I’ve reported a few times about new technologies available at Autodesk Labs, (including the Google Earth translator and Project Freewheel) but I’ve never taken the time to write about the website in general.
Recently I caught up with Brian Mathews, Director of Autodesk Labs and the chief architect of Autodesk’s DWF publishing and collaboration technology, to talk about the site. It is his job to help define future products, technologies, and opportunities, and to be a technical vision evangelist.
The following is an edited version of our conversation.
RSN: What is the motivation behind Autodesk Labs?
BM: There are several trends coming together. The first is that over the years, I’ve noticed that a lot of technology created by individual engineers tends to get overlooked or put on the shelf if it isn’t created specifically for an existing product. Another is that we need to get as much input from our users as possible during the early stages of product development. If we go through the typical development cycle, only a very few users get to see a new product until we release it for beta testing. By then it is too late to get feedback that can shape the product.
RSN: Is that why you intend to put Impressions (a new illustration product) into Autodesk Labs soon?
Click to continue reading full interview.
--RSN