3D Deco - Transforming The Office Space into a Lasting First Impression

As big fans of interior design and architecture, 3Dwalkthroughs.com is constantly researching new technologies and services that are truly innovative.

South Africa based, 3D Deco has launched an innovative new service that is focused on creating unique and impressive office interiors. 3D Deco was founded in 2000 to create distinctive interior designs for launches, exhibitions, functions, large events as well as interior spaces.

According to a press release, their newest service involves the complete spatial enhancement of the office environment by incorporating 3D brand-focused solutions for an immersive branding experience, making that first contact with your clients a lasting one.

Their team is highly trained and will do a complete analysis of your working space, and provide a range of visual enhancements to suit your needs. From simple light fixtures and wall units, to a complete seamless transformation and wall to ceiling coverage, they promise to make your experience a memorable one.

Their décor is a permanent installation in your office space with a one year warrantee on the product. It meets fire and safety regulations with certification provided. Warrantee is void if damage of product is found to be the cause of negligence. All other cases will warrant full replacement or part specific.

Source: bizcommunity.com

Any company that is based in the very expensive NYC understands it is hard enough to make the rent, let alone being able to design an impressive office space. Assuming 3D Deco’s price is right, and the installations do not involve heavy construction, 3D Deco would probably do very well in NYC…especially in today’s market.

3D Floor Plans - A Great Tool For Furniture Companies

One of 3Dwalkthrough.com’s core products, the Custom 3D Floor Plan, is evolving into one of our best selling products. A couple of the reasons for this phenomenon is the versatility and value a 3D Floor Plan offers to many different industries.

In addition to the obvious sales and marketing value a 3D Floor Plan brings to residential, commercial, retail and hospitality real estate, we are finding that it is also being used for many other purposes.

Recently, we have been contacted by various furniture and interior design companies that are interested in using our 3D Floor Plans as a dynamic way of demonstrating their concepts. The fact that we can integrate realistic 3D models of their specific furniture lines into the virtually any type of room layouts, allows them create a very effective web-based show room.

We have read various reports and articles recently which suggest the home improvement industry will see an increased volume as the sales of new homes continues to slow. If this theory holds true, home improvement companies would be wise to consider adding innovative marketing materials, such as 3D Floor Plans, 3D Walkthroughs and 3D Renderings to their websites.

Crime 360- New Show on A&E Will Use 3D Graphics

I guess I had a lot of free time this weekend as this is my second post in two days that is based on something on I watched on TV. Today’s post is about a new show called CRIME 360 that is launching March 6th on the A&E channel. The cool part about the show is that it will use high end 3D technology to allow viewers to look at evidence in a similar way to a forensics expert at a high end crime lab.

The staff at 3Dwalkthroughs.com will certainly be watching CRIME 360 to see if there are any new effects and post production techniques we might be able to add to our current 3D Walkthroughs.

Below is a description of the show taken directly from A&E’s website, however, I would suggest checking out the site directly to view some of the cool 3D animations and learn how they were made. You can check out the website here>>.

About CRIME 360
Following in the footsteps of A&E’s innovative real-life investigative hit series THE FIRST 48, CRIME 360 re-invents the genre yet again with a brand new ground-breaking format. Never before on television have cutting-edge technology and high-end CGI (computer generated imagery) been combined with present-tense investigations - it’s a completely new way to experience real-life investigations as they unfold. CRIME 360 is the perfect blend of technology and immersive real-time edge-of-your seat suspense, as viewers see forensics and evidence in a way they’ve never been able to before.

Creating 3D Assets From Afar

3Dwalkthroughs.com is often contacted by developers located in different parts of the world wondering if the fact that we are in different locations will be an issue when building our 3D Walkthroughs, 3D Renderings and 3D Floor Plans.

The answer is absolutely not, provided the developer can deliver us reference pictures that clearly depict the furniture styles, finishing details, and overall interior design style they are going for. In addition, it is also helpful when we are provided with pictures of the areas/landmarks/community that surround the site where the property will be developed.

Assuming these pictures are available, we can create the 3D assets as accurate as if we were located in the same city. It is amazing to witness the reaction we get from foreign developers when we deliver the final assets of a project. They always cannot believe how accurate the final product is to the actual development, and how we are able to nail the overall feel of the local environment.

As fans of all different types of architecture, it is very interesting for us to work on projects in different parts of the world…keep the projects coming.

Realistic 3D Social Networking Coming Soon?

3Dwalkthroughs.com is in our final stages of preparing for the launch of 3Dvirtualvenues.com. As part of our preparation we are keeping our eyes out for new technologies that push the envelope with regards to the realism they achieve in 3D virtual environments.

We just recently came across an impressive new 3D platform, Nurien, that will begin a closed beta test in March 2008, with an official launch in Korea in the latter half of the year, followed by China toward the end of this year. Based on their sample on YouTube, Nurien, is certainly a company to watch.

“We wanted to create a social virtual world – sort of like a 3D MySpace – where users can create, collect, combine and share legacy media such as music, photos, video as well as 3D objects such as clothing, furniture, pets, cars and more, all in a beautiful 3D environment,” said Taehoon Kim, co-founder of Nurien Software. “We wanted to give users a powerful new vehicle for self-expression that breaks down real world limitations. We at Nurien believe that if people created homepages in the ‘90s to express themselves, and if they have migrated to blogging and using social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace today, then the next natural step will be to inhabit fun, virtual worlds with user-created avatars.”

Source: Gamingbits.com

One of the features that makes this technology so impresive is the natural movements of the avatars due to the assignment of unique physics values to body parts, hair and accessories like earrings, necklaces, bracelets, ties, gloves and skirts. Each component moves independently within the avatar environment, enabling characters to simulate realistic physical movements and take on lifelike personas.

We believe that once all the kinks of this technology are ironed out, it will be expanded from just a gaming application, to focus on real business to business applications. In addition, the adoption of 3D technology by corporate decision makers will continue to increase as the level of realism improves.

3Dwalkthroughs.com Awarded Project in the Rockaways

3Dwalkthroughs.com is excited to announce that it has been chosen to create the full branding solution for a new development project in Rockaway, New York.

The project will involve the creation of multiple 3D Renderings and 3D Floor Plans along with a fully branded website to will display these 3D assets.

The project is especially interesting to us because it takes place in one of the areas that we built our first virtual tour almost 6 years ago. The amount of development that has occured in the Rockaways since our first project in that area is amazing.

About The Rockaways
Located at the southernmost point in NYC, Rockaway is a beach community that offers many amenities that are not available elsewhere. Their long ocean beach and vast stretches of land make the community a decidedly “un-urban” environment. Called by some “New York’s hidden jewel”, it’s a unique community well worth the visit.

One of the main challenges the Rockaways have is the lack of easy access to Manhattan. We have heard rumors that a ferry is being planned to address this issue but we all know how long this type of things take to get approval.

We will be posting information about this new development as the assets are developed…stay tuned.

Toy Fair NYC 2008 - Is Everything Heading 3D and Virtual?

A friend of 3Dwalkthroughs.com debuted her Casey and Bella books and products at the Toyfair which began yesterday at the Javitz Center in NYC.

After walking around the exhibition hall, two things became very clear.
1) The Toy Fair would benefit from a 3D Virtual Trade Show platform to complement the real show.
2) Almost every new and existing product at the show has some sort of 3D virtual world technology integrated into the mix.

According to an article in CnnMoney internet plug-in toys make a physical toy virtual with a USB port that connects to a PC or a special pass code that comes with a toy and is typed in at a specific Web site.

Just to name a few, we witnessed vitual world technologu integrated into toys that could do the following: nurture pets, create fashion shows, race cars, and dress dolls.

Sourc: cnn.com

While toys may not exactly be our core competency, it was certainly interesting to see how big of a role 3D virtual world technology is playing in this multi-billion dollar industry. While some industries might adopt 3D virtual world technology sooner than others, we strongly believe it will be soon adopted, even by the industries that are “naysaying” it’s real business applications today.

3D Cameras To Improve Usability of Virtual Worlds?

The founder of Lotus 1-2-3 and also the Chairman of Second Life, Mitch Kapor, spoke at a recent meeting focused on the future of 3D virtual worlds. During his talk he predicted that 3D cameras will play a big part in improving the usability of virtual worlds.

Mr. Kapor refers to the technology seen in Minority as what we can expect to see in the next year or so. In the very near future, he predicts that 3D cameras will be built into computers much like regular 2D cameras are today.

Basically, 3D cameras would allow the virtual world software to interpret how users are moving in the real-world and to translate that movement into the software. That could mean, then, that if the user raises his or her hand, so too does their avatar.

“So, if I look to the left in the real world, I just want my avatar to look to the left,” Kapor said. “If I smile, I just want my avatar to smile. The cameras should be good enough to pick that up. I think we’re going to see an amazing jump in the sense of presence.”

Source: cnet.com

3Dwalkthroughs.com is just getting started creating a 3D virtual world/social networking platform that would be a perfect candidate for integrating the type of technology Mr. Kapor is predicting. We have seen a couple of other articles mentioning this type of technology in the past but have yet to see a good demonstration. If anyone has seen one, please let us know.

PowerUp - IBM Launches 3D Virtual Teaching Tool

It is no secret that IBM has future big plans for their 3D Virtual World technology. While this might not be the BIG announcement, today IBM launched a free multiplayer online game, PowerUp.

PowerUp’s goal is to challenge teenagers to help save the planet “Helios” from ecological disaster. The game is part of IBM’s TryScience initiative and will be launched at Engineer’s Week 2008 opening on February 16 in Washington, D.C. The game, which can be played alone or together, features a planet in near ecological ruin where three exciting missions for solar, wind and water power must be solved before sandstorms, floods or SmogGobs thwart the rescue.

Along with the game, there will be classroom lesson plans associated with the energy transformation topics and an interactive module where kids can learn about 3D technologies to build virtual worlds. To ensure a safe environment, “avatars” will use phrase-based chats to interact in missions.

Source: CNNmoney.com

IBM hopes the use of this 3D virtual world technology will help to encourage kids to learn about engineering principles and energy conservation.

“Innovation is the key to competitiveness in today’s globally integrated economy, but just when we need it to skyrocket, interest in math and science has been declining in the United States,” said Stanley S. Litow, VP of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs and President of IBM International Foundation. “American competitiveness demands more interest in math and science by students. Virtual worlds and 3D are an unexplored resource in education. We asked our best researchers to incorporate the use of this technology into traditional educational curriculum.”

3Dwalkthroughs.com believes IBM is the company to watch closely as the barometer for future capabilities of 3D world technology. With the amount of money and manpower IBM can put towards research and development they are sure to be one of the leading pioneers in this upcoming industry.

Well Done Traditional Marketing Materials Bring 3D Renderings to Life

3Dwalkthroughs.com is currently developing 3D Renderings for a client that is made up of one of the leading development and leading marketing companies in New York City. As part of the project we have been sitting in on the marketing meetings which have been compromised of vendors with different specialties.

Today’s meeting was interesting as it involved a review of some updates we made to the 3D renderings along with a review of the brochure design that would be used to market the property.

Before the meeting began I had the opportunity to chat briefly with the creative designer responsible for the new brochure. She showed me some of her previous projects and I was blown away. Each piece was like a coffee table book and not only efectively sold the property but also the community where the project was situated.

With the price of most new NYC condominiums easily exceeding the 1 Million dollar range, it is very important for the marketing materials to do their job from the first second the are viewed. During the meeting we discussed the overall feel that we were trying to achieve with the marketing materials. A few tweaks in terms of color and layout and I think the brochure is going to be a home run.

It is amazing how a well done brochure can compound the effectiveness of 3D Renderings and really make them come to life. If you are looking for a great creative mind that specializes in real estate marketing contact Lauren Schwartz at squarefeetdesign.com.