Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
content.” Think about what that means for virtual worlds for a minute. The options for designing and model-
ing your own custom worlds, containing touch interactive elements, and downloading real versions of your
digital creations increase every year. Virtual versions of the itting room, the test drive, or a night on the
beach are waiting for further development, and with that progress will come new employment opportunities
for virtual designers.
17.2
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND NEW DESIGN METHODOLOGIES
In the automotive world, designs for new cars are made by utilizing design technologies that span 40,000
years. Starting with a rough drawing (a method that started with prehistoric cave art), the car designer
moves the design to a computer model, and from that a full-size car is made from clay utilizing human- and
machine-created sculpture [5]. Designers in all practices have an enormous selection of tools and techniques
available to them. Let's look at a few of the newer ones.
17.2.1
l
aser
s
Canning
and
3d m
odel
m
aKing
Why do you need to model something that already exists when it can be scanned? You should not have
to undergo the tedious process of re-creating something digitally if you are willing to try some of the
consumer-based technologies available like Autodesk's 123D Catch, Reconstruct Me, and KScan3D. For a
higher level of scanning over much larger areas, a LIDAR (light detection and ranging) system is used. These
scans are made to map archeological sites, subterranean caverns, and landscapes. With the digital informa-
tion in these scans, virtual objects can be created to it seamlessly onto real landscapes in the composite
image, such as the castle in the background of your favorite fantasy television show [6,7].
17.2.2
d
igiTal
p
rinTing
and
f
aBriCaTion
The 3D printing “revolution” is just starting. With the popularity of this technology and the relative
affordability of the printers, like Buccaneer, Printrbot Simple, and Makibox A6 LT, a designer with
knowledge of 3D modeling and 3D print preparation can have a product prototype-making machine right
in his or her own studio. Or, the designer can start a business selling original 3D models in the 3D print-
ing marketplaces.
17.2.3
a
ugmenTed
r
ealiTy
and
i
mmersiVe
e
nVironmenTs
If you are a designer of large things like houses and landscapes, augmented reality (AR) and immersive
head-mounted displays are probably of interest to you. These technologies are also undergoing substantial
development. The Junaio application can be downloaded to your phone for viewing virtual objects in your
real surroundings, and the Metiao company provides a platform for developing all sorts of AR applications.
The Oculus Rift has some potential for providing the designer with a way to display his or her 3D designs,
such as an architectural walk-through of a CG house that has been loaded onto the Unity platform.
It is not much of a stretch to think of Google Glass providing us with an architectural overlay illing in the
details on your new house site or revealing the underlying archeological layers of the Eternal City of Rome,
while you stroll its streets on vacation.
