A blog by Oleg Shilovitsky
Information & Comments about Engineering and Manufacturing Software

Future 3D CAD Experience will come from…  Amazon?

Future 3D CAD Experience will come from…  Amazon?
Oleg
Oleg
4 October, 2017 | 2 min for reading

Do you think your business cannot be cannibalized by Amazon? I wrote about it few months ago – Is PLM software Amazon-proof?  My hunch is that PLM software started as an engineering discipline has a chance to be transformed into networked business managing relationships between contractors, suppliers, service providers and manufacturing shops. The company which will simplify these relationships has a chance to rule the future of manufacturing.

CAD and PLM companies got another bell ringing earlier. Who is the next competitor of 3D CAD software? For a very long period of time, 3D and CAD software was strongly associated with CAD vendors.

News came earlier today about Amazon has acquired 3D body model startup, Body Labs. Read more here. Here is an interesting passage:

Body Labs also says its “SOMA Shape API” can be used to “accurately predict and measure the 3D shape of your customers using just a single image”, suggesting this can power “custom apparel” or be used by fashion ecommerce retailers wanting to offer sizing recommendations.

The company also suggests additional uses-cases for its ‘fat and all’ 3D body modeling tech in health and fitness tracking, and even equipment design and manufacturing. In a video from 2015, O’Farrell suggests highly accurate 3D body scans will enable “the body itself [to] be delivered as the platform and around which goods and services are designed, manufactured, bought and sold, recommended.”

Take a look on the following videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzKHFLV_9jc

The technology seems to be capable to capture details of body and lead to a completely new way to manufacture and consume products – 3D Experience? Did I just accidentally repeated what Dassault Systemes is saying? Or it is what Amazon is planning?

What is my conclusion? Nobody is immune from disruption by business models and new technologies. Modern technology companies are replacing old fashion media services and publication agencies. What companies will replace a traditional engineering and manufacturing software? Fascinating time. Just my thoughts…

Best, Oleg

Want to learn more about PLM? Check out my new PLM Book website.

Disclaimer: I’m co-founder and CEO of OpenBOM developing cloud based bill of materials and inventory management tool for manufacturing companies, hardware startups and supply chain. My opinion can be unintentionally biased.

Recent Posts

Also on BeyondPLM

4 6
4 August, 2024

Running a demo is a strategic task that can significantly influence stakeholders’ perceptions and decisions. When it comes to management...

24 September, 2012

The issues of data, data lock-in, interoperability usually drives lots of debates and discussions. Started early from support and conversions...

22 December, 2024

It is that time of the year again. As we are approaching the end of the year, I like to...

6 February, 2011

My January was busy with travels. If you followed my blog and twitter over the past month, you’ve seen my...

3 November, 2012

Cloud is trending, and PLM vendors are starting to take some advantages of the cloud solutions and infrastructure. The most-recent...

7 February, 2011

Cost is important. Period. About 70% of product cost is defined during the design phase. So, to have PLM helping...

28 August, 2009

Another prompt today. Reading the following  article “Will Social Media kill email?”. What I see is an examples of companies...

24 July, 2017

Few days ago, I was sharing my thoughts about Microsoft Azure Stack and hybrid could. Check this link. Are there...

5 February, 2019

I’ve been following PI PLMx event in London yesterday and earlier today. While event is not over, I was able...

Blogroll

To the top