McLaren, the Formula One racing group that is attempting to flex its muscles in road cars, vows to build machines that will leave the likes of Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin in the dust.
And this requires the company to move faster than its rivals to adopt the latest advancements in computer graphics technology for designing its supercars, according to its design director Frank Stephenson.
In a recent interview with The Korea Times, Stephenson said that early next year McLaren will become the first carmaker to fully integrate three dimensional (3D) holographic displays in the design process, converting yet another sci-fi dream into reality.
The stereoscopic images used in McLaren’s labs will be beamed mid-air and viewed from 360 degrees, without forcing software users to wear any clunky glasses. A motion detection system will allow McLaren designers to interact with the 3D holograms and make adjustments, Stephenson said, and the images can be shared through computer networks to enable collaboration between different studios.
“The use of high-quality visual animation and the digitized designing process is based on the needs to improve the speed of product delivery and be more cost effective in the process before we produce the physical product. Conventional methods will leave you with conventional timing schedules, and we will always have to work to find the best processes to accelerate our product strategy plans, improve efficiency and employ cutting-edge technologies,’’ Stephenson said.
“I think we are going to avoid the stage of unmoving 3D graphics that repeat the 2D experience with the same holographic technologies. What we want is a 3D projection that provides a solid appearance where you can walk around it and influence it, and this would really represent a breakthrough in design technology.’’
Stephenson was in Seoul for the Dec. 15-18 Siggraph Asia convention, the regional edition of the world’s largest annual computer graphics exhibition organized by the Association for Computer Machinery (ACM) of the United States. A rare automotives expert in a sea of games, movies and software industry people, Stephenson said it was crucial for McLaren to use events such as Siggraph to see what kind of media and technologies are available to improve its design process.
The full, lengthy story is here: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2010/12/133_78678.html
Story first found here: http://stereoscopynews.com/hotnews/history/market-a-trends/1149-mc-laren-cars-will-be-holographic-before-becoming-real.html