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New digital media type gives drawing a third dimension
Who doesn't want to interact with their own favorite picture book? A new software platform from Mental Canvas, a company funded by the National Science Foundation's Small Business Innovation Research program, may soon let you do just that.
The technology allows users to draw like you would with pen and paper, except when you put the pen down, the sketch is viewable from multiple directions--like having access to every camera angle.
"I think of it as a spatial drawing," says Julie Dorsey, computer scientist at Yale and founder of Mental Canvas, who has a long history of support from NSF. "Fundamentally, the technology expands on what we think of as a conventional drawing or sketch."
Building the platform meant developing a new media type, as well as a set of tools to design and interact with this media form. It incorporates elements of computer-aided design, 2-D and 3-D graphics, software engineering, and human-computer interaction.
To demonstrate the software's capabilities, Mental Canvas has applied the technology to an illustrated book called "The Other Side" by Istvan Banyai. The book is a modern-day graphic novel, taking the reader on a complex, visual journey. With Dorsey's technology rendering the story in 3-D, the effect is immersive.
Date originally posted: August 17, 2015Credit: NSF
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