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A peek into the future

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Here at JDA we like to embrace the latest technology trends including 3D visualization. So we paid a visit to the 2013 Siggraph show at the beautiful Anaheim convention center. Not only is the show an opportunity to see the latest tools available to designers, but it also provides a venue to see a glimpse of the future as part of the emerging tech exhibit.


Here are 4 trends that particularly caught our attention.

Augmented and Virtual Reality:
We offer many of our customers a chance to see packaging and in-store pop designs before it is implemented through our 3D design and pre-visualization work.
But imagine being able to walk through a store and see virtual products pop up on real store shelves or be able to interact with virtual products up close and personal online. With wearable tech such as Google glass or Oculus virtual headset around the corner, we see a wide variety of applications including, but not limited to online and offline shopping. 





Design Tools evolving:

From 3D Space navigators that allow manipulation and creation of virtual objects to the powerful combination of specialized high-resolution tablets and design tools, designers are given new freedom and opportunity to interact with software in a more natural and fluid manner. This in turn allows ideas to be explored quicker, and easier and implemented the exact way that clients imagine them. 


3D Printing:


From rapid prototyping of ideas to finished retail products 3D printing was making a big splash at this year’s Siggraph. Slowly outgrowing the hobbyist community and entering the mainstream market 3D printing has the potential to revolutionize modern manufacturing.  Ideas can quickly be designed in 3 dimensional space and using a 3D printer created in the real world using a variety of materials. While the technology is fairly new and still has kinks that need to be worked out the age of 3D printed manufacturing is approaching fast. It is not too far fetched of an idea to buy certain products online and being able to hold them in your hands minutes later fresh out of your in-home 3D printer.   



 Tele Presence - a bold new step:

Combining a Rumba with a Skype call might just have been one of the greatest ideas of this year’s show.  Merging robotics and teleconferencing, visitors to Siggraph were greeted and shown around by people that were hundreds or thousands of miles away. The interaction with these people felt a lot more natural then one might expect. This might just be the first step to having one’s avatars visiting far away locations one day. Already, doctors are able to visit far away hospitals and go from room to room to talk to patients and colleagues. So next time you feel like working from home it doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the water cooler chit chat.


All in all Siggraph was a great opportunity to see how our industry and the technology world in general are evolving. With the pace of technology continuously accelerating, we will make sure to keep our eyes on the amazing future that is coming our way. 



- Mehrdad Haghighi

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