3D Designs at Your Fingertips

Draw a circle with this app by dragging your finger across the screen, and it appears as a sphere. Draw a square, and it appears as a cube.

London start-up Gravity has created a tablet app that allows the user to draw in 3-D.

And while 3D modeling is certainly not new, Gravity Sketch’s claim to fame is the fact that it’s, according to Wired.com, incredibly easy to use: Draw a circle by dragging your finger across the screen, and it appears as a sphere. Draw a square, and it appears as a cube. Built-in tools then let users apply different finishes, and snap everything to an aligned grid before exporting the OBJ file to the 3-D software of their choice.

The learning curve required in CAD use, for example, is basically eliminated here, as Gravity Sketch uses touch and gesture versus menus, icons and engineering jargon.

The implications are clear, and Wired says the idea that anyone, not just professionals, can sketch a 3-D object with scant technical knowledge will grow increasingly important.

And it’s just another element to consider as we assess just how fast 3D printing will create game-changing impacts on both the industrial and consumer markets.

I’m Anna Wells and this is IEN Now.

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