Via WorldCAD (Link) comes word that Google is apparently integrating some of the previously professional-level drawing tools into their free version of the Google Earth application. From the GE 4 beta page (Link):

We have improved icon management by creating a new icon palette, added line and polygon drawing tools to our free product, added the ability to print search results and placemarks, made it easier to select icons that are overlapping, and much more.
…
Drawing Tools: The path and polygon drawing tools are now available in the free product. You can easily sketch figures on the imagery for richer annotations and can share these overlays as KML or KMZ files. These features can be accessed from the toolbar.

One wonders at what point there’ll even be a paid version.

When I first learned about sandcasting, I’m almost certain that the seemingly wacky thought “Hey, you could do this at the beach” entered the minds of half the people in my class. Well, here’s someone who has done exactly that. Designer Max Lamb shows (Link) how he cast a pewter stool at the beach in a series of images. Interesting.

via PingMag

{Image Copyright © Max Lamb}

For the past few weeks I’ve been observing with detached interest the hype – and discussion about the hype – surrounding the Second Life virtual world application. From statistics that have been questionable for many months, to the non-stop “we’re first” publicity announcements by clueless advertising and marketing noobs, there’s a whole lot that’s being missed by people either generating the hype or focusing too much on it. Namely, whether it’s Second Life or Open Croquet or Multiverse or There or a future avatarized Google Earth or MS Virtual Earth or something not yet on our collective radars, the bottom line is that a three-dimensionally rendered interface is extraordinarily compelling and will be the way people access the internet in the near future. Which means that much of the current debate surrounding SL is worthless. And thankfully, someone in the mainstream media is saying as much.
Continue reading →

I’d scanned too quickly over the news of Adidas’ new store on BW (Link), so it was the breakdown on the Mass Customization blog (Link) that got me looking for something like… well… the video above. I was most interested in finding what the Mass Custom blog mentioned in the following:

A large glossy, black cube is the focal point of the center. Here, customers can customize their own “mi adidas”, using now a larger flat-screen configurator to alter the details of the shoes by simply pointing a finger to the screen. Laser and infra-red technology then translate the gestures into commands.

That sounds somewhat like the customization system that Reebok (acquired by and now a part of Adidas) is using inside the Second Life virtual world (reLink). I suppose we should once again be on the lookout for a link between a virtual customization tool and a real one; to my knowledge, the Nike iD-NBA 2k6 one never materialized.

By way of traffic being sent here from a post over on the MIT Advertising Lab blog, I made my way over to a short article on Fortune titled “A factory of one’s own” (Link) which discusses the future of manufacturing and the growth in personal fabrication. Nothing really new, but still worth a read (all news on personal fabrication is good news at this stage). I’d also suggest reading the AdLab post (Link) as it includes a portion of an essay that carries this into areas about which I frequently post: the intersection of this technology with business. I like the way advertising is called out as a layer of meta-data sitting on top of the truly necessary information; and as such how it could be easily discarded. There’s plenty to consider and plenty to discuss. Hopefully we’ll see more coverage in the press and in the blogosphere.