It’s been a busy couple of weeks for Quirky since announcing that they’ve turned their focus from manufacturing their own products using their collaborative invention platform towards those made by others through a number of corporate partnerships. Among other companies that have signed on already to utilize the Quirky 2.0 platform include General Electric, Mattel and Harman.
Now, just a week after announcing the new direction, the company is announcing that along with the launch of Quirky 2.0, it is now a requirement that all new invention submissions include at least one 3D model.
Previous to this decision, the NYC-based company took pride in itself for accepting literally any quality of sketch or written submission for invention ideas – but it’s clear that this ‘free for all’ method went hand-in-hand with the quality of submissions, which ultimately meant more half-hearted attempts for the company to wade through at their weekly design reviews.
“This way,” says the company, “staff and community members can easily understand a concept or product the instant they see it.”
To help make the 3D model viewing experience easy to use for both the inventor and the viewers, the company has just announced that they are teaming up with Sketchfab to make embedding the 3D models a near-seamless experience:
Sketchfab, which has been referred to as “the YouTube for 3D models” by founder Alban Denoyel, allows users to upload a 3D model from over two-dozen file formats which their server then processes and displays using WebGL and HTML5. Similar to YouTube videos, users can embed these files on nearly any website of social media platform with a quick snippet of code.
While the new barrier to entry is sure to cause a ripple of frustration amongst the casual inventors who have been actively using the platform with no formal product design experience, the company hasn’t yet turned their back on them completely:
“Don’t have time to learn 3D modeling? Use our search tool to find an expert who can help! You can also take advantage of Sketchfab’s job board, where experienced 3D modelers list their skills and can help you make a 3D version of your invention.”
