BUSINESS LETTER
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News |
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Walt Disney Studios pins its hopes on “Cars” success.
Disney hopes its new animated film “Cars” will validate the decision of Disney Studios’ CEO Bob Inger, who spearheaded the acquisition of Pixar Studios in the first quarter of 2006. With this move, Inger expects to “reanimate” the animation business division of Disney. However, with the restrained box-office takings of “Cars” during the critical first few weeks, analysts expressed scepticism as to whether “Cars” could fulfil the high expectations. “If the film returns less than US $60 million at the box-office it would be disappointing – gaining more than 80 million would be a surprise”, said one US analyst. “Toy Story” (1995), “A Bug’s Life” (1998), “Ice Age” (2002), and “Shrek” (2004) currently rank amongst the most successful animated films of all time.
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Real-time 3D plants for GIS.
During the recent conference “IT Profits” in Berlin, the winners of the “Best Practice Contest 2006” were announced. In the category of “Geo Information” the honours were awarded to the French company Lenné 3D GmbH, a spin-off from Zuse Institut, based in Berlin (ZIB). With their application “Lenné 3D-Plantage module”, extending LandXplorer(TM) developed by software company 3D Geo GmbH, digital city and terrain models can be visualized with real-time, photo-realistic 3D plants. To date, it has been difficult to represent plants convincingly and rapidly in a real-time 3D environment.
idw-online.de/pages/de/news159317 |
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Digital factory – from model to simulation.
Digital planning is the big theme of modern production management and factory processing. Some years ago “parallel product and production planning” was a mere vision, whereas today it has become a reality in many companies. In a July 13 workshop, experts presented currently deployed applications alongside the potential benefits and challenges of digital factories at the Virtual Dimension Center (VDC) in Fellbach, Germany. The main focus of the VDC is to establish a collaborative network of diverse industry partners under the general heading of “Digital product development and virtual reality”. Bitmanagement is one of the partner companies involved in the VDC.
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University of Stuttgart merging science and real-time 3D visualization.
Cutting-edge 3D computer graphics and scientific arithmetic will be united within the recently announced Visualization Institute of the University of Stuttgart (VISUS). “In this institute we will represent large data sets and complex scientific subjects with interactive 3D graphics and animation”, said principal of the university, Dieter Fritsch. The focus of VISUS, according to the institute’s head Thomas Ertl, will be the whole area of scientific visualization.
cordis.europa.eu/baden-wuerttemberg |
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Announcements |
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Application development eased with Prototypes.
Bitmanagement will soon offer a fully documented X3D “Prototype” library, thereby simplifying the process of application development. The library will include approximately 150 prototypes, which encapsulate common but tedious programming tasks (like user interface design, for example) into customizable, “drag ’n’ drop” nodes. The Bitmanagement Prototype library aims to reduce development time and maximize return on investment for customers developing 3D and multimedia content projects.
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BS Contact Geo to market for Intergeo.
To coincide with the Intergeo Fair (10-12 October, 2006) in Munich, Bitmanagement will release its visualization software, BS Contact Geo. Intergeo is the world’s largest congress fair for geodesy, geo information and land management. Our ISO standards-based 3D software enables geo visualization in real-time, both locally and over the Internet. Bitmanagement will be in attendance and exhibiting at booth no. C2.2638.
www.bitmanagement.com/bscontactgeo |
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“How to” guide simplies BS Contact VRML/X3D 3D usage.
Comprehensive guidance is provided in a new tutorial for BS Contact VRML/X3D, which will be available soon on the Bitmanagement website. It presents additional instructions as to how our 3D software can be integrated into customer projects and is written in a style suited for guided classroom use. The tutorial was developed in response to user requests and feedback.
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Technology news |
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BS Contact VRMlL/X3D – 7.0 Multimedia release Notes.
To introduce the new version 7.0 of BS Contact VRML/X3D, the release notes (linked below) showcase the new features and enhancements now available to developers and end-users alike. The technical documentation in the release notes the enhanced possibilities and extended capabilities of the BS Contact VRML/X3D software.
BS Contact VRML/X3D 7.0 Release Notes |
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PowerPoint presentations with BS Contact VRML/X3D.
Now that it is possible to integrate real-time 3D directly into PowerPoint, presentations can be designed with greater impact, richer information and more professionalism, thereby maintaining audience interest and improving message retention. See the link below for details on how to embed BS Contact within PowerPoint. |
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BS Contact supports geometry occlusion.
The following demo illustrates a 3D object (robot), moving freely in and interacting with a photographic environment (factory building). It proves that the new OccluderGroup node allows content authors to seamlessly integrate real-world photos and video with 3D scenes to create convincing augmented reality applications. By specifying invisible occlusion geometry, other 3D objects in the scene appear to pass behind elements within a background photo or video, thereby enhancing realism. Often, extended reality (augmented reality) is applied to process simulation, where this technology saves time, lowers costs and minimizes downtime when applying or changing the production process. It serves to enhance competitive advantage in a tough global marketplace.
www.bitmanagement.com/occlusion |
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BS Contact Mobile brings X3D to Windows Mobile devices.
The new BS Contact Mobile 1.0 replaces the beta testing version and addresses the growing demand to make interactive, real-time 3D animations viewable on all mobile, Internet-aware devices. BS Contact Mobile enables the visualization of 3D virtual reality and augmented reality applications on mobile devices via the ISO standard formats X3D and VRML. It currently supports the Interchange profile of X3D, with partial support for the Interactive profile. The software is a stable and high performance visualization solution for handheld devices running the Windows Mobile operating system. |
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Feedback from the Web3D Symposium
Sandy Ressler from the NIST, attended the Web3D 2006 Symposium on April 18-21. He recently wrote an open letter to the X3D Public List reviewing his experience.
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"I have to mention one paper in particular... Herbert Stocker from Bitmanagement presented a talk on his paper innocuously titled: 'Linear Filters - Animating Objects in a Flexible and Pleasing Way'. Stocker presented the whole talk using a customized version of BS Contact that implemented the new nodes he had designed. The entire talk consisted of 3D examples of him using these new nodes which allow for highly dynamic animations that respond to the user's actions. Little balls follow the cursor and objects respond and animate all over the screen. It was the most impressive 3D talk I've seen in years!" "What was most impressive to me was that it was clearly implemented in a rock solid browser. We've been putting together VRML animations that respond to user actions for years but they always seem to have nasty boundary conditions and jerky responses for example using a VCR type of control to control the animation and move it forward or reverse and so on. There are always problems. The Stocker presentations was completely solid and responded in exactly the way one would expect and there were no glitches whatsoever." |
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New products |
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BS Off-Screen Library delivers interactivity for massive real-time calculations.
Supercomputers are no longer required to achieve real-time responses based on accurate computation involving large amounts of data. Bitmanagement now offers the powerful BS Off-Screen Library to customers who wish to exploit the power of their graphics card’s hardware directly to accelerate computing. The BS Off-Screen Library goes one step further than the BS SDK application interfaces (APIs) when it comes to development capabilities. It consists of a set of OpenGL classes in C++ source code that interface directly to the low level graphics rendering capabilities of modern graphics cards. Therefore, computationally intensive and costly calculations such as matching algorithms can be performed in a very fast way directly on the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) rather than using the Central Processing Unit (CPU) of the computer. The results of these computations can then be handed to the rendering pipeline of BS Contact VRML/X3D for visualization. The company Metaio (Garching, near Munich), one of the frontrunners in the area of augmented reality applications in the automotive industry, already uses the BS Off-Screen-Library, particularly for computer aided maintenance and service applications.
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Applications |
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BS Contact version 7.0 applied on German Catholic Day.
BS Contact 7.0 teamed with stereo displays from Spatial View has been employed during German Catholic Day 2006 in Strasbourg. The goal was to present 3D examples for an upcoming virtual documentary covering the papacy. One prime example was a model of St. Peter’s cathedral displayed using version 7.0 of the 3D multimedia software from Bitmanagement and the 5-layer 3D display with 1900 x 1200 pixel resolution from Spatial View. “We were already impressed during Cebit 2006 by the quality of the display and the 3D software driving it. Also, the public was noticeably enthralled by the quality of the presentations. This content is also used for an upcoming 3D animated documentary entitled “2000 Years Papacy” (from Petrus – around the year 67 – to Pope Benedict XVI), which aims to give viewers a better understanding of the history of the papacy. Thanks to the 3D technology of Bitmanagement we have created a new, modern synergy between technology and theology”, said Franz Böhmisch, managing director of Animabit Multimedia Software GmbH (Thyrnau). The DVD market release is expected in July 2006.
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Virtual Reality employment with Bernd Kussmaul GmbH.
Bernd Kussmaul GmbH (Weinstadt, Germany) is one of the most notable manufacturers of special, precision components for mechanical, automotive, medical and aerospace engineering (for example the company supplies parts for the Airbus 380). In its manufacturing process the company utilizes 3D technologies for changes and adjustments in the development, planning and production life cycle of a product. The company thus lowers the high costs and time expenditure that can occur. By the employment of visualization, simulation and virtual reality, important analysis and optimizations can be accomplished in very early phases of the product’s emergence – long before the first prototypes are built or tools for production are manufactured.
www.ebigo.de/unternehmensbereiche/fallbeispiel |
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Web 3D Case studies online.
The website of the Web 3D Consortium, the standardization organization for the X3D and VRML formats, is now highlighting two case studies based the 3D software BS Contact VRML/X3D. The first, “incident management”, demonstrates the real-time availability of data in the event of an emergency and the second showcases an interactive diamond simulation to enhance online selling. These two completely different projects illustrate the breadth of applications possible with and currently developed by customers of BS Contact VRML/X3D.
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Fairs/exhibitions/forums |
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Bitmanagement at the “Days of Science” in Magdeburg.
The 9th “Science Days” event at the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation focused on the topic “Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality for planning, tests and operation of technical systems”. Bitmanagement had a booth at the event where company representatives demonstrated the new enhancements in BS Contact VRML/X3D 7.0 and discussed the usage and benefits of the platform for virtual and augmented reality applications.
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The Final WordNetworking. The 9th “Science Days” at the Fraunhofer Institute in Magdeburg provided convincing proof that virtual and augmented reality are unquestionably hot topics, which are firmly established both in the scientific/academic worlds and in the commercial marketplace. The symposium kept busy with these technologies, discussing new trends and developments in the fields of virtual engineering, digital factories and simulation in virtual worlds – covering the specializations of automotive, mechanical, construction, process, aerospace, maritime and medical engineering technology. “Science Days makes a contribution to networking between researchers, developers, universities and enterprise”, wrote Professor Dr. Ing. habil. Michael Schenk, head of the Fraunhofer Institute. It was therefore not surprising that the institute collaborates with the Otto-von-Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany. Other notable exhibitors and attendees of the symposium included Bosch, Daimler Chrysler, Siemens, Volkswagen, Opel (General Motors) as well as a sizeable contingent of medium-sized companies such as Jenoptik, Karl Storz and also many universities. For Magdeburg itself the event offered the great opportunity to present itself in their “year of science” as a prominent center for virtual technologies – a benefit to the region and all of Germany. Undoubtedly the network, of which Professor Schenk gladly makes mention, works. Yours Axel Koerfer For any questions, comments or suggestions in relation to
the Bitmanagement business letter please send us an e-mail. Please visit our forum if you have a technical issue
you’d like to share or discuss with other 3D professionals.
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This business letter is an offer of: |
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