3d

NASA experimenting with 3D printing for space exploration

NASA is getting into the 3D printing business. At NASA's Ames Research Center, engineers and researchers are experimenting with the technology with the hope that one day their creations will be used in space exploration. "Space Shop is our attempt to take the best practices and lessons learned from what we call the maker community," said Dave Korsmeyer, the director of engineering at NASA Ames.

The program is still in its nascent stages. But NASA sees potential in the technology because it enables designers and engineers to get the manufacturing information early in the design process and … Read more

Artist paints photorealistic aquatic life in three dimensions

It looks like a fish swimming in a bowl, or a serving of living octopus in its own salt water, but the photorealistic works of Singapore-based artist Keng Lye are not even sculptures, but paintings. He uses a technique developed by Japanese artist Riusuke Fukahori, using acrylic paint and resin to build up, layer by layer, images of creatures swimming in water.

The technique involves starting with a container and pouring in thin layers of clear resin. When each layer dries, the next "slice" of the creature is painted on and allowed to dry before the next layer is poured. It's quite a painstaking process, but the effect, as you can see, is stunning. … Read more

Crazy Moto 3D 1.1 Review

If you were born to be wild, you might find some fun in this motorcycle game. However, the frustrating controls and mediocre graphics make it a tough sell. CrazyMoto 3D is reminiscent of a few other bike games you may remember, but it falls short of capturing the fun of those favorites.

If you were a fan of Road Rash in the 90's, you'll feel comfortable with this game. It offers the same premise of dodging traffic and attacking cops and cars with weapons you find on the road. Instead of racing other drivers, you're collecting coins … Read more

3D Waterfall Wallpaper 1.0 Review

Running your app as if it's a bait-and-switch scam is no way to win people over. 3D Waterfall Wallpaper does live up to its name with a few gorgeous, high-resolution wallpapers. However, the way the app bombards you with ads is unforgivable. You can find these pictures elsewhere, and you really should to avoid installing this app.

It's bad enough that the app makes you agree to see all sorts of scammy ads before you can even get to the wallpaper. However, the longer you have the app open, the more ads you'll have to duck and … Read more

Witness the birth of 'Jurassic Park' dinosaurs

These days, computer-generated imagery rules the movie scene, but 20 years ago, it was still a relatively fresh idea that was difficult to integrate into film without looking fake.

When production of "Jurassic Park" commenced, director Steven Spielberg enlisted iconic special-effects guru Stan Winston and his studio team to design and create realistic-looking animatronic dinosaurs. The groundbreaking work, which included an incredible amount of engineering and artistry, forever changed the way people think about dinosaurs. … Read more

Get a 55-inch 3D HDTV with glasses for $899 shipped

3D TVs were supposed to be the Next Big Thing, but they never really caught on with consumers, no doubt due to high prices and the dearth of 3D content.

And yet, I think if you can get a 3D-capable model for around the same price as a non-3D one, why not? That was my thinking when I bought my last TV, and although I don't don the glasses very often, sometimes it's really nice.

For example, our local Family Video has a pretty decent 3D movie selection, so when my family went to rent "Life of … Read more

Afinia's powerful, fun-to-use 3D printer

Of the three 3D printers I've used so far, the $1,599 Afinia H-Series H479 is my favorite. That doesn't mean it's perfect, but it's a more precise, and more flexible machine than 3D Systems' first-generation Cube printer, and it's significantly easier to use than the first-generation MakerBot Replicator.

The high price of this printer will remain an issue for many consumers. Post-print cleanup with certain materials can also be a hassle. The fact that you can achieve good prints so easily and so quickly, though, makes the H479 easy to recommend. If you're … Read more

EyeFly 3D screen protector makes iPhone 5 3D-capable

If you've always wished you could watch 3D content on your mobile device, you're in luck. A team of Singapore-based researchers has developed a special film that turns the screens of mobile devices into 3D-capable displays.

The EyeFly 3D film, which looks just like a typical screen protector, actually consists of 500,000 miniaturized lens-like structures that measure about one-thousandth the width of a human hair. When applied to a mobile device, the filter works with dedicated iOS and Android apps to render stereoscopic 3D content for playback. Nanovue, a startup set up to bring the EyeFly 3D to market, is working on apps to convert existing 2D content to stereoscopic 3D.

There's one tradeoff: In our tests, the film made the iPhone 5's Retina Display look like it had a lowered resolution, as text and icons appeared to have jagged edges. Screen brightness remained the same. … Read more

3D printing stock scam, April Fools' joke, or both?

On today of all days, sketchy-looking would-be 3D printing company Massive Dynamics puts out a comically vague press release. Is this yet another apparent attempt to pump its penny stock, or the April Fools' prank from a master troll? Maybe it's both.

Before you read any farther, I will direct you to this piece of excellent reporting by Rose Brooke and Dan O'Connor at the 3D printing blog Personalize.

You do yourself a disservice by not reading their article, but here's the gist: Rather than report blindly on yet another press release from an aspiring 3D printing … Read more

Change of heart? IE11 might speed Web graphics with WebGL

Microsoft's next version of Internet Explorer might just support WebGL, a standard for accelerated 3D graphics on the Web that the company previously has attacked as a security risk.

A leaked version of the next version of Windows, code-named Blue, came with a version of IE11, and developer's scrutiny of the browser shows evidence of WebGL.

"It seems like WebGL interfaces are defined but not functional at this time," said Web developer and author Francois Remy in a blog post this week. That means that the IE11 build has some infrastructure in place to support WebGL, … Read more