3D Imaging and Scanning

I have the fortune to be working near a company that does 3D Imaging and Scanning. I have to say a year ago, before they moved into the offices, I had no idea what this was. In fact, I had never heard of it.

I had heard of 3D printing, but the services these guys offer is cool. They can scan objects using a laser, and create a 3D image in full colour on a computer.

This is just one example:


Check out their website for more images and information: http://www.nge3d.com

Xbox Announces "Controller free gaming"

Yesterday, XBox announced "Project Natal" at E3 09, which promises to remove the need for a controller when playing games on your Xbox 360.

It will use a sensor which "combines an RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone and custom processor running proprietary software all in one device". This will enable the Xbox 360 to interpret body movements in 3D and also add speech recognition to control the Xbox 360. They say it will understand everything you say too.

We have already had a glimpse at the speech recognition abilities of software with Tom Clancy's End War, where you can speak commands to your troops using the XBox Headset.

The release date was not confirmed, but xbox.com says "Coming Soon"

Lions fail to roar

Having watched the Lions v Royal XV match yesterday, and then following that with the Super 14 final, I'd say the Lions have a problem ahead.

The Royal XV played very well, considering they were quickly put together, with only a handful of players with Super 14 experience. The Lions on the other hand, started terribly, with Keith Earls not being able to hold on to a single pass in the first half.

That was really the story for the Lions in general. If it weren't for the great game that Lee Byrne had, and a couple of other great runs from individuals, I wonder if the Lions would have won that game. This is a worrying start for the Lions, and with Super 14 province games coming next, a lot has to be done to change the very poor performance that we saw yesterday.

The Super 14 final (Bulls vs Chiefs) on the other hand, showed exactly what South Africa can do. With 3 tries in the first 12 minutes of the game, I knew this would be a great game. With a final score of 61 - 17 to the Bulls, I was right.

The Lions have to really think about who should be playing, and their strategy if they are going to take anything from this tour.

XBox Live to stream from Sky Player

When I first heard of this, I was unsure on how good it would be. I have sky player on my laptop, and to be honest, didn't think much of it. Downloads took ages, when they started properly, in fact, I don't think I've actually managed to watch anything completely on sky player.

However, I have recently been using Xbox Live, and have been watching the streaming video clips they have available on there. I am impressed with the quality and speed - no hiccups that you would normally see with streaming video.

Could Sky and Xbox Live have a winning formula? I hope so. There is one really cool feature, when you are watching a football match, that allows your avatar to invite up to 7 friends to watch the match with you. Not only that, but by using the Xbox headset, you can talk to each other while you are all connected.

Pricing is still to be set and this service is due to be released in the Autumn of 2009.

More details here:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/05/29/xbox_sky_player/

Google Wave

Wow is all I can say. Although not released yet, Google Wave looks really good. Take a look over at wave.google.com. Their presentation is 1 hour 20 mins long, but if you have the time, I'd say its well worth watching (if you like that sort of thing I guess)

I'll summarise some of the main things that I liked best:

• Being able to instantly reply to a message - like in instant messaging, but as you can see what the other person is writing, as they are writing it, you can start to form your reply before they have finished.

• Drag and drop images directly into a "Wave" message

• Add comments to an existing wave half way through the original persons wave

• Collaborate on a document, with multiple people editting a "Wave" at the same time, each showing in real time on the other persons screen

• Instant language translation, as you type. This is shown in the video clip at around 1 hour 12 mins through

There are so many possibilities with this - I can't wait to see how it is used when the developers out there get hold of it.

Best of all - its Open Source!