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HoloLens is helping engineers visualize building blueprints
With its ability to give the real world a digital assist, mixed reality can be much more useful than the insular cocoon of VR. Microsoft is showing again how HoloLens can help designers via a collaboration with the University of Cambridge's construction IT lab. "We've never been able to bring 3D models from buildings and bridges off our screens and onto the real structure," says Cambridge's Ionnis Brilakis. Using the HoloLens, however, engineers can overlay a design onto a real world bridge or building (or vice-versa), making inspections simpler and safer.
Google sells SketchUp to Trimble Navigation for undisclosed sum
While we're probably more accustomed to Google buying assets than selling them 'round here, every now and again the search giant does shed some skin. El Goog's 3D modeling platform, SketchUp, is to be sold to Trimble Navigation for an undisclosed sum reports Reuters. Trimble says it's hoping to use the acquisition to enhance its office-to-field platform. The two firms will also work together to develop SketchUp's online repository of 3D models for designers to use, share and contribute to. SketchUp's blog reassures users that the free version won't change under the move. The deal should get the final nod in Q2 this year.
WikiHouse promises printable homes, work for the world's idle CNC routers
If you want something done right, do it yourself. That includes building a house, but that's a project out of reach for many DIYers. Enter WikiHouse, a community for open-source home designs. There you can mix and match architectural plans using Google SketchUp; once you've settled on your dream home, just print to your waiting CNC router and start building. That's the idea, anyway: the site's still under construction, with the designers planning to debut the first WikiHouse in September during South Korea's Gwangju Design Biennale 2011. Sure, it certainly won't be as flashy as Electronic House's Home of the Year, where wall-mounted iPads control the shower temperature, or Sharp's prototype zero-emission house, with its 180-inch LCD. But does suggest a new, DIY way of thinking about the "home of the future."
Google almost certainly creating multi-user virtual world
World of Googlecraft? GoogleQuest? Pirates of the Google Sea? No, really. It could happen. Sort of.Apparently Google isn't satisfied with how massive it is already; the tech juggernaut might be developing a virtual online world. Okay, so it probably won't really be an MMORPG per say, but it could be something similar to Second Life. Rumors of the project have been gaining momentum for a while now, and we here at Massively are laying out all the evidence right here for you to see.
TurboSketch bundles SketchUp for retail
If you secretly harbor the desire to design in 3D, you've probably already downloaded and explored Google SketchUp, the free-slash-500-dollar modeling tool from our buddies on the G-team that allows you to put your virtual buildings right into Google Earth. Now, as seen at Macworld, there's an interesting product that combines the free version of SketchUp 6 with lighting and rendering modules to produce something new: TurboSketch Studio from IMSI/Design. This is a retail product (boxed and download) available in standard and pro versions for $100 and $250; the "show discount," good through the end of the month, drops the prices to $70 and $150 respectively.The IMSI crew has the vintage TurboCAD program in the stable, so this seems like a fairly natural line extension. According to the product info, this is the first retail bundle for a Google application; it's certainly the first one I can think of for the Mac. It's not shipping yet, and the IMSI website seems to be in the reorganization process, but If we can get our mitts on a review copy we'll let you know how it rolls.[via MacTech]
Google releases SketchUp for Mac OS X
Of course, with the Universal release of Google Earth, Google has also kicked out a Mac OS X version of their recently-purchased SketchUp, a 3D modeling app for the masses. If you need a quick explanation, here's one as good as any from their site: "Adding a deck? Remodeling your kitchen? From simple to detailed, conceptual to realistic, Google SketchUp (free) lets you populate the world with true 3D objects."This latest release also now supports textures, so "creating textured models is as easy as taking a photo and applying it to a 3D model". Sounds like a good time. Perhaps even better than SketchUp coming to Mac OS X is the fact that a powerful version is offered for free, while the pro version costs $495.[thanks to everyone who sent this in]
SketchUp free
Hot on the heels of being acquired by Google, the fine folks that make SketchUp have released a free version. Now, at the moment it is Windows only, but a Mac version is coming soon (and I bet it'll be sooner than most Mac products from Google).The new version, called Google SketchUp (free), is slightly different than SketchUp Pro 5 (which isn't free). The free version is only for personal use, and you can't do things like print or export to a Quicktime movie, but you also can't beat the price.[via Barkings]
Google Buys @Last, Developer of SketchUp
Google's on an acquisition trend, having just purchased Writely, an online word processor, likely to compete with the Microsoft Office monopoly. And today, @Last Software, developers of the excellent 3D/CAD design software SketchUp, announced their acquisition by the search engine giant. The developers have posted a FAQ which should answer many of the burning questions SketchUp users might have. Recently, @Last developed a Google Earth plug-in that allows you to view your 3D models directly in their real environments inside Google Earth.I wonder if this is another move for Google into releasing their own operating system, as has been rumored for some time now. They're actively acquiring desktop applications, resources, and programmers to make such a move. A free Google Linux, or even a suite of Google Web 2.0 applications that run on the platform independent Internet, would be an interesting competitor to Microsoft's stranglehold on the desktop marketplace.
Google Earth plugin for SketchUp
SketchUp has teamed up with Google to create a beta plugin for SketchUp (a very cool drafting program). Why is this cool? You can create a building in SketchUp and place that drawing in its context in Google Earth. This is a very powerful concept and I'm sure lots of small Mac shops are rejoicing about this plugin.