HP's 3D Future: Sprout Visual Tour
Take a look at HP's unusual "immersive PC," Sprout, and Multi Jet Fusion, a bold foray into 3D hardware.
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HP on Wednesday looked to its past to secure its future.
At time when most of the tech industry is focused on mobile devices, and most of the industry's innovation seems to appear first on Kickstarter, HP introduced a novel desktop computer it calls Sprout and a 3D printer called the HP Multi Jet Fusion.
Sprout by HP is an odd hybrid, combining a touchscreen desktop PC with HP's Illuminator -- a downward-facing projector combined with motion-sensing cameras -- and an input mat. It's designed to capture objects and render them in 2D or 3D, so they can be manipulated in design, communication, and entertainment applications.
The HP Multi Jet Fusion is as much a roadmap as an actual product. Slated for delivery next year, it's HP's attempt to turn its 2D printing expertise into an asset for the emerging age of 3D rapid prototyping. If it fulfills its promise of "breakthrough economics" and facility with multiple materials, HP could find itself leading a desktop manufacturing revolution that rivals the significance of the desktop publishing revolution in the late 1980s.
On the surface, the two products have only minimal synergy. Sprout by HP is aimed at the consumer and education markets, while the HP Multi Jet Fusion is a business product. But both are focused on 3D content creation. Sprout represents the beginning of the 3D printing chain, and the HP Multi Jet Fusion represents the end.
Why 3D printing? Because 2D printing, as CEO Meg Whitman put it two years ago, "has been the lifeblood of HP." Among its various technological competencies, printing has been the company's cash cow. Or so it was, back when people printed everything on paper. Still, it could be worth revisiting in 3D.
Maybe 3D printing will do for HP what layoffs won't, and return the company to a position of technological leadership and revenue growth. Maybe.
Sprout is a gamble. It's such an unusual device that it could easily go unappreciated. As we saw with Windows 8, novel interface conventions may be resisted. Sprout's future will depend on compelling applications that make use of its unique content acquisition and manipulation capabilities. HP is trying to convince developers to create applications for Sprout and to sell those applications in its own app store. It could work, but it's far from obvious that it will.
The HP Multi Jet Fusion is a gamble too. HP wants to deliver a device that is far more economical and functional than existing 3D printing systems. Right now, 3D printing can produce amazing sculpture and jewelry, but it's not ideal for the economical, large-scale manufacturing of sophisticated products, particularly if those products require multiple materials, working circuitry, or moving parts. That may not be the case forever, and if HP can deliver the technology to print complex, functional objects affordably, the company will have the opportunity to rise again.
Here's a look at HP's latest hardware.
This Sprout image-editing app shows how portions of an image can be selected by tracing around the selection area on the touch mat. Is this a better approach than using a mouse or a pen? That depends on the software's selection precision and the user's preferred way of working.
HP says Sprout enables "blended reality," a combination of the physical and digital worlds. "The intuitive interface sets customers' imaginations free, allowing them to go from thought to expression in an instant, no longer restricted by clicks and taps," said Rob Le Bras-Brown, senior VP of printing and personal systems marketing, in a statement. But clicks, taps, and touches are all more or less the same thing -- events that trigger an intended function. Imagination is always free. The question is whether it can be expressed efficiently using the tools provided.
One of Sprout's more compelling features is the ability to collaborate with other Sprout users. Pro tip: Don't buy one immediately. Fellow Sprout users will be easier to find after HP has sold a few.
Here Sprout is scanning a frog mask to turn it into a 3D object in the computer. The downside of this approach is the backside -- the scanner only gathers front-facing detail that's visible to the camera.
The HP Touch Mat doubles as Sprout's second screen: The HP Illuminator projects imagery from the PC screen onto the mat, and the images can be moved by touch.
This image from the Sprout developer website shows how the mat can work as a game controller. Sprout's success will depend substantially on whether third-party developers can come up with compelling uses for the device.
Sprout developers may wish to explore the device's potential for collaborative gaming. This illustration outlines a collaborative puzzle game.
The HP Multi Jet Fusion. Currently in limited testing, HP says it plans to deliver the device next year and to have a more complete 3D printing technology platform by 2016. Now might be a good time to dive into that 3D graphics app you've been wanting to learn.
This kind of object would be a pain to carve, but a 3D printer can handle the job easily. The test for HP's 3D printing technology will be whether it can produce objects made of multiple materials, like metal and plastic, that function.
This kind of object would be a pain to carve, but a 3D printer can handle the job easily. The test for HP's 3D printing technology will be whether it can produce objects made of multiple materials, like metal and plastic, that function.
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