Kiwi 3D firm into next stratosphere

MODEL CITY: Nextspace's "visual city'' solution could see cities and all their infrastructure and assets managed and understood through 3-D models.

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Auckland 3D software firm Right Hemisphere says a win in its partnership with SAP will increase its exposure to customers of the enterprise software giant "a hundredfold".

Right Hemisphere already counts among its customers Boeing, which uses its software to train aircraft mechanics, Chrysler and jet manufacturer Gulfstream.

SAP will include Right Hemisphere's software in its complex assembly manufacturing solution, so firms can view and share 3D models of complicated manufacturing processes.

Right Hemisphere president Mark Thomas says SAP previously incorporated its technology only in its product lifecycle management software.

"We've gone from impacting hundreds of SAP customers to thousands of SAP customers. We're helping bring this 3D visual communication into the mainstream."

Right Hemisphere's spinoff company, Nextspace, which makes its 3D software available to research institutions at a discount and aims to build a $1 billion visual communications industry by 2018, is meanwhile eyeing up new markets for the technology.

Nextspace chief executive Gavin Lennox says it is working with a large Australian water company to develop software that will let utility firms easily visualise and manage their infrastructure, such as underground pipes and ducts.

The firm is seeking about $500,000 from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology to help fund the software's development.

The software would form part of Nextspace's "visual city" solution, which could result in local authorities using 3D models to understand and manage all their infrastructure and assets.

Mr Thomas says finding and accessing data on infrastructure and physical assets can be frustrating, because it often involves sifting through a mountain of paperwork.

Interactive 3D documentation is the way of the future and what the PlayStation generation will come to expect, he says.

"You only need to go and see Avatar or The Fifth Element to see the way people access information through holograms and models.

"There's the potential to add another dimension to communication around 3D as a navigation tool for information."

New Zealand firms needed to do more to cash in on the country's 3D expertise. "We seem to have taken a global lead in that thinking, but I don't think we've catalysed that opportunity as a nation.

"We are ahead of Australia when it comes to this technology, but we need to be aligning it with business opportunities."

Mr Lennox says Nextspace is targeting specialist manufacturers and sees great opportunity for 3D applications for buildings and visual learning.

About 15 research institutions use Right Hemisphere's software via Nextspace, including Christchurch's Mars Medipix, which has developed a 3D X-ray imaging tool. Ninety per cent of its customers are commercial clients.

Check out the Right Hemisphere software.

- © Fairfax NZ News