MELLANIUM: VIRTUAL ARCHITECTURE

[Ken Rigby (MellaniuM, Tele3dworld)]

Architecture, in the main, is a collaborative process where engaged people need to share principles, concepts, impressions, designs and commitment. Architects have toiled relentlessly to render their vision to meld form and function but drawings, models and blueprints are poor substitutes for a real sense of "being there". Do you think they have ever dreamt that they could project themselves and their clients, builders, developers and inspirational colleagues into a replica of a “virtually perfect” construct? Well now it is possible!

Mellanium brings the emerging capabilities of immersion, visualization, rich media and personal navigation to the individual and shared experience of the architect and stakeholders in the realization of designs. We have technologies that can now be married to elevate the experience to serve all parties in visualizing, communicating and responding.
MellaniuM was originally conceived to complement the technique of the architectural design process by reproducing and importing AUTOCAD 3D renderings into the MMO UNREAL 2 engine. It is ,therefore, quite feasible to render the overall architectural concept and privately import into the MMO platform for easy access by up to 32 participants. The two unique attributes of the technology are both the ability to produce exact dimensional representations of the buildings and objects within them and, in addition, texture them with scaled high resolution surfaces. So now it is technologically possible to reproduce any city, terrain and/or landscape to a high degree of detail and enter it through a dedicated server running the UNREAL 2 platform. With the topographical digital maps which are now available it will be simple to render the exact configuration of most of the Earth's surface and place on it the relevant buildings and natural features. The furnishings and decorative artifacts are equally reproduced in the minutest detail and can sport hyper-realistic surfaces polished or burnished to a high gloss or rendered with a soft matte finish.

In this movie of a MellaniuM concept apartment building the final shot within one of the furnished units shows a female model sat adjacent to a coffee table upon which are placed an odd assortment of artifacts. These consist of a large ultramarine marble bust of what appears to be an African inspired art exhibit and a rather macabre polished skull with turquoise teeth. Closer to the door are a couple of potted plants. In some circles this scene would be considered a rather particular example of "conceptual art"

To highlight the viability of the technique the following movie shows the detail achievable using the MellaniuM concept. The shine on the
polished marble items is somewhat hypnotic and the imperfections on the potted plants illustrate the breathtaking exactness of the textures. The free ranging camera movement gives some subtle hints to the potential for exquisite machinima
productions in the future.

The “Holy Grail” for architects has been realised, the passive becomes interactive, the limited 2D experience becomes the rich 3D experience. Indeed with a simple extrapolation it is no dificult task to expect that this concept will be rapidly accepted by manufacturing. Virtual manufacturing is expanding daily and porting AUTOCAD 3D files into an effective interactive environment will be the key to increased productivity.

Spread the Good News!

If you wish to engage in a demonstration over SKYPE please do not hesitate to call me at joe133952

For more information please read these GO articles

Posted by Joe Rigby at 12:10 PM 0 comments

Labels: architecture, Interverzal, machinima, MellaniuM, virtual worlds

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

MellaniuM: The Virtual New World Order

I have presented through SKYPE over a hundred live videostreaming demonstrations of the MellaniuM VRW's (Virtual Real Worlds) . The MellaniuM concept avoids all the pitfalls of the 3D web based creations presently available to be experienced on the Internet. The UNREAL engine and the data required to produce the realistic environments are administered off the hard drive of your computer. An Internet connection is necessary only to show the positional and directional information of the several avatars (up to 32 ) participating in the self-server hosted environment. There is,therefore, no rezzing effect or lag as seen in Second Life as the "prims" are downloaded and assembled continuously as you walk or fly around the Sims. Huge hard drive capacity is commonplace on all computers now and at 20 cents a gigabyte it is not unusual to have a terabyte of hard disk space. The permanent storage of required data is hardly a barrier to the implementation of these 3D environments. The video card demands of these virtual worlds are also non-existant since a standard 3D card with 256 M ram will suffice to produce lag-free experiences.
It is fascinating to consider the reactions illicited by this concept of producing interactive MMO style realistic environments in an online server platform(UNREAL 2). To be honest during the presentations we were almost expecting a barrage of criticism directed at our MellaniuM flagship aimed at sinking it without a trace. Well at least some indication as to where was the fatal flaw in our virtual construct.

FROM THE VIRTUAL NEW WORLD

The reactions to the SKYPE demonstrations would certainly be worthy of study by a team of psychology graduates from an eminent faculty of
higher learning. Initially we encountered a entirely justifiable lack of interest since our contacts either had little or no experience with participating in an MMORPG style online game. As our circle of contact grew and we intersected with the NING "SERIOUS GAMES" and "VIRTUAL WORLDS CONNECT" networks it was obvious that we had hit the motherlode. These networks consist of a comprehensive list of who's who in the world of 3D virtual environment platform developers, marketing gurus,vendors,bloggers,machinima savants and WEB 2.0 pundits of every technical stripe and complexion.

So far as I can discern one can group the 3D community in three vague classifications when one presents the MellaniuM concept over SKYPE. One group offers a singular lack of any agenda and they approach the presentation with no prejudice or malice aforethought. In nearly every case they express an unalloyed joy at the potential prospect of a virtually realistic world to explore and with which to interact and help to create. This group comprises a healthy mix of educators,bloggers and machinima creators who both have a simple objective view that the future is bright and are open to any and all considerations in the 3D world.

A second group appear to be tainted whether justifiably or not with the notion that the MellaniuM concept is simply another fringe player which can only confuse more the chaotic status of the 3D community and germinating WEB3D. There are always some glimmers of encouragement as the most insightful and more intelligent observers do vouch for the possibility of "horses for courses" and that one single platform will not be able to encompass the needs of all the 3D potentialities in the fields of education,engineering and social interaction.There seems to be a semi-conscious, gnawing fear that because Second Life is the only "game" in town we had better all shore up the edifice and trump any good news as loud and as often as possible. I can understand this quiet desperation of SL Island/SIM developers and the marketing gurus who have committed so much of their time and finances. In essence this group finds no serious flaw in the potential to use high polygon models and rich textures to create realistic environments but have only modest praise since there is no existing MellaniuM based world in which to build a viable business (can't fault 'em for that).

A final small group approach the MellaniuM demonstration with a stubborn determination to undermine any notion of the capability of any non internet/browswer based client arrangement.They must relent somewhat when they see the detail and effect of light sourcing of the MellaniuM technology but they have committed themselves and are irretrievably entrenched in believing that some form of interoperability within clients running off a browser will be the final outcome for the all-encompassing 3D WEB.

Please call me on SKYPE at joe133952 for your own personal view of the Virtual New World.

Posted by Joe Rigby at 10:26 AM 0 comments

Labels: Interverzal, MellaniuM, Tele3Dworld, Virtual Real Worlds

Monday, January 21, 2008

MellaniuM: The New Radical Approach

From what I have gleaned whilst eavesdropping on the technical group here at MellaniuM there are a few unique twists required to develop truly realistic 3D environments. The first, and likely most important technique, is the generation of dimensionally accurate models produced in AUTOCAD. The surfaces of these models, which are referred to as static meshes, are rendered with textures which are faithfully reproduced from the actual object and subsequently scaled back onto the model to recreate a close copy in the virtual world.


For example, on close examination of the above image, one can see the leather strap suspension on this stagecoach along with the complex linkages to the horses' harnesses and the brake mechanism connected to both of the front wheels.

In another screenshot of the copper anode refining furnace the clean lines of the steel shell, the steel beams supporting the endplates and the definition of the two mouth openings could not be produced in such minute detail with tools as 3D Studio Max or similar rendering software. During a presentation over SKYPE I have had shocked individuals admit candidly that this must have been created by importing AUTOCAD generated models into the platform.



Inside the vessel the coloured zones are used to represent different areas of the lining which are subjected to more or less severe corrosive and/or physical abuse during operation. This zoning mitigates the effects of the molten metal and dynamic action of solid scrap impacting the lining of the furnace. Thus the lining wear is designed to be balanced and will hopefully occur in a relatively even overall fashion.



From a practical standpoint the improved realism generated by the use of higher polygon models faithfully rendered to recreate any detailed environment is a proven (and now patented) technique. With respect to the commercial aspect of the concept it is hardly difficult to imagine, in the near future, downloading the UNREAL platform and personally relevant customized environments off the global MellaniuM server and with consummate ease hosting a private server off your own computer.

If you are interested in learning more about the MellaniuM VRW's please allow me to present to you a live videostreaming demonstration over SKYPE at joe133952.

Posted by Joe Rigby at 6:30 PM 0 comments

Labels: Autocad 3D, Interverzal, MellaniuM, Unreal, virtual worlds

Sunday, January 20, 2008

MellaniuM: The Virtual Event Horizon Approaches

In this first blog I will try to explain the unique features of the MellaniuM concept of developing 3D environments using the UNREAL 2 platform. I do not expect to receive any withering criticism since it is likely this blog will be unread or ignored but I feel like I need to get something down on a blog.
I have in the past been thoroughly addicted to Everquest and WoW and about three years ago while still somewhat possessed by Pontefract my level 48 dwarf cleric I had a somewhat shocking experience with Mark Melaney. He had just finished his architecture degree at Ryerson University where he had imported his final year thesis into the UNREAL 2 platform. I was completely stunned by this feat and asked if he thought he could make a dimensionally accurate anode refining vessel. I am the market manager for RHI a company which sells, services and installs high temperature linings in the non-ferrous metals industry. So after some discussions with upper management in RHI we got a budget to proceed and he produced an excellent 3D rendering of the AUTOCAD files which are normally used to design and illustrate the lining concept. In the mean time my brother, Ken, did a rigorous survey of the Internet to divine if there were any similar, if not identical, virtual worlds being produced with the same degree of realism. He found nothing.
Together with Mark we pondered and debated that if you can do that…….

The Spitfire Vb WW2 fighter plane seemed to be an excellent choice to test Mark’s ability to produce a realistic complex textured model. This study was expected to be an environment with more emotional appeal and envelope pushing potential. He, we think, succeeded admirably and it is now a staple in a few of our environments as case examples of the potential for the MellaniuM concept.

After this project was completed we had more discussions along the line of “If you can do that………….”

In joint projects Ken and Mark collaborated to produce a series of environments with a conference area which includes a rather remarkable virtual mirror on one wall, an art gallery with the work of Johannes Vermeer and an Egyptian museum. In all the environments we had no hint of difficulty importing avatars from our disparate locations in the UK and Canada over the Unreal server network. We produced several YOUTUBE movies to celebrate the environments.

In addition during our early days of development we realized that we had to engineer a way to present our customized environments to a wider audience. After months of work and several futile attempts we developed TELE3DWORLD, leveraged through SKYPE to videostream live walkthroughs of our work. We can now provide for these demonstrations through my SKYPE contact at joe133952.

After recreating the “Whitecroft” residence we festooned the area around the house with a Corvette with an eye-popping polished finish, a Mustang and the Spitfire to showcase the lighting in the platform and a rather impressively detailed Kawasaki dirt bike. This we felt was a milestone but together we sang the chorus “ If we can do that…………”



The next step was to extend to a macro environment dimensioned in miles rather than yards ( I know I am 56 years old what do you expect?) and a suitable scenario was composed of a island 4 miles square with some relatively enormous models to prove the flexibility and scope of the concept. A pirate ship was modelled and imported to push the rendering complexity as much as possible. Soon after the WW2 battleship King George V and the Titanic were both modelled with our AUTOCAD pipelining methods.

So I implore you to imagine if MellaniuM can do that..........

I have contacted numerous interested individuals and presented these environments over TELE3DWORLD and have many scheduled presentations in the near future. In all of these presentations there has been, to date, no serious stumbling blocks indicated that this MellaniuM method will not be capable of producing extensive, realistic 3D environments for use in education , engineering or a plethora of artistic creations.

Posted by Joe Rigby at 11:54 AM 0 comments

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