Protopiper: Physically Sketching Room-Sized Objects at Actual Scale | Hacker News Reader

Protopiper: Physically Sketching Room-Sized Objects at Actual Scale

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172 pointsfisherjeff16 comments

You can do a very similar thing in virtual reality with TiltBrush. You don't get a physical object at the end but you do have a lot more flexibility in the structure and appearance, and, of course, the magical power of the undo button. And maybe you could get a physical object out with the help of a 3D printer...

http://tiltbrush.com

I believe 3D sketching and CAD will be the first popular non-game application of virtual reality. 3D CAD with 2D I/O (mouse and flat monitor) has always been a little too difficult for the masses. Virtual reality with natively 3D input and output makes 3D CAD an order of magnitude easier and more fun. It could give a real boost to the 3D printing market too, as once the masses start doing CAD they're definitely going to want to print their creations.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the first applications of VR will be porn and cat videos, in that order.

> I believe 3D sketching and CAD will be the first popular non-game application of virtual reality.

I don't think so. Watching movies and shows, taking tours and shopping will be probably be the most popular non-game uses. After that will be something like Skype in VR. Then educational uses.

Using CAD or any other creative endeavour will always be in the minority. Sadly, most people are raised to be consumers, not creators.

> I believe 3D sketching and CAD will be the first popular non-game application of virtual reality.

Michael Deering (at the time chief engineer of Sun) had a similar feeling in the mid-'90s, and built an interesting demo called HoloSketch: http://michaelfrankdeering.com/blog/projects/graphics_softwa...

Paper: http://cumincad.architexturez.net/system/files/pdf/a91e.cont...

I would prefer creating virtual objects for this kind of prototyping because they do not produce plastic waste. I wonder if the protopiper device can be used with biodegradable tape.

I see no reason it wouldn't work with paper tape, other than the hotwire cutter which would have to be replaced with a blade.

Interesting thought. The plastic tape is just a representative raw material. The plastic tape can totally be replaced with biodegradable material.

The key idea is to start with something with no structural integrity, the tape as a sheet and give it a good strength to weight ratio by folding it into tube.

Very cool.

This reminds me of a talk by Brett Victor [1] "The Humane Representation of Thought".

Brett thinks we are limiting ourselfs by expressing our thoughts in a mostly 2D scaled down domain.

This protopiper is a great example of what we will see in the future.

[1] https://vimeo.com/115154289

Neat stuff. The ACM link is broken, and I missed the link to the detailed PDF the first time I looked. Here it is in case you missed it too: http://hpi.de/fileadmin/user_upload/fachgebiete/baudisch/pro...

CW&T are experimenting with a handheld 3D PLA extruder gun (3Doodler on steroids) right now - https://instagram.com/p/8eixCjRhGN/

A comment below on practicality was down voted but I think it's a reasonable question.

What's are the foreseeable applications of this?

I could use it to lay out my living room for the movers. Then they could see the layout I want for each piece and then replace the layout with furniture as it's unloaded. As I'm setting this up, I can get a sense of how each furniture piece might fit in my space. On a smaller scale I could use it to place objects where I was thinking of putting a new piece of furniture and then spend a week living with the space carved out before I buy the piece.

If there were a smartphone app that took dimensions and then supplied assembly instructions it would be golden.

ProtoPiper is an attempt to bring the human back to material interaction, like in traditional craft practices. It is more than just a prototyping device. It helps you think about materials, gravity and structures.

That's cool. Could that be applied in the construction industry somehow?

I rather wondered the opposite direction: did someone come up with this after watching a "continuous" house gutter installer? who are forming it off a flat spool of sheet metal. https://www.google.com/search?q=house+gutter+machine+continu...

I look at this and it reminds of drawings from the late 1800s of people doing things with mechanical devices that we now use electronics for. It just seems very contrived and impractical.

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