REAL 2015 Wrap-Up

by Stanley Biesiadecki

On February 25-26, the Reality Solutions group hosted REAL2015—the first, one-of-its kind conference at Fort Mason, San Francisco, focusing on the increasing use of 3D to Capture (scan), Compute (design), and Create (fabricate). It was an inspiring event where speakers shared compelling stories about how they leverage 3D to create incredible products, artwork, designs, structures, exhibitions, and visualizations.

The kick off session, “REAL Stories,” featured several renowned, international speakers including: Eythor Bender of UNYQ talking about the design and fabrication of artistic custom prosthetic leg fairings; Stuart Brown describing how he used 3D to reproduce exotic classic cars; Tim Zaman of the Delft University using 3D scanning to reproduce famous master paintings – including works by Rembrandt; and Sarah Kenderdine of the University of New South Wales in Australia showing examples of interactive visualizations for museum exhibitions.

Over the next 2 days, 60 world-class speakers continued their tales of how they are using 3D to pave to way to the future. Tim Webber, the Chief Creative Officer for Framestore and this year’s Oscar winner for visual effects for the 2014 film Gravity, gave a mesmerizing talk on the making of Gravity.

REAL2015’s exhibitions featured many commercial hardware and software OEMs such as Leica, FARO, Topcon, Clearedge, and LFM. Other firms included Matterport, Floored, Occipital, and the augmented reality tool Metaio. One of the most popular exhibits was the large Shapify 3D scanning booth from Artec. Long lines formed for the opportunity to get a full-body scan. Oculus Rift also had people waiting to experience the wonder of VR technology where they explored a virtual ancient Chinese tomb. Another a big hit was the drone cage where vendors like DJI flew their latest and greatest drones. Autodesk’s own 3D printer, Ember, also made a showing.

The conference culminated on a high note as REAL2015 hosted the SFVR Meet-Up on the last night. Hundreds of people descended on Fort Mason to experience over a dozen different technology demo booths showcasing VR technology.

REAL2015 was an amazing and first-of-its-kind venue. It brought 60 world-class speakers, 50 Expo Demos, and over a 1000 attendees from 600 companies and institutions across the globe together to enlighten and excite us on how 3D is changing the way we capture, compute, and create.