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Galleries // 2012 Spark:Product // InfiniteZ zSpace

InfiniteZ zSpace

Winner - Bronze

Competition: Spark:Product
Designer: Mr. Dan Harden - President/CEO
Design Type: Consumer Electronics

Team Members: Ari Turge, Kyle Buzzard, Dan Harden zSpace works in conjunction with an ever-growing base of 3D CAD software packages including Solidworks, Alias Design and Maya. Using a proprietary stereoscopic LCD display, trackable eyewear, and an interaction stylus, virtual objects appear “solid” in open space, with full color and high resolution. zSpace enables designers, engineers and film makers to create more effectively and more realistically than ever before. This new experience and technology warranted a new type of design unlike anything prior. Perhaps the most excellent thing about zSpace's design is that it never gets in the way of the user's experience. It supports and enhances the experience because it is low profile, understated, functional, comfortable, and clean. Function, technology and optics drove much of the design. All four cameras are located above the display and elevated slightly for best view of the user's eyewear and stylus. Two corner cameras track the position of the user's stylus, and two cameras underneath an infrared transmissive cover track small nodes on the eyewear to accurately locate the position of the user’s eyes. The stylus cameras are positioned in each corner so they can always see the user's stylus which moves around in space. Together with a stereoscopic display, all elements work in unison to create an interactive environment. Move your head to the right to see the right side of your virtual CAD model. Move your head closer, the model gets closer. Use the stylus to select, move, manipulate, and adjust parts of the model or the whole assembly. zSpace has excellent ergonomics, access and viewability. On zSpace the realistic 3-dimensional depth perception is greatly influenced by the angle of the display. When properly positioned, the field of view increases and images appear to recede infinitely into the display, creating a "virtual environment". Unlike computer upright displays, zSpace works best when the display angle is only 15 to 30 degrees, which makes objects look like they are floating above the screen. We made all these adjustable features easy to access and use. We also made the frame soft and friendly. zSpace is aesthetically pleasing due to its thin profile, smooth twisted frame, flush planes of materials and the sculptural camera detail. Much of zSpace was created using zSpace. Every once in a while a product comes along that changes the game. zSpace does just that.