First in the name of everyone at SimplySim, I’d like to wish you a happy new year. In 2011 we wish you success and happiness in your professional and personal life.
Today we introduce a new innovation of the SimplyCube: a Kinect controller. The SimplyCube enables you to rapidly and easily create your 3D application, and now you can add a Kinect controller. This new controller enables you to directly control your application with gestures.
The first two prototypes we’re showing in the video above represent only a first preview of the possibilities offered by this technology. From product presentation applications to motion capture, medical applications, education, simulations, or serious games… the possibilities of application are only limited by our imagination.
Stay tuned to our blog, twitter and YouTube channel to discover other innovations in 2011.
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Here it is! The final NanoConcept demonstration is online.
This suite of five demonstrations is designed to show you how to use the SimplyCube engine by creating a mini serious game. The goal of the game is to destroy viruses with a Nano robot in a blood vessel while avoiding red cells and lymphocytes.
In the two first demonstrations, we created the different objects needed for our mini game. The first one show you how to create graphic objects with physic properties and the second one started the game play by adding weapons, graphic effects and particles to the objects.
The third and fourth demonstrations added the environment (the blood vessel). Graphic options and post processing effects were added too to bestow the visual looking of the game. We also created a pursuit camera which follows the Nano robot. We set up an “in game” menu which allow us to change graphic options and the Nano robot controls. The “Head up Display” (HUD) was almost done with a speedometer and an arrow which shows the closest target.
In this final demo, we will create the game by adding some features at what we have done in the previous demonstrations. We will create a wind effect in the blood vessel in order to transport red cells through it, and we will add sounds to make the game more immersive. Then, we will generate all the viruses and red cells (hundreds). The final step will be the implementation of the game mechanics: paralyzing and destroying objects, time limit and, of course, scoring system.
Hurry up! You have five minutes to destroy as many viruses as you can!
I also invite you to visit the SimplySim forum, where you can make some feedbacks and ask questions about these demonstrations, or just share your best score with the other SimplyCube beta users!
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Hello everyone, the fourth demo is released!
NanoConcept Demo is a suite of five demonstrations which designed to show you how to use the SimplyCube engine by creating a mini serious game. The goal of the game is to destroy viruses with a Nano robot in a blood vessel while avoiding red cells and lymphocytes.
In the two first demonstrations, we created the different objects needed for our mini game. The first one show you how to create graphic objects with physic properties and the second one started the game play by adding weapons, graphic effects and particles to the objects.
The third demonstration added the environment (the blood vessel). Graphic options and post processing effects were added too to bestow the visual looking of the game. We also created a pursuit camera which follows the Nano robot.
In this one, we will create an “in game” menu. We will be able to set up graphic options and control’s key binds through it. We will also start the “Head up Display” (HUD) of the game by adding a speedometer and an arrow which will show you the closest target.
Remember that you can post at any time feedbacks or questions on the SimplySim forum!
Last demonstration to come next week! It will be the final step and will add game mechanics, a wind map, and much more!
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Here it is, the third NanoConcept demonstration is now released!
For the record, NanoConcept Demo is a suite of five demonstrations which designed to show you how to use the SimplyCube engine by creating a mini serious game.
The goal of the game is to destroy viruses with a Nano robot in a blood vessel while avoiding red cells and lymphocytes.
The two previous demonstrations were about creating the different objects we’ll need to make a full mini game.
The first one show you how to create graphic objects with physic properties and the second one started the game play by adding weapons, graphic effects and particles to the objects.
This demonstration is more about the environment. It is time to create the blood vessel, add our objects previously created in it. We will also set up a “pursuit type” camera which will follow the Nano robot trough the vessel.
Finally, we will make our environment look pretty nice by adding post processing effects and creating a graphic settings window which will allow you to choose (and try) different graphic configurations.
Remember that you can post at any time feedbacks or questions on the SimplySim forum!
Stay tuned for the next week’ demonstration release!
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Hello everyone, last week I released my first demo on the NanoConcept. I am very happy to announce you today that the second demo is now launched!
If you didn’t download the first demo, refer to the previous post for system requirements.
NanoConcept Demo is a suite of five demonstrations which designed to show you how to use the SimplyCube engine by creating a mini serious game. The goal of the game is to destroy viruses with a nano robot in a blood vessel while avoiding red cells and lymphocytes.
The first demonstration was about constructing graphic objects with physic properties: creating the nano robot and blood cells. This one is about the first element of gameplay: adding effects to these objects and weapons to the robot, such as particles when you destroy a virus or changing the graphic appearance of it when you touch it with a paralyzing ball.
I created this demonstration based on the first one, so you can even try to make it by your own with the help of the documentation included! If you have any feedback to share or any question about this demo, you can post it on the SimplySim forum!
Third demo release to come next week!
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Hello everyone, as Bertrand announced a few weeks ago, I have joined the SimplySim team at the beginning of March 2010 and since then I’ve been experiencing with the SimplyCube to create content for the community. Today is an exciting day for me as we release the first results of my work. This is the first part of series of 5 small demos and each one will introduce a new aspect of what you can do with the SimplyCube. At the end of the fifth demo, you will have a complete 3D serious game. Ok, now let me explain you the concept of the application we’ll be creating in this demo:
The concept
The idea is to create a video game where a small robot navigates through a blood vessel. The game is simple: the robot must avoid healthy cells (red cells, lymphocytes) and destroy viruses. This little game could then easily be transformed into an educational serious game.
You will learn throughout this series of demonstrations how to create your objects, add effects on it, set up the environment and add the game mechanics that will make, by the end, a very cool serious game from these demonstrations. The goal of this series of demo is to complete the tutorials already available in the beta, and better explain how the technology can be used to create a complete 3D application.
Getting started
Ok, now you probably want to download the package and start working on this project. Let me explain what you need to get started:
- First, if it’s not already done, register for the beta of the SimplyCube
- You’ll receive a link by email, that will enable you to download the beta.
- Be sure to install all the required software listed in the “system requirements” (we know that the installation process is long and boring, sorry for that but for this first version of the SimplyCube we couldn’t include everything in a single installer, in part for legal reasons).
- Once you’ve installed everything, you can download the first “Nano Concept demo” here.
In today’s demo you’ll learn how to create a new scene, how to create simple objects like viruses, lymphocytes or red cells. You will also learn how to create a complex object such as the NanoBot and understand how it moves.
We’ll try to release a new demo each week, so stay tuned! You can also follow me on my twitter where I try to give regular updates on my work.
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As we’re moving closer to the opening of the beta version of the SimplyCube simulation engine, I wanted to share with you a few screenshots of our latest projects.
Robotics / apartment simulation
Here the robotics / apartment simulation you’ve already seen in our previous blog posts. The robot represented here is a PekeeII by Wany Robotics. In this project, thanks to our use of Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio CCR/DSS architecture, the simulated and the real robot can be controlled by the exact same software, and the same user interface.
Underwater simulation
The screenshots below are from an underwater simulation project. Several advanced 3D techniques are in used here (caustics, ambient occlusion, depth of field…)
Starting tomorrow we’ll be in Monaco for Imagina, if you’re nearby, we’ll be glad to welcome you on our booth where you’ll see all these applications live.
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SimplySim designs software tools to create 3D applications. As you might already have seen in our drone simulation, these tools permit to design 3D simulation applications, but there are several kinds of 3D applications that can be created with them. In today’s post, we have a quick look at different potential applications.
This interactive simulation environment can be used for any application from robotics simulations to serious games, or architectural design project.
Simulation
There are several ways to use 3D simulation in different fields: from the experimentation of new systems to the fields of education and training, or the study of human behaviors in realistic conditions. As explained before, the SimplyEngine has been specifically designed for real time 3D simulation, not only for UAVs but for any system.
When we talk about 3D software, video games are what come to most people’s mind (probably because video games are the first 3D applications that have reached our homes). However when we started doing 3D simulation, we felt that today the industry lacks a real 3D real time simulation engine, a software that is really designed for simulation, not for video games.
Video games
Speaking of video games, the needs of the two fields of simulation and video games can often be the same (and that led some game engine to be used in simulation projects). However the priorities are different and sometimes conflicting: simulation needs more realism, accuracy and easy interactions with other software. That doesn’t mean that you cannot use our simulation engine for video games (and given the quality of our 3D graphic real time rendering this would be understandable), just be warned that the software has been created for simulation and that the first upgrades will be for simulation.
Serious Games
During the last decade, both simulation and video game industries gave birth to “serious games”, which apply video game technology to serious purposes. The limit between serious games, simulations, and traditional video games can be hard to define. We like to see serious games as a simulation that includes some game mechanisms. In any case our product is particularly well suited to the creation of serious games thanks to its high realism and multiple possibilities in terms of interactions.
Virtual reality
Another domain related to those above is the field of virtual reality. 3D has been used in virtual reality for several years now. This is a domain where software and hardware interactions are numerous, and deserve to be simple. Our solution is based on service oriented architecture, and offers very easy ways to integrate any software or hardware with the 3D applications you create with it.
Architecture, 3D Marketing, and more
Of course our tools can also be used in other domains, such as architecture (where 3D has brought a lot in terms of efficiency and cost reduction) or marketing (where 3D offers a new media for brand and product advertising). People working in these domains, and other newcomers to the 3D technologies should particularly appreciate the easy to use and “keep it simple” approach we used when we designed our tools.
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