Project Overview
With FreeDee App, your smartphone turns into the world's most intuitive 3D controller.
Organisation
Team
Elio Wahlen - Concept and Engineering
Kirill Lorenz - Concept and Design
Project Brief
If we want to study an object in detail, we take it in our hands in front of our eyes and turn it from side to side. That’s precisely the experience that users get after a few moments using FreeDee. This application continuously applies the spatial orientation coordinates of the smartphone to the current object or scene in 3D application. The smartphone and the object are moving similarly and synchronous. The two feel so connected like the were one entity.
Project Need
FreeDee brings a new and more natural approach to 3D controlling. All 3D controllers that exist nowadays have similar handling: The user first positions and rotates the 3D object to the desired angle by pushing, pulling and rotating the handle and then he continues to work from that perspective on.
The handling of FreeDee corresponds more to natural human behavior. It aligns the orientation of the 3D object to the orientation of the smartphone in all three axes seamlessly. So the 3D object continuously copies the movement of the smartphone in the user's hand. This way, the user manipulates the object not by buttons but by natural gestures. This principle is so self-explanatory and intuitive that the user gets the feeling of having the 3D object right in his hand.
The other aspect that makes FreeDee so unique is it’s a software that creates new hardware. It’s an input device that appears when the user starts the app and disappears when the user quits the application. That makes it a very handy tool in daily life. It’s a controller that is always in the pocket, be it at work, at home or in the client presentation.
User Experience
The handling of FreeDee is so easy and intuitive that even people without previous 3D-knowledge can instantly understand and operate it. That’s why FreeDee is not only a perfect input device for complicated modeling sessions, but it also can be handed over to a 3D-Newbie like a client or stakeholders to review the current project.
The interface of the app is designed to be operated only by swiping gestures. So the user attention is not interrupted by the object in 3D software while working with FreeDee. controller. Vertical swipe on the interface zooms the 3D object in and out; horizontal swipe quickly rotates the object horizontally. The visual feedback on the interface is an abstract landscape of lines. While swiping the user „navigates“ through it. This solution not only fulfills the functional purpose but is also a delightful aesthetical experience.
To make the user experience even more fluid, FreeDee operates at 30 frames per second. Like modern cinema.
Project Marketing
FreeDee software bundle consists of a smartphone app and a plug-in for appropriate software. The app will be sold on Google Play Store and Apple Appstore while plug-ins will be free of charge.
Before going live on AppStore and Google Play Store, we plan to test the FreeDee extensively with beta users. After the testing period, we’ll offer the App for just one 3D application: 3Ds Max. This strategy will allow us to answer the questions and feedback from customers quicker and more precisely. By the end of 2016, we will offer an open receiver API that will allow users to write plug-ins for their favorite applications. This strategy will create a community around FreeDee and will engage users even more in the developing process.
Project Privacy
The App only sends gyroscope data to the computer on the local WiFi network. So, because there is no internet connection, the user’s privacy can not be violated.
Best New Service or Application
This can be any new service or application from a start-up to an industry leader. It's not just bells and whistles we're after but true innovation, exceeding expectations and filling a void that had previously been open.
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