Super cool:

Our system allows puppeteers to directly perform animations using physical toys in front of a Kinect depth sensor. Our system tracks the puppets in real time and re-renders them in a virtual scene using stored 3D models. We combine the ease-of-use of a physical puppet show with the 3D camera and lighting controls afforded by animation software.

Really? Really: 

[I]t’s all part of an interactive art experience by ReAllocate called Project: Blue Sky.

Before looking up to see a UAV, festival-goers will have previously visited ReAllocate’s ‘dome’ to complete the first part of the art experience. At the dome, visitors can interact with a photo booth fitted with Kinect cameras, where with 3D software, their photos will be turned into 3D models. Instead of waiting for the models, attendees can leave the dome with a GPS transponder, free to enjoy other aspects of the festival.

By the way, in case you’ve ever wondered what my Twitter avatar is (and, oddly, some have), it’s a pair of 3D prints of my head. #oddJobPerks
[Via John Dowdell]

“You know, a lot of people in our industry spend time making a lot of useless technology,” says Margot. “And then there’s this.”

Here’s more info about the exoskeleton. [Via Matthew Richmond]

They’re just giving away this new storytelling tool?? From the site:

The Source Filmmaker (SFM) is the movie-making tool built and used by us here at Valve to make movies inside the Source game engine. Because the SFM uses the same assets as the game, anything that exists in the game can be used in the movie, and vice versa. By utilizing the hardware rendering power of a modern gaming PC, the SFM allows storytellers to work in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get environment so they can iterate in the context of what it will feel like for the final audience.

These are the days of miracles & wonder.

As Colossal puts it, “This is almost too good for words. A wonderfully clever video directed by Fernando Livschitz of Black Sheep Films, in which hovering roller coasters fly through the streets of Buenos Aires, completely untethered to tracks.”

[Via ]

What the… what??

It was all shot in single takes, recorded in real time:

In the past, projection mapping worked only from a single, static view point, and thus was very limited. By attaching the PlayStation Move to the camera, we can track projections to screens in real time, enhancing the effect of spatial deformation and false perspective on the projections and allowing viewers to look round (virtual) corners, bend walls, create a hole in the wall, or remove the walls altogether to reveal vast expanses of virtual worlds.

Check out the fascinating making-of piece:

[Via Felix Baum]

These are the days of miracles & wonder:

The technology is said to have been purchased by Apple. Check out 9to5 Mac for more details.
[Via]

Check out this groundbreaking work from Ed Catmull (later of Pixar fame) and the story behind it:

[Via]

RePro3D, writes Engadget, combines “a glasses-free 3D display with an infrared tactile interface, they are able to create a holographic model that responds when ‘touched.’ The next step for the team is to provide feedback via a wearable device, adding the sensation of touch.” Check it out:

Check out this tool for visualizing & playing with a Golf Cabriolet:

That’s nice and all, but I’m so advanced that for the last 11 years I’ve been able to just look out the window to see the same dusty Golf materialize in front of me. (It’s okay to be jealous. 😉 #120hpRealUltimatePower)

If you thought yesterday’s 3D printing example was even remotely cool, you must see the “Solar Sinter,” below. The clip unfolds slowly, offering that deserty “my brain’s cooking in my skull” sense of time, but it’s worth the wait.

“By using the sun’s rays instead of a laser,” writes creator Markus Kayser, “and sand instead of resins, I had the basis of an entirely new solar-powered machine and production process for making glass objects that taps into the abundant supplies of sun and sand to be found in the deserts of the world.”
[Via]

…and in color, no less! Fascinating.

[Via John Eakin]

Craft Dutch projector wizards Mr. Beam have “created a unique physical 3D video mapping experience by turning a white living room into a spacious 360° projection area. This technique allowed us to take control of all colors, patterns and textures of the furniture, wallpapers and carpet. All done with 2 projectors.” Check it out:

[Via] Update: Adobe researcher Dan Goldman points out similar projects done 30 years ago (see “Displacements”).

I have no context for this, but boy it’s neat:

Related (?): Crayola is now selling 3D sidewalk chalk–no kidding. [Via Jesse Diamond & John Dowdell]

The Photoshop team is running a quick survey on 3D tools & applications. It would be great to get your take on the state of the tools & what their future should hold. Thanks.
[Previously: “Photoshop 3D is not about 3D.”]