Happy Halloween from 3Dwalkthroughs.com

3Dwalkthroughs.com would like to wish all of our friends, family and clients a very safe and Happy Halloween. The picture above was taken at a dog park near our house.

The turnout for this years canine costume competition was a little thin compared to last year. With that said, it was still pretty funny. Some of the costumes are so ridiculous that I could swear that some of the dogs were blushing. I think Halloween is the one time of year that a even a dogs unconditional love might waiver.

House Plans For Sale - Using 3D Animations To Help Close The Deal

3Dwalkthroughs.com just came across a press release from a company that is using 3D animations to help sell their pre-drawn home plans. The company, TheHouseDesigners.com, recently launched a re-design of their website which includes 3D animations of many of their best selling plans.

In addition to the interior and exterior photos, exterior renderings and live chat housedesigners.com have previously offered on their site, users cannow view a 3D animation of the complete exterior of the house.

Coming soon to this 3D collection is an interactive feature that will allow consumers to change exterior surfaces, windows and doors, roofing, lighting and much more to customize and envision their dream home before it's built. Consumers can sign up for the Dream Design newsletter to be notified when this new interactive feature becomes available.

Source: thehousedesigners.com website

It is our belief that companies such as thehousedesigners.com, who are willing to innovate in this tough real estate climate, will come out on the other side in a much better position. Companies that sit on the sidelines are going to be left behind.

3D Modeling and Active Gaming

As 3Dwalkthroughs.com has mentioned in previous posts, one of the biggest underlying themes of the Club Industry show in Chicago was the focus on the youth fitness movement. Many of the exhibitors we visited at the show were either launching brand new products geared towards this population or displaying upgrades to their existing lines.

During the show we had the opportunity to speak with the lead 3D modeler of the Xrkade company, Scarlett Burns. Xrkade is one of the leading names in the Active Gaming market and drew some of the biggest crowds at the show.

Scarlett was kind enough to give us a demonstration of a few of their new product prototypes. The first demo was a boxing game that utilized a motion sensing camera to tranlsate punches and kicks thrown by the user to the heavy bag on the screen. I was impressed by how sensitive the camera was in relation to my actual movement, and could totally see how 30 minutes of this activity could result in quite a workout. (As a side note, advances in motion sensor technology are happening very quickly and this will only improve the interactive experience exponentially)

The second demo was of a football game that utilized the same camera to translate a users movements to the actions of a quarterback. The demo of the football game also showed a lot of potential, although it was obvious that some of the kinks still need to be worked out.

The 3D modelling driving these new Xrkade games is quite impressive. Scarlett and her team have been able to achieve a very impressive level of realism considering the processing speeds that are required to make these games interactive.

Aside from a very cool use of 3D technology, we are extremely impressed with Xrkade because of the admirable nature of their cause. Youth obesity is rising at epidemic levels and companies like Xrkade who are attacking this issue head on should be praised for their efforts.

Extremely Realistic 3D Heart Animation

Did you ever see something that was so gross that it makes your teeth hurt? Well the following story is not quite that bad but it is close.

3Dwalkthroughs.com found a story about a 3D animation of a heart that was created by an animation company called Glassworks for the London Heart Hospital. The 3D animation shows an unbelievably realistic representation of the activitiy within a healthy heart.

The animation is helpful as it shows the heart cleaned up without all the blood and...I am making myself sick.

The animation can be found here>> at Gizmodo.com. I would like to say that this is one of those must see posts, but make sure you are not queezy before you watch.

3D Interactive Information Wall

If you have read our blog over the last few days you are aware that 3Dwalkthroughs.com took a trip to Chicago to promote Fitspott at the Club Industry trade show.

On our way back home, I was literally stopped in my tracks when I walked by a very cool 3D interactive display that passengers where using to check weather, news, sports scores and other information. (actual photo is from my blackberry)

The interactive 3D display was sponsored by Accenture and the items on the screen were manipulated similar to how Tom Cruise interacted with his computer in Minority Report.

Here is a description of the 3D interactive wall from Accenture's website.

What Is It?
The interactive wall is a scalable in size, networked, high resolution, touch screen interface. It gives users the "big picture," whether in a strategic decision-making context or a retail and advertising environment. By mimicking the Web in its ability to track usage patterns and user preferences, the interactive wall offers personalized, targeted, information while integrating with other networked or mobile devices to create innovative solutions for users and organizations alike.

The interactive wall's super-sized, physical screen combines with Accenture's groundbreaking patent-pending software to deliver greater insight, faster. Whether applied to advise consumers about products and services or employed to act as a nerve center for command and control operations, the interactive wall is more than just a pretty face.

Source: Accenture Website

3Dwalkthroughs.com in Chicago Day 2

Before the second day of the 2008 Club Industry trade show, I had about 3 hours to walk around downtown Chicago and check out the sights. It is amazing how certain areas looked and even felt exactly like Manhattan.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the architecture was quite diverse and very interesting. There was actually an architectural boat tour that travelled through the canals of the downtown area, pointing out some of the cooler buildings.

The picture above was taken in Millenium park. It reveals a sculpture dubbed the Chicago Bean created by Anish Kappor.

Chicago Illinois - The Cloud Gate Sculpture at Millennium Park: "The Bean"
Cloud Gate is British artist Anish Kapoor's first public outdoor work installed in the United States. The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect the city's famous skyline and the clouds above. A 12-foot-high arch provides a "gate" to the concave chamber beneath the sculpture, inviting visitors to touch its mirror-like surface and see their image reflected back from a variety of perspectives.

Source: Cirrusimage.com

3Dwalkthroughs.com will definitely be visiting Chicago again soon although probably not until the spring. The word on the street was that the winters are brutally cold...not for me.

3Dwalkthroughs.com in Chicago

As we mentioned in our last post 3Dwalkthroughs.com was heading off to the windy city to attend the 2008 Club Industry trade show. The goal of the trip was to introduce Fitspott to some of the biggest and most innovative companies in the health and fitness industry.

The first day of the show was very productive and we received a lot of positive feedback from our meetings. For more specifics on the show you can visit the Fitspott blog.

After the meeting I had an opportunity to walk around downtown Chicago. What I was able to see of the city was exactly what I had heard from people that have been here before. It has very cool and diverse architecture and was a smaller (but cleaner) version of New York City.

The picture above was taken from a bridge (on my blackberry) and gives a small example of downtown Chicago. The building on the far right is interesting because the first 10 or so floors are all parking. If you look carefully you can see cars sticking out of the floors.

The show today does not start for another 3 hours so I am going to venture out with a real camera this time and will check in tomorrow with some better images.

Fitspott will be attending Club Industry 2008 in Chicago

3Dwalkthroughs.com is excited about the upcoming week as we will be joining the Fitspott team in Chicago to attend the 2008 Club Industry trade show. The show brings together some of the biggest product and service providers of the entire health and fitness industry.

The Club Industry trade shows are always interesting as many companies use them as a venue to introduce new products. The show is also a very good way to get a pulse on new health and fitness trends that are coming up the pike. Every show seems to offer a subtle theme that permeates throughout the health and fitness industry for months after the show.

I have heard great things about the city of Chicago and hope to get some time to do a little exploring between meetings. In the days leading up to the show we are finalizing our meeting schedule, but are happy to squeeze in additional meetings if companies have an interest.

We will be reporting live from the show on Friday and Saturday. Tune in for what's new and exciting in the world of health and fitness.

CityWall - Very Cool 3D Interface

3Dwalkthroughs.com came across an interesting project in Helsinki, Finland which boasts a very cool 3D interface.

The project is called CityWall is a large multi-touch 3D display installed in a central location in Helsinki which presents images, videos, descriptions and discussions on how nature in Helsinki benefits and disturbs dwellers.

The exhibition aims to evoke discussion e.g. on what nuisances people should just adapt themselves to, what nuisances they should fight or control, how different nuisances can be prevented and how benefits of nature can be improved.


Image and Content Source: City Wall Website

CityWall is not just an offline line effort. Photos that are tagged with helsinki, citywall or cwhki are automatically downloaded from photo-sharing site Flickr. These photos are then become part of the experience offered by CityWall.

It is worth while to check out the CityWall website to learn more about this innovative project.

3D Social Media Application To Be Used to Promote Corporate Wellness Program

3Dwalkthroughs.com came across a story on marketwatch.com about a 3D social media application being developed to help promote a corporate wellness program/product offered by Muve, Inc.

According to the story, our friends at Wyndstorm have been selected to create a 3D social media application to support Muve's goal of tackling rising health care costs in the workplace.

"Muve has a goal to reverse the obesity epidemic in the United States and globally," said Wyndstorm CEO Marian Sabety. "To successfully achieve this mission, outreach must be effective, lifestyle education must be easy, and reinforcement must be fun. Wyndstorm is pleased to contribute to this important undertaking. Applying our experience in social media technologies and online promotions will enable us to design innovative online engagement that incorporates interactive entertainment for creative programming so Muve users are encouraged and supported."

Source: marketwatch.com

Muve, Inc. actually has a very interesting product offering called the Gruve. The Gruve provides users with a personalized, quantifiable measure of their activities and the calories they burn throughout their day.

The Gruve uses an omnidirectional accelerometer to measure activity intensity and duration. Synchronizing the Gruve device with the Gruve web site gives users the ability to view their own daily calorie burn and track their weight loss progress.

We are very interested to see the end product that will be delivered by Wyndstorm. With the financial crisis worsening by the day, corporate wellness programs aimed at decreasing health care costs are ripe to see tremendous growth.

Image and Content Source: muveinc.com website

Developing a cost effective interactive media platform definitely offers companies the potential to improve the adoption and retention of wellness programs by their employees.

ESPN - Video Game Technology Allows Analysts To Interact with 3D Virtual Players

EA Sports and ESPN have joined forces to offer a really cool technology that allows analysts to interact with 3D virtual players. The technology called Sports Virtual Playbook allows the commentator to stand in the middle of a virtual football field and talk through plays as they develop.

Sports Virtual Playbook launched on September 7th and will be used throughout the season on Monday NFL Countdown and NFL Live.

EA SPORTS Virtual Playbook is created using feeds from in-studio real-world cameras as well as an in-game camera that captures EA SPORTS in-game graphics depicting real game scenarios. The real-world studio and game images of virtual characters are combined to create the effect of “augmented reality” -- virtual players appearing in the studio alongside real life hosts and analysts. Both real and virtual people are able to move realistically around the studio set to demonstrate plays and scenarios. The system accommodates, and in fact is controlled by, the multiple real-world cameras that are typical in today’s sports analysis television programs.

Source: Gamesindustry.biz

As big football fans, and big fans of anything that utilizes innovative 3D technology, 3Dwalkthroughs.com is pumped about this 3D technology. It really does make watching some of the analysts more interesting and also might make things a little clearer for people that do not really understand football that well.

How will 3D Animation Companies Fare in The Financial Crisis?

How quickly will 3D animation companies feel the pain from the economic crisis? As we can only speak for 3Dwalkthroughs.com our answer is...almost immediately. We have already had a few big projects put on hold as the development projects themselves have been stalled.

It is now about 1:40 on Monday afternoon and the Dow Jones has dropped below 10,000 points for the first time in 4 years. The markets have come to the sobering realization that the Bush administration's $700 billion rescue plan won't work quickly to unfreeze the credit markets, and that many banks are still having difficulty gaining access to cash. That's caused investors to exit stocks and move money into the relative safety of government debt.

Source: AOL Money and Finance

My friends/clients that are in the real estate industry, from landlords to developers, have never been so bearish on the near term future of the economy. While a spotted few are saying this is a normal downturn in the markets, most are fearful that we are heading into a recession.

If property development slows down or comes to a halt altogether, 3D animation companies will be forced to adapt by shifting their focus to other industries that require 3D animation or looking for work in foreign companies.

Either way, almost all industries are in for some challenging times, how will yours survive?

3D Technology Can Help Promote Exercise To Our Youth

Below is a recent press release from Fitspott. The press release touches on the use of 3D technology and other interactive exergaming products to target the youth obesity epidemic.

3Dwalkthroughs.com and the rest of the fitspott team have been speaking with some of the biggest companies offering this type of technology to see how we can use the fitspott platform to maximize their exposure.

How do we promote health and fitness to a demographic that is more interested in being on the computer than investing in their health? With the surplus of available health and fitness information, how can the obesity levels of our youth have doubled in the last decade?

Today’s most popular social networking sites have effectively captured the attention of our younger generation, making social networking one of the most effective communication tools in the last 10 years. The time has come to leverage this power to promote health and fitness to our youth.

Fitspott, a social networking platform for health and fitness, will launch the beta version of its site in Mid-September. One of the primary goals of Fitspott, is to organize the very large and convoluted health and fitness industry into easy to navigate sub-communities of members with similar interests, goals, skills, desires and needs. One of the targets markets Fitspott will service in this effort is the youth market.

“We see a tremendous opportunity to promote the many available fun and interactive health and fitness options to our younger generation through a platform they can relate to. Providing our youth with an ability to join an online community of members with similar interests and goals can help to motivate our youth and provide them with the knowledge that they are not alone with their issues” says David Gise, Co-Founder of Fitspott.

The Fitspott team is made up of a group of highly motivated and diverse entrepreneurs, athletes and creative minds. “We have scoured the internet, educating ourselves on the pros and cons of existing social networks, and have committed to using this knowledge to create the most powerful, yet easy to use platform for all of our members” says Erin Hurry, Co-Founder of Fitspott.

Fitspott will reach out to schools, coaches and the other influencing bodies to help promote the Fitspott platform and its benefits. Perhaps one of the biggest causes of the increasing obesity rate of our youth, the time spent in front of the computer, can actually have the biggest impact on curbing this trend.

3D Virtual Community Built To Promote the New Ford Fiesta

3Dwalkthroughs.com came across a story about a 3D virtual community which was built to promote the new Ford Fiesta. The 3D community incorporate some pretty cool 3D animation and is definitely worth checking out.

The 3D virtual city called 'This is now' created by MSN to bring the spirit of 'now' concept to life. The dynamic 3D city encourages users to interact with the site whilst travelling around it, through news, quizzes and videos. The site will also be host to exclusive content from ITV's Fashion Show as well live gigs from some of the hottest bands around and a brand new web drama Neon Candy exclusive to 'This is now'.

This innovative campaign was developed by the advertising agencies, Ogilvy, Mindshare, and Wunderman and the campaign will run until the end of the year.

Content Source: Searchbyheadlines.com

Image Source: This is Now Website

A link to the website can be found here>>