The researchers behind Shape-It-Up call it a “Hand Gesture Based Creative Expression of 3D Shapes Using Intelligent Generalized Cylinders”, but it’s totally a pottery simulator. Decades from now, if – when? – Paramount Pictures decides to remake Ghost, the characters will be using Shape-It-Up while a dubstep remix of Unchained Melody plays in the background. Oh, my WUB WUB WUB WUUUUUB…
Shape-It-Up is a project by Purdue University Engineering students Vinayak, Sundar Murugappan, HaiRong Liu and Karthik Ramanilets. It lets users manipulate a virtual cylinder by using simple hand gestures, which are tracked using a Kinect. Skip to around 1:28 in the video below to see it in action.
I guess you could say that was… righteous. YEEEEA- I’m old. The researchers think of Shape-It-Up as a way for designers to start their sketches in an easier and more intuitive manner, not as a way to create a polished model. But if you pair it with a 3D printer, I think it can also be used as a way to teach kids about the basics of CAD and 3D printing. Now get off my lawn and head to Purdue University’s website for the project’s abstract.
[via Gajitz]
