As of recently, new innovative ideas are being developed for the uses of three dimensional (3D) technology across many different industries. The 3D technology has been used by the automotive and aeronautics industries for the past two decades, but as the technology becomes more affordable and the graphics for the software become more realistic, other industries are looking to adopt and use it in new ways.
3D technology is surprisingly already beginning to be used in industries such as swimsuit apparel. The designer Lori Coulter uses the technology so that women no longer have to try on swimsuits but instead they go into a room where a scanner takes 140 measurements of their body and creates a 3D image which it then uses to select flattering styles for that person. The technology is also being used in the architecture and medical fields. “About 23,000 dentists worldwide are helping patients get crowns more quickly with a tool called Cerec, a computerized 3D system from dental technology company Sirona that takes a 3D scan of a tooth and automatically manufactures the final crown in one visit.”[i] In architecture, 3D technology has been used in the past for large scale projects such as dams and office buildings, but it someday could be used in the construction of houses and other smaller projects as the technology becomes cheaper and easier to use.
The video game industry has been a large inspiration for the 3D software that this new technology uses. Many video games allow the players to create unique three dimensional characters. Companies want to make using new 3D technology as simple as playing a video game. A company called [TC]² is using its scanners to scan a person and create a realistic avatar for them to use on the online virtual world of Second Life.
The potential of this technology is far reaching. In the future there may be scanners set up at the entrances of all clothing stores that immediately scan your body and show you a list of clothing options from which to choose. There may be a time in the near future when sitting at the dentist or orthodontist with molding in your mouth waiting for it to take form will not be customary. There may also come a time when designing a real house is as simple as playing a video game. All of these possibilities are on the horizon because of the new ideas that 3D technology and software are being applied to today.
[i] http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2008/tc2008103_215733_page_2.htm
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2 comments:
I was very shocked and almost disturbed when I first learned and heard about the concept of second life. Now, after reading the blog about the whole new world of 3D, I am even more shocked and yes, disturbed. With all of our current technology and considering the direction that our business world seems to moving it, the capabilities for change are truly endless. I believe that the world as we know it is rapidly changing and it may not all be for the better. People can live vicariously and dangerously through second life. People can get lazy in their professions, making clothes without even properly testing out the measurements on their clients. People, if they no longer are even required to wait in a doctor's office, will not learn patience and sooner or later expect this trend to carry over into everything that revolves waiting in a line.
If all of these things are possible, then it is scary how much of a different and "virtual" world we will live in. Is this new technology really giving us a competitive advantage?
I find a lot of the claims of this article to be very interesting. It is shocking how rapidly technology is changing but also somewhat scary. In some instances, I feel that this technology will be helpful. For example, if you needed a bathing suit fast and didn't have time to try one on, I don't see the harm in using the scanner to assign the appropriate size. However, in other cases, I wonder whether such technology will put people out of their jobs. It seems that the use of robots and other technologies are taking over many of mans jobs which is pretty unsettling. So, while the use of this technology may be time efficient and exciting in some areas of life, I am nervous to see how far we will take it in the future.
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