I couldn't find the press release on the Internet, not even at the company Web site, and so I am reproducing it here, together with the pr person's introduction:
Sunglass is breaking the 3D design mold by launching a democratized, browser-based solution that finally gives designers freedom to design without boundaries. Introducing a new wave of crowd design, Sunglass gives users the ability to:
- Instantly initiate real-time collaborative 3-D sessions in the cloud with designers anywhere in the world, allowing for simultaneously editing and creation across over 40 file formats.
- Access and sell design tools as cloud-based apps through an open community where designers can build on the work of others through a simple API.
- Share your design using the Sunglass Player on the Web.
Sunglass Officially Launches to Democratize Design by Turning Ideas into Products Through First-of-its-Kind Collaborative Environment for Sharing and Creating 3D Files Across Any Format
Company to fuel a #crowddesign movement by freeing ideas from legacy
computer-aided design (CAD) predecessors that restricted sharing
and collaboration
NEW YORK & SAN FRANCISCO – (May 22, 2012) – Today Sunglass, the first cloud-based ecosystem for democratized creation, collaboration and sharing of 3-D content of any format, launches its private beta in the TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield in New York City.
The launch of Sunglass marks the disruption of the $10 billion computer-aided design (CAD) industry, a sector long ruled by antiquated and expensive software suites that restrict collective innovation. Bringing a truly interoperable solution to file sharing, Sunglass’s environment for social design is compatible with over 40 file formats. With this freedom, Sunglass empowers designers to collaborate, share, and create the products, structures or cities of tomorrow by giving them the cloud simulation tools necessary to work together with anyone, anywhere.
Collaborate
Until now, 3-D design has been confined to $5,000 software packages and expensive computer workstations that tie designers down to complicated processes, software variations and huge obstacles for file sharing. Sunglass changes all this, making sharing 3-D files as easy as dragging
and dropping a model in any file format into the Sunglass Stage. Once models are in the Stage, Sunglass becomes a rich environment for social design.
Designers, architects and engineers across the world can now simultaneously edit 3-D models in an instant, giving real-time feedback through Sunglass chat or by making a call through voice chat. The Stage also supplies a sketch tool for marking and annotating changes directly. Sunglass’s incredible co-viewing and editing capabilities are like a Google Docs for 3-D. With Sunglass, designers can say goodbye to file exchange – and seamlessly manage portfolios of 3-D content. Designers can pull any 3-D files from Dropbox into any web browser – and even make changes on the fly. No plugins required.
Share
The Sunglass Player further simplifies sharing designs across the Web. Transforming 3-D models from bulky files, typically difficult to embed, into links that can be shared anywhere on the Web; the Sunglass Player makes displaying designs on the Web effortless. With just one click, the user has a code to embed anywhere on the web. Like YouTube for 3-D.
The 3-D design is not just an image on a page, but a lifelike model that can rotate, flip and scale – even without Adobe Flash. Plus, with Dropbox integration, storing and accessing 3-D files on the go has never been easier.
Design without borders
Sunglass is creating an open-source community where designers can build on the work of others to save time on the simple building blocks, while focusing on creating something amazing as the end product. A simple API will allow designers to turn their work into valuable tools they can share with others in the Sunglass Stage. The Sunglass API will eventually eliminate the need for an architect or engineer to ever purchase an entire software suite again when they only need a few specific tools for a project. To prove the value, Sunglass built a utility for cloud-based streaming rendering that cuts down on design time considerably, rendering 3-D objects in about 45 seconds.
"There are 10 million designers just like us looking to engage with each other in a flat world," states Sunglass co-founder and CEO Kaustuv DeBiswas. "Products are now built for global consumption so why can't they be designed via global collaboration?"
Software interoperability costs the construction industry alone $15 billion a year, according to a 2008 study by Stanford University’s Center for Integrated Facility Engineering. And as for product design, 60 percent of designers still rebuild their models for different formats and 93 percent of them wish design tools allowed to them to make easy alternatives, per a 2008 study on Synchronous Technology byAberdeen Group.
The company calls itself Sunglass because it believes that every person has a unique perspective. And starting today it's inviting you to share your perspective- and maybe even build one.
What's your Sunglass? Find out by requesting an invitation at: http://sunglass.io
About Sunglass:
Sunglass is a cloud-based environment that enables designers to collaboratively build the innovative products, structures and cities of the future. Democratizing 3-D design, Sunglass gives any designers the ability to turn today’s ideas into tomorrow’s realities. Founded in May of 2011, Sunglass is based out of San Francisco.
So we're supposed to get excited about a startup nobody's ever heard of launching a private Beta of a web site?
Posted by: Steve Johnson | May 24, 2012 at 07:07 PM
I get nervous when I hear the excpessions "Democratize the design process" and "Design what YOU want, instead of settling for something that someone else thinks you want." I suppose this is okay for flower vases and ornaments, but I get downright anxious whe people start talking about "democratizing" the design of things like cars, bridges, buildings, and airplanes. Do you really want products out there that have been "designed" by people with no formal training and little or no knowledge of stress, strain, fatigue, codes and regulations, or even basic physics? There is FAR more to the design process than cute software. The moon rockets and the 747 were designed with paper and pencil.
Posted by: bill fane | May 28, 2012 at 10:22 PM
Read my interview with the founder in Monday's upFront.eZine -- to learn more about the company's strategy.
Posted by: Ralph Grabowski | May 29, 2012 at 02:42 PM