As you are well aware, those wonderful 3D models you create each day are traditionally crafted with a mouse, a keyboard, too many mouse clicks and an occasional flinging of the keyboard across the room. Now this is all well and good, but it’s the 21st century–the age of (almost) flying cars and (almost) colonizing moons. Fortunately, one Belgian student has a knob and slider concept that will have you modeling like it’s the future… or 1927. One of those.
Product Designer, Simon Van Pottelbergh, a soon-to-be graduate of the LUCA School of Arts, recently posted a video of his design for an analog interface for 3D modeling, TAC.TILES. The 15-module physical control set is an experiment is creating 3D models using different knobs, sliders and even a depth sensing theremin-like module.
Though it looks like he’s preparing to mix a DJ set, TAC.TILES is conceptualized as an intuitive tool where each module performs a specific action to pull, push, twist or contort your 3D model into a work of art. Though specifics of the controls are not given, Simon told WB Engineering his idea is to break down the barrier between designers and their designs, providing a more simplistic user interface to create shapes very quickly.
With that in mind you may not need the skills of a DJ to mix your model. Not all the modules are required for the interface to work and the magnetic USB port allow you to customize the TAC.TILES layout to fit your personal preferences.
TAC.TILES is aimed at the initial stages of modelling, where you may generalize a series of shapes to get a feel for the design you want to create. Though the project still isn’t ready for complex 3D modeling, it’s a concept that brings us closer to the idea of physically manipulating the shape with our plus, you gotta admit, it looks kinda cool knobbing and sliding your creation into existence.
Would you use something like this? Have you?
Via: Designboom
