Archinect - News

Here comes the "dronescraper"

2016-03-31T15:23:00-04:00

A drone skyscraper has been proposed by designers Hadeel Ayed Mohammed, Yifeng Zhao and Chengda Zhu that acts as a central control terminal for drones to dock and recharge, situated in the heart of Manhattan. The ‘dronescraper’, dubbed ‘the hive’ has been proposed as an alternative to Rafael Vinoy’s 432 Park Avenue superstructure, which is set to become the tallest residential tower in the western hemisphere.

The skyscraper has been undergoing some significant design reconceptualizations lately. Here's a round-up of the most interesting takes:

Google is letting you visit museums around the world using Street View and Youtube

2014-12-11T14:05:00-05:00

Google announced today it’s making a platform available to museums that enables them to build mobile applications that take advantage of Google technology, including Street View and YouTube, to bring their exhibits to anyone with a smartphone. Through partnerships between museums worldwide and the Google Cultural Institute, there are now 11 museums and cultural institutions that have participated in this pilot project to date; their apps are live now on Google Play.

Your phone could soon become a 3D scanner

2013-12-06T13:49:00-05:00

Most of us have gotten used to smartphones replacing long-established devices such as cameras and music players. Soon, however, they might be taking over the duties of something that is itself an emerging technology – the 3D scanner. Researchers at ETH Zurich have created an app that allows an ordinary smartphone to capture and display three-dimensional models of real-world objects, for subsequent finessing or even 3D printing.

Eisenhower Memorial? There’s an App for That

2012-09-04T17:04:00-04:00

Thanks to augmented reality technology being implemented by media design firm Local Projects LLC, visitors can look at Gehry’s steel tapestries through their smartphone cameras to see what otherwise isn’t there: video and audio recordings that tell more of Ike’s story, even in Ike’s own voice. And children carrying smartphones (which seem to be all of them these days) will be on a scavenger hunt for hidden messages throughout the memorial.