Archive notice: This article was originally published on April 21, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The participant list for the 9th RTT Conference reads like a who’s who of industry: General Motors, Airbus, Adidas, Audi, BMW, Toyota, Porsche, Siemens and Volkswagen. Decision-makers in development, engineering, design, marketing and sales had come to Vienna to exchange views on the latest trends and developments in professional high-end visualisation.
Realtime Technology AG (RTT AG) hosted the event on April 10 and 11, 2008 in the magnificent imperial setting of Vienna’s Hofburg.
More than 350 visitors from over 20 countries witnessed that virtual reality is already firmly established in the automotive, aviation, consumer goods and furniture industries and is increasingly reaching many other sectors.
Whether General Motors, Ferrari, Adidas, Sony Ericsson or Japanese furniture manufacturer Uchida Yoko – high-end visualisation technology is becoming an indispensable decision-making tool and driver of innovation. Product development and marketing are no longer conceivable without it.
“The RTT Conference is becoming bigger and more international,” says Ludwig A. Fuchs, co-founder and board member of RTT AG. “This is evidence of our extremely positive business development. More and more companies rely on our creative ideas and solutions, thereby benefiting from innovative product developments and completely new marketing approaches.”
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Virtual Images of Superlative Quality
The two-day programme offered talks by high-ranking speakers as well as a series of panel discussions and workshops. Shigeyuki Kazama and Michel Sabouné, design managers at Sony Ericsson’s “Creative Design Center”, spoke about the challenges of global design processes.
Shinichi Mukai, President and CEO of Japanese interior furnishings company Uchida Yoko, provided an exciting insight into the booming Asian design scene and the use of visualisation technology in integrated office design.
Philip Courtenay, responsible for apparel and accessories at Adidas, explained to the audience how 3D has revolutionised the sporting goods industry.
Joanne Marshall, Manager Web Marketing at Ferrari, gave participants an insight into new ways of reaching customers digitally.
As guest of honour, Austrian quantum physicist and university professor Anton Zeilinger also spoke about new approaches to researching future technologies.
Alongside the conference, RTT AG offered an attractive supporting and evening programme. Participants travelled through Vienna along the famous Ringstraße in a nostalgic vintage tram. A convivial evening at the Passauerhof wine tavern in Grinzing offered guests many Viennese culinary delights and rounded off the programme.
Emerging Projects Honoured at the Conference
For the second time, the winners of the international research competition “RTT Emerging Technology Contest 2008” were honoured at this year’s RTT Conference. The following projects were among the three winners:
- The National University of Singapore with its project “City Planning Space” – a system that simplifies urban planning using 2D and 3D interfaces and visualises the planning results in 3D and in real time.
- FH Hagenberg with its project “Flux” – a touch-sensitive surface that can be used as an interactive table or a digital whiteboard.
- Technical University of Munich and its project “Realtime Environment Sensing for Location Unbound 3D View Rendering”.
The winners were able to introduce their projects to a large audience in a talk and present them at the accompanying high-tech exhibition.
