The Mosul Museum in Mosul, Iraq was the country’s second largest museum. Although the museum was looted during the Iraq War, it was scheduled to reopen in 2014 and contained many priceless articfacts from the Assyrian era and from the ancient city of Hatra. But before it could reopen, ISIS... Continue reading

Wait … What?? That’s right. Dutch company MX3D plans on 3D printing a steel pedestrian bridge over a canal in Amsterdam. MX3D is an R&D company working to develop cost-effective robotic 3D printing technology. The company has invented a 3D printing tool in the form of a six-axis industrial robot... Continue reading

In 2011, a team of archaeologists working in Kenya discovered stone tools that were subsequently dated to be 3.3 million-years-old. In addition to finding the oldest stone tools known to man, the age of the tools has changed our thinking about the world’s first toolmakers. Traditionally, the genus Homo (which... Continue reading

The World is Flat is a class offered by the University of Virginia (UVa) School of Architecture. This hands-on fabrication seminar introduces students to digital fabrication and is taught by Melissa Goldman, the architecture school’s manager of fabrication facilities. Continue reading

GHD Pty Ltd is a global firm that provides engineering, architecture, environmental, and construction services. The firm recently used Reality Computing for the site design of a new gas plant for Horizon Oil, an Australia-based oil and gas exploration, development and production company. Continue reading

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a non-destructive method for locating and mapping underground objects by transmitting high-frequency radio signals into the ground that bounce back when they hit a buried object or a boundary between different material types. GPR surveys were first used in 1929 to measure the depth of a glacier in Austria and, in the following decades, likewise used to map the thickness of ice sheets and glaciers. In the 1970s, people started to use GPR for applications not involving ice. Continue reading

A Norwegian sports complex is getting a makeover with the help of Reality Computing. Located on the outskirts of Oslo in Langhus, the 250-acre Langhus AIL sports club plans to upgrade and expand several existing facilities, and also build a new 3,000-seat outdoor soccer stadium, a 40,000 square-meter clubhouse and activity center with a pool and water park, and 4 outdoor soccer training fields. The project also includes 2 kilometers of new roads including a new 350-meter highway bridge, 3.5 kilometers of new pedestrian and bike paths with culverts and bridges, a parking garage, and three outdoor parking lots. Continue reading

A railroad bridge in York, England dating from the mid 1800’s was recently renovated with the help of Reality Computing. Network Rail (the UK authority responsible for the Britain’s railway network) needed to make major repairs to the Scarborough Rail Bridge. The project involved the design and reconstruction of the cast iron structure that crosses the River Ouse—replacing the ornate but aging bridge with an aesthetically similar structure that can also accommodate today’s heavier steam engines. Continue reading

Point cloud from a single frame Apple recently invested in exciting Reality Computing capture technology by buying LinX, an Israeli camera technology company. LinX develops very small multiple-lens cameras that can be incorporated into mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. In addition to capturing 2D still images, the cameras can... Continue reading

Reality Computing is helping to transform a century-old decommissioned coal-burning power plant into a new student center for Wisconsin’s Beloit College. The renovated facility will include a conference center, lecture hall, theater, pool, fitness center, gym, and a suspended track winding through the structure. In a nod to the building’s former role, some coal bunkers and steel tubing from the original plant are being preserved and incorporated into the design of the new facility. Continue reading

Fort Smith Regional Airport in Arkansas is almost finished with the construction of a three-phase $9 million project that involves upgrading the airport’s primary taxiway, and Reality Computing is help making that construction safer for both travelers and construction crews. Continue reading

It may be another 5 or 10 years before you can buy a self-driving car, but there are already prototypes out there to whet your appetite. And you might think that the venerable Detroit Auto Show would be the main venue for showcasing self-driving cars. Not so. Try the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. After this year’s show, Forbes published an article about The Five Most Disruptive Innovations at CES 2015. Guess what was #1? Continue reading

Kansas City, Missouri is in the midst of constructing a new two-mile streetcar running through the city’s central business district. The line is envisioned as the trunk of a wider system of streetcar routes in the city and Reality Computing is playing an important role in the transit planning process for that expansion. Continue reading

On February 25-26, the Reality Solutions group hosted REAL2015—the first, one-of-its kind conference at Fort Mason, San Francisco, focusing on the increasing use of 3D to Capture (scan), Compute (design), and Create (fabricate). It was an inspiring event where speakers shared compelling stories about how they leverage 3D to create incredible products, artwork, designs, structures, exhibitions, and visualizations. Continue reading

Jules Verne’s 20,00 Leagues Under the Sea, published in 1870, was set in a submarine. George Orwell’s novel 1984 with Big Brother (published in 1949) foreshadowed today’s world of internet tracking, ubiquitous CCTV cameras, and NSA's secret surveillance programs. The 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey featured tablet computers (and a clip from the movie was even submitted as evidence during the 2011 intellectual property lawsuit between Apple and Samsung). Continue reading

Most Reality Computing capture technologies are based on the concept of capturing surface data—whether it’s 3D laser scanning the outside of a building to inspect for structural damage, or using digital photogrammetry to produce accurate models of your feet for custom-sized shoes. Continue reading

This post wraps up our exploration of Reality Computing for Civil Infrastructure by looking at how five different companies used Reality Computing on their projects. Continue reading

Bespoke suiting outfitter Alton Lane’s new showroom in San Francisco’s Battery district feels like an elegant 'man cave'. Between the natty mannequins and crisp dress shirts are a fully-stocked bar, overstuffed leather sofas, and a flat screen TV. Then, in a corner and cloaked in gray wool, stands the key difference between Alton Lane and its competition: a full-body scanning booth. Alton Lane employs a body scanning booth as an essential part of their business model in their New York, D.C., Chicago and now San Francisco showrooms. Continue reading

New uses of Reality Computing technology on infrastructure projects are being discovered and implemented every day. Below are some examples of novel uses of Reality Computing. Continue reading

Our last two posts explored how Reality Computing technologies are helping civil engineering firms digitally capture existing conditions around a proposed infrastructure project and digitally design the project in the context of that setting. Now let’s see how Reality Computing is used to digitally reshape existing terrain and build new infrastructure. Continue reading

Existing conditions (in the form of captured reality data) can be brought into 3D modeling software to provide physical context during the design, construction, refurbishment, or management of infrastructure. This digital representation of existing conditions is used as a reference during design, to verify accuracy before and during construction, and to guide decisions for operations and maintenance. Continue reading

For civil infrastructure projects, the physical world is usually digitally captured using photogrammetry, ground penetrating radar, or 3D laser scanning. New capture capabilities are being introduced in ever more varied devices, such as scanners or digital cameras mounted on drones. Continue reading

Reality Computing technologies are changing the design, production, and management of many products or projects—from cars to factories to highways. But civil infrastructure projects are particularly well suited to Reality Computing, due to their size, scope, and inherent relationship to the physical world around them. In fact, aspects of Reality Computing are already used by many infrastructure design and construction teams. Continue reading

Dental technology has changed a lot in the last decade. Technologies such as digital radiography, adhesive dentistry, and laser ablation have made visits to the dentist a lot less stressful, painful, and, time-consuming. Continue reading

Still have some questions about this whole "Reality Computing" thing? Join us on Thursday, December 18th at 2pm EST/ 11am PST as Robert Shear, Senior Director of Reality Solutions at Autodesk, presents "An Introduction To Reality Computing". Continue reading