Incredibly accurate laser-scanning technology, precise down to a hundredth of a millimeter, has helped British architects not only plan a new structure but also secure permission from a local planning commission. Their proposed Rock House, now approved, preserves both natural and architectural features currently on a government-protected site.

Cornish firm Poynton Bradbury Wynter Cole (PBWC) Architects enlisted CESurveys to lidar scan the existing property, located in a conservation area. Their scanner system fires tens of thousands of lasers per second to get precise distance readings on complex terrain. Compared to traditional surveying and site-mapping strategies, this approach is much faster, cheaper and more effective.

The results are translated into a three-dimensional model that can be manipulated, showing the effects of site changes or interventions. Scans from around sites are stitched together to form a complete picture.

The resulting models have an array of benefits, including the ability to show approving parties what the impacts of additions and remodels might be to a given property. They also helped the architects, in this case, maintain key lines of site, such as views out to the sea, and limit the cost of revisiting the site frequently to document additional features. Slices of the scans also make it easy to generate sections and elevations, sliced directly out of the models.

Applications of lidar scanning goes well beyond architecture, too, including the ability to document historic infrastructure and preserve 3D models of fresh crime scenes.

What might the patterns of urban sprawl look like if humanity were to survive another thousand years or so? Artist Tom Beddard envisions fractal formations seemingly cut right into the earth, broken up by the occasional sky-high tower or curving superstructure. The architecture in this futuristic vision entitled ‘Aurillia’ ranges from bleak industrial scenes to incredibly complex city centers, all created using a fractal formula called Mandalay.

The London-based artist, who earned a PhD in laser physics before moving on to design and web development, used the Fractal-lab tool that he built himself to render the images. Fractals in visual form are generally characterized by obvious patterns, but with this formula, the resulting aerial views have a surprisingly organic look.

“What I found particularly interesting was the mix of architectural forms that could be found when certain parameter combinations create structural resonances,” Beddard told The Creators Project. “The curved domes are due to the Mandlebox sphere folding effect and the towers result from the different fold scaling of individual axes.”

We’ve seen some amazing applications of fractals and parametric designs in architecture and furniture designs, from mobile pavilions to fantasy cities, but nothing on quite this large of a scale. Check out aerial views of real-life suburban complexes and you’ll see that these patterns aren’t all that far from the patterns we’re already creating with urban development.

Simple, intuitive and innovative for the everyday photographer, Iris promises even more to the disabled, letting anyone control capture area, zoom level, the moment of a shot and other features … all with only eye movements.

Mimi Zou is a graduate of the Royal College of Art developed this eye-tracking camera design around biometric technology. The device can recognize people on both sides of the lens by their eyes – the person taking the picture (so it can pre-load preferred settings) as well as the person being photographed.

A translucent screen inhabits the center of the circular device, allowing you to get an augmented-reality look at your subject matter, with optional overlays indicating prominent buildings or other features of the built environment you may wish to capture.

Narrow your eyelids to zoom in, then open wide to zoom back out. Focus on a spot, blink twice, and a photo is taken. If a friend is recognized in the frame, there is also an option to tag them on the spot. And all of this functionality is rolled up into what looks like a cylindrical lens without a camera.

As of right now it remains a working model, but with luck, time and funding it might become the next wave in ever-more-minimalist photographic contraptions, and particularly powerful image-taking aid for those who cannot use hands to easily hold and point a camera.

A single sheet of paper becomes a complex three-dimensional object in the hands of Jun Mitani, a computer scientist who uses geometric modeling software to aid him in his designs. Mitani has been studying algorithms and user interfaces for generating 3D shapes that can be realized with folding paper in a twist on the traditional craft of origami.

Not only does Mitani fold these mathematical origami objects himself, he also designs computer software to come up with the shapes. Mitani’s origami designs have ‘rotational symmetry’, meaning they look the same after a certain amount of rotation.

Mitani scores folding lines in a sheet of paper and then folds it by hand. While large sheets of paper don’t work well for complex origami shapes due to a lack of structural strength, Mitani is beginning to experiment with other materials, collaborating with industrial companies. That might reduce one issue that plagues Mitani in his work – he has suffered from, he says, “a few thousand” paper cuts.

“When I was a kid, I didn’t have much interest in folding origami, but in papercraft,” says Mitani in an interview with The Creators Project. “I fabricated a lot of paper models, such as cars, ships, buildings, and animals, etc. by cutting and gluing pieces of paper. I felt that origami, just folding, was too restricted. On the other hand, I was enthusiastic about the computer, which my father bought when I was a first-year student in elementary school. As a fusion of two objects of interest, papercraft and computer, the theme of my Ph.D. thesis became a method for designing paper models with the computer.”

Paint your walls, try out some hardwood flooring, rearrange the room, furnish your home or build a house from scratch – all without getting off the couch. These 10 digital home design tools (9 of them entirely free) let you play architect or interior designer in 2D and 3D, getting a realistic and accurate look at your design ideas without spending a dime on unflattering paint colors and furniture that doesn’t fit.

Floor Planner

It doesn’t get much easier than FloorPlanner.com, an online modeling tool offering both 2D and 3D views. It’s free if you want to just save one project at a time, or you can go pro with a premium account. While objects like furniture, doors and other design elements are somewhat limited, you can specify dimensions for each object and get a good feel for how your furniture will fit into a space.

IKEA Planner

You can stare at those IKEA cabinets for hours, but unless you’ve got a good imagination, you won’t get a real sense of how they’d look in your kitchen. Enter the IKEA home planner, a free online tool that gives you virtual versions of IKEA furniture so you can make your home look like your very own IKEA showroom (whether that’s a good thing is for you to decide). Of course, you don’t have to go overboard with it – and it would probably help you determine whether that huge Expedit shelf system would totally overpower your living room.

Arrange-a-Room by Better Homes and Gardens

Not a design professional? Don’t worry about trying to figure out complicated programs just so you can determine a good furniture layout in your home. Better Homes and Gardens has an online tool that doesn’t take long to load and is a snap to use. BHG online user registration is required but the tool is free. Choose a room shape or customize your own, then add and arrange furniture.

Colorjive

Don’t you hate it when you fall in love with a color at the paint store, then get it on your wall and realize it’s all wrong? Worst of all is when you don’t realize that it doesn’t work until the whole room is painted. Save time, money and frustration by trying out paint colors on photos of your room at ColorJive.com.

Shaw’s Try On a Floor

Having trouble visualizing how various flooring options would look in your home? Upload your own photo and “try on” virtually any flooring that Shaw Floors offers including carpet, ceramic, hardwood and linoleum. It’s entirely web-based – no programs to download – and free.

Autodesk Homestyler

From the designers of AutoCAD comes Autodesk Homestyler, another free online tool that offers both 2D and 3D modeling so you can custom-create an interior and then decorate it with brand-name products from FLOR, Sherwin-Williams, Kohler, Dupont and more. Users have called this program ‘intuitive’, saying tutorials aren’t necessary to pick it up.

SeeMyDesign

If you’re just looking for a basic online tool that lets you create everything from scratch, you’ll like SeeMyDesign. This older program lacks much of the functionality of other online home design tools, but it’s perfect for homeowners just looking to play around with ideas. Build your room, arrange furniture and add details like paint without any unnecessary extras. This tool, with its built-in cost calculator, is also useful for determining how much paint you need for a particular room and what you should expect to pay for it.

Sweet Home 3D

Wannabe interior designers looking for a downloadable program that’s truly free – without ads or limitations – should take a look at Sweet Home 3D. Like other digital design tools on this list, it offers both 2D and 3D views of the space you’re designing and a host of objects that can be dragged and dropped into the room. Users report that it’s easy to learn and use.

Google Sketchup

Design your own concept architecture, shed, interiors or even vehicles with Google Sketchup, the free and easy-to-use 3D modeling program with loads of design objects, textures and landscapes to choose from. But Google Sketchup has just a few extra bells and whistles that professional designers in particular will appreciate, including a ‘Match Photo’ feature that lets you trace a photo to build a model and a Google Maps tie-in that allows you to assign a geo-location to your model. This program has been lauded for its wide range of uses, and it’s quick and easy to learn. Sketchup Pro ($495) adds the ability to export your designs to CAD and create visual presentations.

Live Interior 3D

Design enthusiasts will love the realistic look of Live Interior 3D, home design software designed exclusively for use on a Mac. The program comes in both standard ($49.95) and pro ($129.95) versions, with the latter introducing the ability to edit 3D objects directly within the program using Google Sketchup. Homeowners can get an incredibly accurate sense of how their improvement projects will look with an extensive database of objects and surface materials and the ability to customize the smallest details including lighting within a room. Perhaps the coolest feature is the ability to “walk through” your design in 3D (a view familiar to first-person gamers), and you can even create virtual tours.