It's Friday. Here's today's foto:
I know. Not the best shot I ever took. But, I'm using it anyway to make a point. That's Dan Dubno, at last night's TED Salon in New York. Dan, a technologist/newsman for CBS, reported on new developments in graphics presentations at TED2006. He also presented the remarkable Jeff Han's work to TED. Last evening, Jeff did a reprise of his Monterey demo, but Dan impressed me with this little thingy right here. You'll notice a selection of avatars on the screen behind Dan. One of those was a representation of himself. He demo'd an application that animated the avatars, making their gaze follow a darting cursor, deliver funny lines (the Ricky avatar was Yiddishly funny) and generally wow us. But, the best bit involved the thing Dan's holding in his hand. That's a...let's call it a doll...that was produced by a fabricating laser device. The device took the avatar, 3D'd it, and produced this remarkable little fellow.
Now, I've been wowed by the fabricating revolution ever since seeing Neil Gershenfeld at Pop!Tech. Last evening, Dubno showed a bunch of us just how close we are to being able to turn computer images into physical things, albeit simple ones, on demand, in our own homes. Very cool.
Thanks to Chris Anderson and the TED team for a terrific evening.
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