VRI Troms, Innovation Norway and the Research Council wanted to promote 20 high innovation companies in Northern Norway. Uformia was one of these showcased companies. Below is a rough translation of an excerpt from the article.
Credit to Jørn Indresand for the article and the main photograph.
Deep in the northern Troms, specifically in the small village Furuflaten in Lyngen, Americans Cherie Stamm and Turlif Vilbrandt settled for developing revolutionary software for 3D printing. It is starting to reverberate in an industry with unreal visions for the future.
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"We're just getting started and scratch the surface of what is possible. The world is facing a new manufacturing revolution, which one can replicate and produce almost any objects directly from a computer. Today it is the software, not the printer itself that is the problem. Until now, software has driven hardware developments. In 3D printing is quite the opposite. This will change radically with our technology, says a very enthusiastic Turlif Vilbrandt. - We have already reached a position where we can push manufacturers of 3D printers to develop machines to deliver higher resolution and be able to combine several materials, he adds."
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Why Furuflaten?
"Because we can!"
Both Cherie Stamm and Turlif Vilbrandt have extensive experience in programming and software development from a number of places in the world. Five years ago they came to the idyllic Furuflaten in Lyngen. They are mostly met the same question from everyone they meet. Why stay and develop a software company in Furuflaten?
"The answer is simple: Because we can, says Cherie and smiles broadly."
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Mcor and Staples Team Up To Offer 3D Printing Service
Posted by: cherie | Comment (0)Tagged in: news, 3D printing
We are very excited to see Mcor and Staples team up to offer a new 3D printing service, which is a huge stride in bringing 3D printing to the masses. Mcor is of course the perfect 3D printing company for Staples print division to partner with, as Mcor printers are the only ones which use standard office paper as the build material. This service, "Staples Easy 3D", will allow people to upload their models to the Staples website and have their object either mailed to them or picked up at a Staples location. The initial rollout is set for early 2013 in Belgium and the Netherlands, with other countries to follow.
This service will have access to Mcor's new full color IRIS printer, which if you have not already seen, is printing some impressive objects such as this skull.
Via: Mcor
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Uformia: Saving the world from polygons!
Posted by: admin | Comment (0)Tagged in: press, news, MeshUp, announcements, 3D printing
Contact:
Cherie Stamm
CEO, Uformia
cherie@uformia.com
+1 425 296 1719 (US)
+46 090 205 76 71 (Norway/Sweden)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Uformia: Saving the world from polygons!
Furuflaten, Norway, October 19th - Uformia AS announced today that it has launched a KickStarter campaign for its new modeler, MeshUp. Based on volume modeling, MeshUp is set to overcome the many limitations of existing polygonal and surface-based modelers, particularly within the realms of 3D printing and fabrication. MeshUp is a stand-alone product with features including mesh repair, mesh combining, microstructures and watertight STL and slice generation.
"CG artists and designers know very well the limitations and tediousness of modeling with polygons," explains Turlif Vilbrandt, CTO and joint founder of Uformia. "Mesh models tend to have all kinds of problems such as cracks, holes and self-intersections. This is due to a disconnect between the real world being represented and the modeling software's attempts to represent real, volumetric, complex and “messy” objects by only surfaces."
MeshUp allows users and 3D printers to fabricate directly without the need for the complex, multistage fixing process that is usually required with traditional polygonal approaches. MeshUp is based on the same volume modeling framework that powers Uformia's existing product Symvol, which is available as an add-on for Rhino. Every object in Uformia's system is a true 3D volume (not voxels or parametric surfaces), because the software reduces each object to a mathematical function. This inbuilt definition of a model's volume makes the system ideally suited to modeling objects that are destined for 3D printing.
MeshUp offers a number of features that are of interest to the 3D printing and broader modeling communities. Users can load and combine meshes without having to worry about vertices and polygons. Meshes can be converted to a shell and microstructures can be added quickly and easily. MeshUp will also offer STL and mesh repair techniques, including a rounded repair method that attempts to take into account any missing volume. Then, when it's time for physical fabrication, MeshUp will export clean watertight STL files or slice data for 3D printing.
MeshUp will be available for Linux, MacOS and Windows. Symvol for Rhino is available as a free and feature limited Maker version while the Community version is available for €190 or approximately $246; both work on Windows and require Rhinoceros® version 4.0 SR8+. MeshUp is now a live project on Kickstarter, accepting donations.
About Uformia AS
Uformia is an international north Norwegian company who aims to develop a new kind of 3D software that will solve many of the problems of today's software, especially in the field of digital fabrication.
URLs:
Uformia: http://www.uformia.com/
MeshUp on Kickstarter: www.uformia.com/ks-mu
or: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/723819776/meshup-mashup-for-meshes
ENDS
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Finansavisen's article on Uformia
Posted by: cherie | Comment (0)Tagged in: press, news, events, 3D printing
Andreas Klemsdal at Finansavisen (one of the top business newspapers in Norway) recently wrote a follow-up article on Uformia (the original was posted in October 2010). What follows is an excerpt and a rough translation.
The Economist predicts that industrial production will slowly move back to the western world as any business can produce goods by using a three-dimensional printer. Forbes magazine says that the U.S. will be self-sufficient in goods such as clothing and shoes within five years. The sale of 3D printers has tripled in the past year.
In the small northern Norwegian village of Furuflaten sits Americans Cherie Stamm and Turlif Vilbrandt, with the mighty Lyngen Alps directly outside their office. They came here to climb mountains, but spend all their time trying to climb to the top of an industry that is now emerging. The two founders are working around the clock to spread their software that will improve opportunities for designing three-dimensional elements.
Tradeshow in London
The 3D printing industry will have its first big trade show in England's capital.
- It is the first major show bringing together designers, students, industry, artists, anyone interested in 3D printing.
"For us it is a perfect way to introduce ourselves," says Cherie Stamm.
- "Among other events, there will be a fashion show with clothes made of 3D printers and exhibitions of 3D printed art," says Turlif Vilbrandt.
25 years of research
Uformia has developed software for anyone who works with 3D design on a computer, especially those wanting to take these designs out to a 3D printer. According to the founders, Uformia's platform is mathematically perfect and therefore can describe all three dimensional forms without limitations.
-"Our software understands the whole object," say a committed Vilbrandt. Uformia is based on 25 years of research, but until now computers have not been fast enough to take advantage of this knowledge. Today our programmers reside in Australia, UK, Russia, Japan and the United States and they all work to further develop Uformia's products."
Northern Norway vs New York
- How long can you hold out in Furuflaten/Tromso?
- "We will probably look at the possibility of having two bases. As we grow, it will be necessary to recruit talent and we must look at the possibility of having an office in London, New York or California. But we will always have a base in northern Norway", said Stamm.
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Part of our team is currently attending Additive Manufacturing 2012 and ASTM. It has moved this year to a big, better location with more speakers and an exhibition space. It has been an interesting few days so far with talks ranging from a cheap and accurate prosthesis creation using a Z-Corp, metal jaw implants and full jaw replacement, multi-material electrical printing, super rapid sub-micron two photon printing (including printing through living tissue) and printing of customized dolls. A talk by Assa Ashuach on user informed and customized objects mentioned Function Representation and showed a video of attempts to offer dynamic end user interaction by direct automatic morphing.
One of the most interesting talks was given by Neri Oxman on the fabrication of nature, who Uformia worked with on her recent exhibition at the Pompidou Center. (See our previous blog entry regarding this exhibit and the helmet we collaborated with Neri on.) Her talk discussed the development and application of algorithms and approaches that nature takes toward fabricating objects. This was great stuff and totally up our alley. In fact, Uformia's approach to modeling and fabrication was introduced in a paper called Fabricating Nature, around the the same notions (but with different objectives). It is great to see research that is pushing additive fabrication to truly reinvent the world we live in and the development of tools and methods that are needed to make it happen.
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"The internet changed the world in the 1990's. The world is about to change again."
The 3D Printshow is the first show in the UK that brings together exhibitors, trade and the press, all focused on 3D printing- and Uformia is pleased to announce that we will be an exhibitor.
The show is 19 - 21 October, and tickets have just gone on sale, and they are giving away 1,500 free tickets for students and new businesses.
While the schedule is not yet public, we do know there will be some fifty workshops, seminars and live demonstrations, and one trade day. Also there will be a live show (a catwalk featuring new 3D fashion; live music played on 3D printed instruments; and 3D displays around the room; and a other guests and features yet to be named).
3D Printshow: http://3dprintshow.com
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Today Rhino sent out a newsletter informing their users about our new product Symvol. Our thanks to Rhino for helping us get the word out!
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Rhino News
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Best regards, McNeel Headquarters |
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McNeel • North America • Latin America • Europe • Asia |
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| Uformia is introducing an exciting new approach and foundation to 3D design and fabrication: Symvol for Rhino. Symvol for Rhino - Community is the first of Uformia's innovative new 3D modeling tools to be released. This product is a simplified yet powerful introduction to this new "true 3D" volume based approach and framework. Objects made with Symvol are always watertight and ideal for 3D printing. |
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Symvol defines objects as infinitely malleable material, not a collection of paper sheets glued together, as is the case in industrial 3D software today (often referred to as 2.5D modeling). When using Symvol, users will be reminded of working with clay or metal. Unlike traditional solid modeling which can display cracks or surface issues, users will always have a valid truly solid object no matter the design demands placed on it. On top of this exciting new development, Symvol's ease of use means professionals are no longer the only people that can use 3D modeling and fabrication software. 1. Symvol Maker -- the free, fully-functional, non-commercial version is available for download and is suitable for the 3DP/maker community. 2. Symvol Community -- the low-cost version targeted for 3D printing, available for purchase now. 3. Symvol Pro -- the fully-featured, professional version, to be released later this year. |
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*** We at Uformia are looking forward to working closely with 3D modelers across the globe to expand our user base and spread the joy of true volumetric modeling. If you would like more information or have any inquires please email us: support [at] uformia.com or chat with us via our support forum. We look forward to hearing from you. Happy modeling!
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Hello out there! We are pleased to announce the release of our new website, and along with it, the ability to pre-order our first product, Symvol™ for Rhino - Community Version!
Check back with us often, as our next versions will soon follow: Maker Version which is free and Pro Version for professionals.
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Congratulations to our own CEO Cherie for being one of Innovation Norway's 2011 nominees for Entrepreneur of the Year in Norway - the only nominee in the Troms county. We all at Uformia couldn't agree more that she is doing an excellent job!
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