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Jarvis arrives

For those of you that have seen the movie Iron Man, the name Jarvis should ring a bell.Jarvis is the highly intelligent computer built by Iron Man to help him create all of his designs. There is one particular scene where Iron Man is working on a new design that appears to be suspended in mid air and is controlled by motion detectors- just like the Xbox Kinect.Get ready folks, there’s now a three-dimensional tablet that does the same thing and its called zSpace! (http://z.zspace.com/about-zspace)The solution was developed by Infinite Z, a technology solutions organisation based in California which possesses a rather aspiring mission statement: “The company’s mission is to transform human interactions with today’s computing environment into an incredibly lifelike, interactive and immersive experience.”The company provides the customer with both the hardware and software needed for the interactive, 3D experience. The zStation tablets that support this revolutionary software are slightly larger than a normal tablet and are used in conjunction with the companies light weight proprietary eyewear and stylus. The stylus is used to control interactive movement between the user and the design to assist in the movement and design of images.The solution combines use of design tools such as AutoCAD and holographic imaging to produce stunning virtual 3D images that can be easily manipulated. Users can create designs from scratch or make changes to existing works.Initial target markets for the solution are digital product design, scientific/medical and geospatial/government. This doesn’t mean that the solution can’t be applied elsewhere or ultimately become a feature of a product we use at home and shouldn’t be perceived as unattainable.Last week we looked at three-dimensional printers that produced an actual tangible object from a design, these tablets will help us to achieve the same goal in a different way. The obvious benefit of this device compared to a 3D printer is relatively obvious; any corrections in design can be made virtually before actual production albeit the price tag for this solution is significantly greater.I often wonder how consumer adoption rates compare to production rates of these devices. It seems to me the rate of product introduction far exceeds the demand of the normal consumer, which ultimately means devices such as these take longer to decline in price and availability is fairly limited.As consumers, we need to look at emerging technologies and envision how these can enhance how we live and evolve. It is this insightful, forward thinking vision that helps create that much needed demand.We’d love to know what topics you’d be interested in learning more about, so e-mail us at TechBuzz@btc.bm