INITION NEWS
INITION Launches ‘Reality Tech Tuesdays’
Starting next month we’re throwing open the doors of our Demo Studio to give curious individuals a Reality Tech (get it?).
Whether you’re a VR expert, an AR novice, or you simply want to see what 3D printing is all about, you’re welcome to come by and test out our range of exhilarating experiences for yourself.
Starting December 2, Reality Tech will take place on the first Tuesday of every month thereafter. With sessions at 11am, 3pm and 6pm you’re bound to find one to suit – you’ll simply need to register for the one you want at the Reality Tech Tuesdays EventBrite page and turn up.
In the meantime, check out our Demo Studio credentials and get excited.
Events
In other news, we spoke at OMD’s Innovation Week, Hey Human’s Innovation Morning and provided some virtual reality entertainment at the Queen Elizabeth Prize Party for excellence in engineering.
In-house Fun
Whilst, in our office, Kathy did some 3D modelling, thanks to an unsuspecting 3D printing test that quickly became the office’s latest fashion accessory.
AUSSIE VIRTUAL REALITY
Further proof that 2015 could be the Year of Virtual Reality, is news of another, low-cost head mounted virtual reality display hitting Kickstarter – this time, from Down Under.
Joining the likes of the big hitters – Oculus Rift, Sony’s Morpheus, Samsung’s Gear VR – and those on the less expensive end of the market – Carl Zeiss’ VR One and Google Cardboard – is the Aussie-made VR Smartview Alpha from Queensland-based Phenomec.
Although still in prototype stage and with an upcoming Kickstarter campaign in the works, the VR Smartview Alpha promises a mobile experience – not unlike the Gear VR – though with the relatively low price tag of just £83 (or $150 AUD). The new HMD joins the company’s existing VRSmartView Developer Kit which currently sells for only £28.
As excitement for a consumer Rift builds, and Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe promising its release as being ‘months, not years’ away, developments of other VR HMD options are sure to follow.
EDIBLE 3D PRINTING
3D printing is a wonderfully diverse technology that’s been put to use in genuinely meaningful ways – whether it’s assisting with incredibly delicate reconstructive surgeries, creating custom-designed prosthetics for amputees, or printing parts for a NASA space rocket. Though, if there’s one area of 3D printing that ignites childlike excitement like no other it’s 3D printed food.
But it’s not just one kind of food, either. So far there’s been 3D printed Parisian chocolate, ‘fruit’, food for the US military, ice-cream and a consumer-aimed option for home dinners described as the ‘ultimate laziness aid’.
Much has been said about the potentially revolutionary impact of 3D printing on collective manufacturing worldwide, but what of our relationship to food? Could future dinners consist of little more than a push of a few buttons?