SPU-Darwin
From Research Realm
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Founded | January 1996 |
| Defunct | 1999 |
| Fate | Disbanded |
| Successor | LEGO Media International |
| Headquarters | , Denmark |
Key people | Dent-de-Lion du Midi |
| Parent | The LEGO Group |
Strategic Project Unit – Darwin (shortened to SPU-Darwin or simply Darwin) was a research and development unit which led the LEGO Group's digitization efforts from 1996 to 1999. The unit was responsible for a number of developments including:
- Virtual reality demonstrations codeveloped with MultiGen Inc. which allowed people to interact with objects in a shared virtual 3D environment using hand movement and gestures. The demonstrations were showcased at SIGGRAPH 1996 as Virtual LEGO Village[1][2] and at SIGGRAPH 1998 as Batlord's Castle[3], a digital replica of the Fright Knight's Night Lord Castle (6097) set[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 "Nautilus" (8299).[5] It was quickly followed by "Burning Rubber"[6] released as "Turbo Command" (8428).
- LEGO 3D Database (L3D), an internal database of 3D LEGO bricks and models[7]
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[8]
- 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"
- Images and videos related to SPU-Darwin preserved at Internet Archive
References
- ↑ Blau, Brian; Dodsworth, Clark; et al., eds. (1996). "Digital Bayou – The Virtual Lego Village" (PDF). Visual Proceedings: The Art and Interdisciplinary Programs of SIGGRAPH 96. New York: The Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. p. 88. ISBN 0-89791-784-7. ISSN 1069-5419. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 July 2024.
- ↑ Jacobson, Linda (January 6, 1997). "LEGO Virtual Village". Silicon Graphics. Archived from the original on 1997-06-05. Mirror by Erlkönig on Talisman.
- ↑ "Batlord's Castle". RoninWorks. 2000-07-07. Archived from the original on 2001-04-20.
- ↑ "Lego Universe: From the child on the floor to the user online". Virtual World News. September 19, 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-10-25.
- ↑ Furer, Alex (2011). "LEGO – RubberDuck (8299) CD-ROM". Archived from the original on 12 July 2024.
- ↑ Bartneck, Christoph (5 September 1997). Burning Rubber Concept (PDF) (Thesis). FH Design & Medien, Leibniz-Universität Hannover. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-11-08.
- ↑ Gómez, Julian (May 14, 2013). "Digital LEGO". LEGO Darwin. Archived from the original on July 12, 2024.
- ↑ https://www.blog.fullframestudios.ch/animagica-the-lego-movie/
- ↑ "Yoda LEGO assembler". RoninWorks. 2000-07-07. Archived from the original on 2001-04-21.
- ↑ Crecente, Brian; Vincent, Ethan. "Episode 16 – Darwin" (PDF). Bits N' Bricks (Podcast). Participants: Claude Aebersold, Alex Furer, Julian Gómez, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, and Bjarne Tveskov. The LEGO Group. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 July 2024. Audio version via YouTube.
