Broadcast News

Bookmark and Share
02/12/2008

Autodesk Sponsors First Online Database To Help Designers Learn From Nature

Autodesk, a leader in design innovation technologies, has announced the sponsorship of AskNature.org, the world's first biomimicry database, featuring biology-inspired design strategies.
Architects, designers and engineers can access and harness nature's billions of years of evolution through this free, online public-domain library, filled with some of nature's best strategies, organised by function and explained with illustrations and in language relevant to designers.
For instance, someone trying to solve the challenge of how to glue to surfaces in moist environments would find information about barnacles, geckos and other organisms that have solved this problem in the ecosystem in which they live.
Launching this week, AskNature.org is a project of the Biomimicry Institute, founded by author Janine Benyus. The experts at the Institute describe biomimicry as a science that studies nature's models and then imitates or takes inspiration from these designs and processes to solve human problems. The site - part manifesto, part search engine, part social network - is a place where innovators and biologists can meet, exchange information and design together.
With a user base of 9 million architects, designers and engineers around the world, Autodesk sees biomimicry as a revolutionary design concept that can help influence better design decisions.
Lynelle Cameron, Autodesk Director of Sustainability, said: "Autodesk provides software that helps simplify sustainable design decisions in each industry we serve - providing our customers with design intelligence that enables smarter design decisions, whether they are designing a building, a train, a shoe or a city. It's for this reason we're proud to be the founding sponsor of Asknature.org."
Autodesk customers are already using biomimetic principles for their real-world design workflow. Global architectural firm HOK, for example, specialises in planing, design and delivery of solutions for buildings and communities.
The firm has long used the Revit platform for building information modelling for its sustainable design efforts and has used the software to support its work in the growing area of biomimcry.
Mary Ann Lazarus, HOK Sustainable Design Director, said: "Biomimcry is about understanding how nature works and applying it to design. Revit helps us understand the implications of our designs for factors like energy usage, water usage, material usage and shade coefficient. That knowledge will be directly applicable in developing meaningful biomimetic solutions."
HOK is integrating biomimicry into one of its current projects, a hillside community development near Pune, India. Soil stability represents one of the biggest challenges of building in this location because of steep hillsides and extreme weather conditions, which alternate between drought and monsoon. Rather than drilling piers to secure buildings into the soil, the team is exploring a biomimetic approach that uses foundations that mimic a tree's tap roots.
Autodesk product teams are also investigating where Autodesk software can support biomimicry. One example is the Autodesk Seek web service. Launched in May, Autodesk Seek is a unique, online source for product information that enables architects, designers and engineers to search for products, based on specific performance criteria. The refined search capability uses attributes to describe what the user is searching for - such as biomimetic products.
Further information is available at: www.autodesk.com.
(KMcA)
VMI.TV Ltd

Top Related Stories
Click here for the latest broadcast news stories.

03/09/2024
Magewell Expands Renowned USB Capture Product Family
Magewell's USB Capture family has long been the gold standard for professional video capture devices, earning a reputation for being the easiest and m
30/08/2024
Canon Showcases Enhanced Product Lineup At IBC 2024
Canon Europe is returning to the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) taking place at the RAI Amsterdam, 13 – 16 September 2024. At this year's
13/08/2024
Ross Video To Demonstrate Latest Product Innovations At IBC 2024
Ross Video is participating in IBC2024, taking place September 13-16 in the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center. Ross will demonstrate its latest product
20/09/2022
Four Distributors In The Powerhouse Alliance Now Carry Bluestream Product Line
Blustream and its US strategic partner RTI have announced that four distributors in the PowerHouse Alliance are now carrying the Blustream product lin
30/05/2024
Marshall To Highlight Newest Product Offerings
Marshall Electronics is to highlight several of its newest product offerings at InfoComm 2024 (Booth C8982), including the CV612 auto-tracking PTZ cam
18/07/2024
Cinegy To Launch Two New Air Product Bundles
Cinegy is launching two new Air product bundles and an AI-powered automatic subtitling product at IBC2024. Visitors to the Cinegy stand this year will
10/10/2024
Pixel Power Is The New Centre Of Excellence For R&S Software-Defined Media Product Portfolio
Pixel Power, a Rohde & Schwarz Company, is the new centre of excellence for the Rohde & Schwarz software-defined media product portfolio. Whilst conti
25/10/2024
Creating Audio Nature Soundscapes With Wounded Buffalo
Studio manager Jim Jacobs and veteran mixer Ben Peace share insights into their work, highlighting the tech that powers their audio nature soundscapes
22/02/2023
Autodesk Introduces Moxion Rooms
Autodesk has introduced Moxion Rooms, a forensically secure review solution enabling creative teams in production and post-production to share live st
28/09/2009
Autodesk Expands Options For Mac Users
Autodesk, a leader in 2D and 3D design, engineering and entertainment software, and Parallels, a worldwide leader in virtualisation and automation sof
12/09/2007
Autodesk Announces 2008 Launches For Latest Version High-End Visual Effects and Finishing Systems
Autodesk has unveiled the 2008 releases of the Autodesk Inferno, Autodesk Flame and Autodesk Flint visual effects systems, as well as the Autodesk Fir
11/01/2006
Autodesk completes acquisition of Alias
Autodesk has completed the acquisition of Alias for cash consideration of $197 million USD. On October 4 2005, Autodesk announced a definitive agreeme
06/04/2007
Autodesk Announces Shipping Of Extension 1 For Effects And Editing Systems
Extension 1 for Autodesk’s visual effects and editing and finishing solutions offers improved workflows through various features and additions such as
18/01/2007
Autodesk And The Scottish Qualifications Authority Announce Collaboration
Autodesk has entered an agreement with the Scottish Qualifications Authority to collaborate on new digital and ICT curriculum and qualifications for s
05/07/2006
Upgrade offers for Autodesk Maya 7 and Autodesk 3ds Max 8 software
Autodesk is offering Maya users the opportunity to save 30% on the upgrade price when they upgrade to Maya 7 and subscribe to Platinum Membership. The