Objects built in SL made physical in RL

Late last night someone that I had never talked to before started IMing me asking my RL age. I IMed back "incredibly old" which didn't statisfy them so I finally logged out. This morning I thought that I've been spending way too much time in SL, and that I needed to get back to doing some non-SL things. LOL. So, I go to a favorite art-tech blog and the first item is a link about SL! I can't get away.

Perhaps this is old news but I hadn't seen it before. People are making 1st L models of things build in SL. Check out the pictures:
http://www.objectsofvirtualdesire.com/wp/wp/?p=22
http://www.objectsofvirtualdesire.com/wp/wp/?p=24

I'm not sure I understand, these are still CGI type models?

For some reason I was thinking of something more along the lines of stereo lithography that is used to make rapid prototypes. This process can be pretty expensive, but for complex parts it can be a LOT cheaper than cutting it on a CNC machine.

Actually if I'm not mistaken, they are real prototypes. They made (and displayed) cubey's penguin ball things at an art exhibition, for instance.

Someone could make a mint on moving products from SL to RL, be it "sentimental reasons" or whatever. Only problem is, they'd need some really expensive fabrication equipment.

I cannot wait for the days when 3d plastic molding printers are as commonplace as inkjets are today...

LF

From their mission statement page:


another photo:
http://www.objectsofvirtualdesire.com/wp/wp/?p=35

It's like the beginning of the next phase. SL items in your RL home or on the street. It boggles the mind.

My understanding is that while the shapes/designs came from SL, the 3D files used to create the items did not originate in SL. Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

it seemed to be only moments away, considering how Tringo has evolved from SL to the RL. Given the sheer power of the building environment in SL. Considering that the build tools are much easier to use than AutoCAD with faster 3D rendering for complex models, the rapid protyping in SL is just the beginning. I would imagine that we will start seeing RL houses based off of SL builds in the future. Imagine, no wasted money on materials to build possible prototypes, you won't even need to spend a dime on cheap materials like Balsa wood or cheap paints. There was this house building app that I used for grins, it was pretty nice as you could build a house and take a walk through of the house you built. Major problem is that it was slow and the rendering of the house in 3D for the walk through was horrid and took forever. Not only does SL have the ability to render complex 3D models in real time, the collabarative ability alone makes it much more powerful. No more zipping up the AutoCAD file to transmit to an associate, wait on them to look it over and make corrections and zip it back up for retransmit to you. Not only are we given those tools, but the potential prototype can be viewed by thousands of different people at any given moment, no need to hop in the family car to look at the new bath and kitchen expo 20 miles away. Log in to SL and take a short teleport to a sim and see all the wonderful designs there.

I know, comparing SL to something like AutoCAD is most likely not the best, but when I was classes in college for AutoCAD, that app was a bear to use and it was sslllooowwwwww to get anything done in it at a reasonable rate, even on top end machines at the time, plus the blueprint printer stank to high heaven.

Out of curiousity, how much do you think people would pay for a RL replica of an SL design? If the numbers are there, I'd be more than happy to provide the service.

It would depend, you offering to build a house or a trinket? For something like nice jewlery for the wife, I would pay no more than what the average retail pricing is, even if the average price is compared to a Rolex. If you are offering to build me a Dominus Shadow, then I guess we will need to discuss pricing and payment

I guess it would all fall down to the actual item in question and the materials you plan on building it out of. It would also depend on if your services would be for creation of a prototype to evaluate and perhaps get a patent/trademark then sent to a big shot manufacturing company to produce or for a final end use product.

Neither. Houses are still built by construction workers. Products are still fabricated through machine-intensive processes; whether injection molding or SLS (if not then we get into the realm of "craft" and "art".



And this is where these sorts of things break down. Average retail pricing is based on volume. Custom work is... custom... and does not benefit from economies of scale.



Moot point. Materials would be defined at the outset.



What you're talking about is what I do IRL: design for mass production. Hardly the topic of discussion and well outside the realm of "retail pricing".

I was just talking about this with a friend this morning. I think a lot of people would love to have their AV in some RL form.

I personally would love to have my own AV as a pretty ceramic figurine!

**Addition: Others my want a doll or action figure!

http://www.andgor.com/Personalized_Figures/personalized_figures.html

cool, I was not aware you did this type of work for a living
That is why I asked about materials used and if it is a prototype/final production model. I had to throw in the house question because all I knew at the time, you could have been a Construction Worker like one of my RL friends who is also in SL. But I disagree, it falls 100% to the topic of SL items being produced in RL. Your experience in the field based upon what you do is highly relevent. Basing on the fact that if I wanted one of my helicopters to made into a RL toy made for mass production, your experience would be 100% needed and sought after. Why would I want just one copy made at such a costly price when going full retail would be the best route to recover expenses? Once the item gets ready for mass production, it then enters the realm of retail pricing which is the whole reason to mass production after the custom stage for patent/trademark and viability checks. At my last job, I used to have a customer who made molds for companies like Rubbermaid. All injection molds. This company was so proud of their molds not having any of the annoying "flashing" left behind, not even on their protoype models. I almost fainted when I asked about the typical pricing for 1 mold, usually only consisting of space to make 1 copy of the product.
Perhaps the ceffein or Thanksgiving leftovers in my system are clouding my thoughts and I am mis-reading the info.

What kind of replica? It sounds like you're talking about setting up a production run of at least thousands of copies... which would really limit the possibilities, especially since the RL version won't be scripted. I think most people are going to immediately think of a 3d printer that you can feed a on object description to and have it spit out rendered prims in RL... even if it costs a hundred dollars a pop you'd get some customers. Just what *does* a 3d printout cost anyway?

Because RW processes come to bear, RW decisions would need to be made when someone designs the original prim object. I wouldn't expect to be a part of that original design process and as such neither materials nor engineering integrity would really be my concern. The idea is to provide a service that facilitates fabricating an SL design, and if desired, dealing with whatever service bureaus are chosen to fabricate parts - assuming it can be fabricated in the first place (e.g. a cabin made of diamond logs isn't going to happen). Nothing more.



That question would apply if I were helping to design the product. That's not the service I'd be offering. I doubt most people here have any clue of the various processes for mass production, let alone understanding what, for example, a bypass shut-off is (and don't ask me how they'd torture a prim to get one) or tool balancing.



That would probably be Triangle, if memory serves. Their prices are one reason Rubbermaid was sold to Newell.



You're assuming I'm offering design services. I'm not.

Sorry, but I was not assuming that you would be part of the design process or offering a design service, I did not want it to come off that way. I apologise for any mis-understanding due to my part. Perhaps what I was posting was all cloudy and getting the derailed thought train to words is difficult today for me for some reason, I hate Mondays after a nice long weekend. I was hoping for this info from you, perhaps I should have just asked it in a different way. I will try it again, so bear with me. So in essence, you would proved the interface between an SL designer and the Real World companies that could make it happen?

I think you are correct about Triangle, it has been years ago though. I will need to see if I can find out for sure. The prices that they told me, about made me crap myself on the spot..

Nope. All I'm offering is taking someone's design in SL and recreating it in CAD and then shipping it out to a service bureau for fabrication. Nothing that goes to tooling as that would require real product development which is outside the scope of this (unless of course someone wants me to switch hats and become a design consultant)

Fabrication costs depend on process and material. Different processes require different prep times and, in some cases, 3D files that accomodate the process (e.g. no undercuts on a CNC'd part). Materials range from wax to metal. And those also have their own associated costs.

None necessary. I tend to be a bit dry when responding. I didn't take any offense.



The RW companies that could fabricate parts; not manufacturing. Most companies go to service bureaus for marketing/packaging models and engineering prototypes. So for custom one-off objects, they're a person's best bet.

Also, there are online services that provide custom parts. eMachineshop is well known (if a bit pricey). There are others, though I tend to go to a local shop owned by an old acquaintance.

Best option is a combo of things.

- get the file out to Maya
- convert to NURBs
- get a positive fabricated (probably an SLA - just make sure you "shell" it to keep costs down)
- using the positive make your molds
- slip cast, fire, glaze, fire

If the part line isn't horrendous, this could be done. Just get the mesh out (I suspect someone has code they're using for something else that could get this for out for you).

What kind of range, though?

(looks)

Material costs I've found:

Plastic printer, ABS: $4/cu inch
Wax printer: $40/cu inch
Z Corp, binder and powder: $1-$3/cu inch

I'd imagine most things people would want to fabricate would fall somewhere into the $800-1000 category. You'd probably not want wax unless you were only interested in reviewing the part (in my experience they're delicate and prone to breaking) or casting from it. Some people get the Z-Corp parts and impregnate them to make them more durable, but tbh, I've never gotten any parts like these so I can't offer an opinion (I should contact them for a sample). If the parts can be CNC'd, one could cut wood which might be nice, but wood has a grain so the results are highly dependent on the bureau (a cutter might go against the wood grain and cause problems, for example). You could of course cut other things. Personally I prefer SLA parts as they're durable and the resolution quality is very high (relative to, say, SLS or FDM).

Wow! Very cool. Thanks Csven!

Just make sure the molds are plaster if you slipcast. iirc, plaster is necessary with slip.

And now I think about it, another option (and one I used for some ceramic speakers) is to roll the clay and press it into the mold. Worked for me, but then my form was just an ovoid. If you could though, this means you could avoid making a positive and instead make the mold negatives directly.

Do you mean ported into a another 3D virtual space, in this case a static version, or within the context of RL?! For 2 years ppl in SL have taken their ideas beyond the metaverse and converted them into real-RL context.

RL examples:

Marvin the Paranoid Android model for the motion picture the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy....

the oculas... www.theoculas.com

multiple examples for adidas...

avalon.kiosk now being used for a commercial perfume company, originally based on a model we developed in 1.4

avalon. range of products being commissoned for RL development, in this case the avalon.kicks...

avalon.mobile now being used as community cha-ttool for a major software company


too name but a few...


www.theoculas.com
www.riversrunred.com
www.spacethinkdream.com

Agree. I don't see what the big deal is. When people can make something in SL and go straight to a part (without someone in-between recreating it in a separate app first), then that will interesting afaic.

Cheap 3D Printers are about $25,000.
From what I can tell, they produce pretty nice models.
http://zcorp.com/products/printersdetail.asp?ID=1
Assume sale of 100 items ~ $500 per item including overhead.


I've met lots of RL seamtresses within SL. They could easily sell real clothing designed from virtual clothing. The gowns would be expensive since the patterns would have to be custom designed. Fitting would be impossible and the person's measurements would have to be assumed correct.
Gowns could be sold on a contract basis. Time and Materials.
Deals could be struck between costume designers and virtual designers for some pretty amazing cross-brand marketing potential.
http://www.renaissancedress.com/Custom.htm
Cost of materials + time + risk ~ $2000 per gown. Less for things like t-shirts.

Hirst Arts has molds for creating miniature castles and buildings.
Someone could start a business selling RL scale replicas of SL castles.
http://www.hirstarts.com
Very time intensive: Cost of materials + time ~ $600 / castle

Miniatures companies have all sorts of miniatures which could be painted to match most avatars.
http://www.newwave.org/minis/thugz/index.html
http://www.excalibur-miniaturen.de/bilder/picindex.php?ukat=eroti
http://www.coolminiornot.com/7716
Cost of mini plus painting time ~ $200 / mini

Combining Hirst Arts castle molds and Excalibur mini's, one could easily replicate any of the seedier scenes found within SL.
The complete scene, built and painted to match a scene in SL would run about $800.

Wouldn't it be great to have a diroama of your virtual dungeon for your RL mantle?