In RESOURCES

The Best BIM Design, Drawing and Reference Apps for the iPhone and iPad

4 Mins Read

There are a whopping 500 apps in Apple’s AppStore for architects and contractors. This includes apps categorized as “games,” “lifestyle,” and “entertainment.” While SimCity Deluxe might alleviate stress on the job site, it’s not going to help create layouts or access floorplans.

So, Software Advice has slapped together a list of the best iPhone and iPad apps for the AEC industry. They’ve filtered through ~500 apps and selected 34 of the most useful. They removed irrelevant results, sorted by trade and functionality, and prioritized the list by user ratings and popularity.

The result is their blog post, “The Best Construction Management Apps for the iPhone and iPad.” You can also view a complete list of AEC apps (minus the irrelevant results) in this Google Doc. Here, we highlight six of the apps from their list that are developed for design and architecture.

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In NEWS

3DVia Mobile HD for iPad… It Could Have Been eDrawings

3 Mins Read

Guess what kind of wild 3D manipulation news came flying out of Velizy, France today? Wrong, it has nothing to do with crêpes, large mustaches or the combination of the two.

It’s all about 3D and iPads and viewing the 3D, on the iPad. The news actually ‘leaked’ out late last week with an early release of the app to iTunes, but today Dassault officially released 3DVia Mobile HD for the iPad. It scales up the 3D viewing capabilities of the iPhone version, but you’ll notice something missing. Even more, you’ll miss what should be “Now available on iTunes.”

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In FAB

Reason #48 To Like 3D Printing with Shapeways. Robots.

1 Min Read

You know what’s cooler than flesh-eating robots? Nothing. That’s the worse it can get. However, printing out robots and robot parts falls into a whole other class of cool which will distract you from any impending robot doom.

I’ve never thought about using Shapeways to print different variations of mechanical creatures and their implements of death. Although they can print just about anything you can model up, robots are slightly refreshing idea. Now if they’ll drop the price of what it cost to print items and continue to increase the available print options.

There are a few gems among mech print mix. Here are some of my favorites…

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In 3D CAD TECH

i3Space Will Have You Touching 3D, Shooting Design Out Your Fingers.

1 Min Read

Nothing but good can come out of a project that includes a bunch of researchers in a small room and finger probes. Especially when they start toying with the visible aether and our ability to touch it.

That’s exactly what a group from the Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) has done. They’ve created a new way to interact with 3D data. They’re calling it the i3Space and it’s not your typical 2 year-old touch tech. They actually give you the ability to touch a 3-dimensional holographic image.

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In SMACKDOWN

Friday Smackdown: Jowl Slapper

1 Min Read

I’d say you need to float at least two meters off the surface. Why? Let’s just say, teeth are not the only thing it uses. It has nine tentacles… and these links. Post apocalyptic Tokyo – Who doesn’t like a scene of desolation and plant overgrowth. TokyoGenso gives you the future. iPad apps for writers…

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