![]() 3D Viewing, Annotation, and ConferencingIn a concurrent engineering environment, communication and collaboration take a tremendous amount of time, especially in engineering and product development departments where extremely efficient CAx systems accelerate the design process. The early formation of distributed cross-functional workgroups, as well as continuous requests for updated information and communication needs, intensify that effect. In this type of environment, the ability to access knowledge fast and manage information efficiently are critical success factors.
Networking forms the foundation for the transport of the distributed data, while OpenInventor and OpenGL are used for the kernel. A TCP/IP server is used to provide conference clients with required information about conferences, geometric data, product information, attached messages and current changes. All conferees watch the same 3D model and the same movements, rotations and zooms in real time, and can work independently. This solution for viewing and 3D conferencing is the ideal alternative to actually being on location. The modules for 3D viewing, annotation, and conferencing are supported
on workstations from Hewlett-Packard and Silicon Graphics. They are
also supported on PCs with the Microsoft Windows NT (tm) operating system.
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