LithUnwrap is a free, easy-to-use, Windows tool for mapping and editing the UV coordinates of low poly 3D models.

LithUnwrap main features:

OpenGL 3D model viewer
Easy to use UV coordinate editor
UV maps get updated in real-time
Assign materials per face to objects
Pan and zoom in UV mapping space
Export UV maps to high resolution bitmaps
Polygonal and rectangle selection tools
Assign diffuse and opacity texture maps to materials
Decal, planar, box, cylindrical, and spherical UV mapping
Distortion free UV maps using detached face mapping
Import/export LWO, OBJ, DXF, 3DS, ASC, COB, and X files
Import many popular game file formats
Import textures in BMP, TGA, JPG, PCX, DDS, TEX, OGF, LIF, MAT and RSB formats
Create plane, box, cone, cylinder, sphere, geosphere, pyramid, prism, tube, torus, and 3D text primitives
Includes a basic set of 3D modelling tools: moving, scaling, rotating, subdividing, aligning, extruding, bevelling, flipping, tapering, twisting, flattening, mirroring, triangulating, and untriangulating
Runs under Win 95/98/ME/2K/XP (OpenGL on NT w/SP4)

Source:http://www.geeks3d.com/20090303/lithunwrap-free-uv-mapper-for-windows/#more-3403

found on Youtube.com:

“First workshop results of realtime video tracking with realtime rendering (TabulaTrack & Ventuz) These are the first tests and not the final product. The final product in will be of higher quality…”

I don’t know if this guy was a graphics developer, but he knows how to use some 3D techniques like 3D textures. Xia Xiaowan is a chinese painter that paints in 3D using layers of glass. So if you need an overview of what 3D texture look like, Xia Xiaowan did it!

Source: http://www.geeks3d.com/20090608/3d-texture-in-real-life/#more-4141 and

http://www.artnet.de/artist/80470/xia-xiaowan.html

ASUS will release a new graphics card made with two G200-350-B3 GPUs. This GPU is one that is behind the GeForce GTX 285. ASUS new card will be called MARS 295 Limited Edition and will be an official GTX 295 (same device ID):

Each MARS 295 GPU will have access to 2Gb of graphics memory (512-bit GDDR3) giving us a total of 4GB. And here is what happens when a hardcore overclocker (kinc) can touch the ASUS 295: 

Notice the two power supply units…

Source: http://www.geeks3d.com/20090531/mars-295-dual-geforce-gtx-285-with-4gb-of-graphics-memory/

This is for all of you who haven’t yet heard of augmented reality, or all of you who have heard of it but couldn’t figure out, what it is, or all of you who have heard of it, know what it is but have no idea what to use it for. Watch this film and learn!

Make sure that you blow in the microphone to turn the pylons.

source: Geeks3D.com

In the flight control tower of the Lufthansa Brand Academy Frankfurt-Seeheim, visitors learn about the local and global connections of international air traffic. A 14 meter wide 180 degree projection lets users dive into the fully navigable, realtime 3D visualization of 16000 daily Lufthansa and Star Alliance flights.
The visual appearance of the data visualization is complimented by a generative, six channel 3D audio system.

The 3D framework for this installation codenamed “warRoom” can be used to load, visualize and navigate any kind of global data sets.

Source: http://www.geeks3d.com/20090623/real-time-3d-air-traffic-network-simulation/#more-4567

SInce we have nothing better to do than search the world for a right to exist, we sometimes stumble over something that actually does just that. Here it is again – why Power Point just doesn´t do it anymore. Excerpts from a highly interesting article from one of the most renowned magazines in the country. IN GERMAN!

Spiegel ONLINE, 17.06.09

IM POWERPOINT-NIRVANA

Beamer an, Hirn aus

Von Frank Patalong

Kaum beginnt der Referent damit, die projizierte Powerpoint-Folie vorzulesen, fallen wir in eine Vollstasis: Das Denken gefriert, der Körper geht in eine Art Winterschlaf-Modus über, sieht nur noch wach aus. Das ist kein subjektives Gefühl: Studien zeigen, dass Powerpoint das Verständnis lähmt.

Es heißt, das Hirn sei nicht in der Lage, etwas zu fühlen: Keine Kälte, keine Wärme, noch nicht einmal, wenn man darauf drückt oder in die Hirnmasse hineinschneidet. Da ist es für viele von uns ein einschneidendes Erlebnis, die erste Powerpoint-Präsentation zu erleben - denn sie ist durchaus mit einem hirnigen Gefühl verbunden.

Wir erinnern uns (soweit das noch geht): Kaum wird das Licht gedimmt, kaum wirft der Beamer das Bild der ersten Folie an die Wand, kaum hat der Referent angehoben, uns die Mühe abzunehmen, die Folie selbst lesen zu müssen, da legt sich eine Art wuscheliger, muffeliger aber warmer Flokatiteppich um unsere grauen Zellen. Er isoliert das Hirn vom Rest des Körpers, der Aufmerksamkeit simulierend, in Wahrheit in eine Art Winterschlaf-Stasis, ein temporäres Wachkoma verfällt. Der Hirnstamm nimmt gerade noch so eben seine Aufgaben wahr, für Atmung, Herzschlag und Stoffwechsel zu sorgen. Ansonsten: tabula rasa. (…)

And on that note… click below to find an example that really nails it!