, so that they can embed their favorite mash-ups on their Web pages. In a typical application, Popfly mashes together the feed from Twitter, a messaging service, with a tool that resolves the location of the twitterer into latitude and longitude and plots the information on Microsoft’s Virtual Earth. Then users can see exactly where their twittering friends are.

Popfly requires users to install extra software, called Silverlight, that creates striking, three-dimensional representations of the data that users drag and drop in a central area of the screen and combine to create mash-ups.

Mr. Montgomery said Popfly might eventually include advertising. “For now, though, it’s more about getting people to try the platform technology,” he said. People can sign up for invitations at www.popfly.com.

THE program from I.B.M., QEDWiki — the QED stands for quick and easily done — is aimed not at consumers, but at sales staff, accountants and others who need to mash up data from different sources to solve business problems.

Soon there will be a downloadable version of QEDWiki that companies can copy and use within their businesses, said Rod Smith, vice president for emerging Internet technologies at I.B.M.’s software group. For now, the program can be tried at http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/qedwiki.

I.B.M. has posted a 10-minute tutorial on YouTube that takes viewers through QEDWiki.

People want to be able to write programs to exploit new business opportunities, he said. “Companies have lots of databases they want to make mashable,” he said, “and share with their business partners.”

Blog For Google 3D Warehouse Part 3 (September Pick)

As many of you know, 3Dwalkthroughs.com will select our favorite 3D model each month from Greg Rose's blog which highlights new 3D building models as they are added to Google's 3D Warehouse.

Our monthly selection is based on an impressive: architecture, level of detail, level of realism etc.

For the month of September we have chosen Karigamombe Centre. We were particularly impressed with the refection of trees and clouds against the building.

Description
Designed by Clinton & Evans,Karigamombe Centre was completed in 1985. It is a 20-storey office block standing at a height 80 metres located at 53 Samora Machel Avenue in Harare Zimbabwe, It has an arcade which cuts through the building, providing a link for pedestrians to walk across the block, the building is also home to multiple retail units, restaurants anchored by a major bank. The Blue Marble Project is carefully building high quality digital 3D models from around the world. Blue Marble taps into the talent of world-class digital artists to deliver content streamlined for Google Earth, one building, city or district at a time. Want to see more of your world in 3D? Visit http://igloostudios.com/blue for a full listing of digital assets and services. Model created by Shingie Mtezo.