SPU-Darwin
From Research Realm
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996-01 |
| Defunct | 1999 |
| Fate | Disbanded |
| Successor | LEGO Media International |
| Headquarters | , Denmark |
Key people | Dent-de-Lion du Midi |
| Parent | LEGO A/S |
Strategic Project Unit – Darwin (SPU-Darwin) was a research and development unit which led the LEGO Group's digitization efforts from 1996 to 1999.
The unit was responsible for many pioneering efforts including:
- Virtual reality demonstrations like Virtual LEGO Village which allowed people to collaboratively interact with objects in a virtual 3D environment using hand movement and gestures and was exhibited at SIGGRAPH 1996.[1][2] A Castle-themed version called Batlord's Castle was produced and shown at SIGGRAPH 1998.[3][4]
- The first LEGO sets to include CD-ROMs, featuring animated building instructions and other interactive experiences. The first was codenamed "Rubber Duck" and released as 8299 Nautilus.[5] It was quickly followed by "Burning Rubber"[6] released as 8428 Turbo Command.
- L3D, an internal database of 3D LEGO bricks and models[7]
References
- ↑ https://history.siggraph.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/30_The-Virtual-Lego-Village.pdf
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20100712115710/http://www.talisman.org/~erlkonig/lego/lego-on-sgis/Main.html
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20010420114005/http://www.roninworks.com:80/Wizards/BatlordsCastle.html
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20100929125221/http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2008/09/lego-universe-f.html
- ↑ https://www.blog.fullframestudios.ch/lego-rubberduck-8299-cd-rom/
- ↑ https://www.bartneck.de/publications/1997/burningRubber/bartneckDiplom1997.pdf
- ↑ https://www.spu-darwin.org/posts/hello-world/
External links
- spu-darwin.org, a history of SPU-Darwin by its former members
- LEGO - The Movie, a movie produced by Animagica and used as a pitch for SPU-Darwin[1]
- Alex Furer's posts on SPU-Darwin as a founding member
- First LEGO Trailer SPU Darwin, a "technical demonstration of the Real-Time Content Engine developed by the Wizard Group at SPU Darwin in 1998"
