Elon Musk‘s assault on dreams continue. A weeks ago he released plans for a fifth mode of transportation – the Hyperloop, and just a week after that Musk tweeted about his ability to imitate the movies – specifically Tony Stark in the recent Iron Man movies.
Director Jon Favreau has stated in the past that Musk had inspired his depiction of the billionaire, philanthropist, playboy.
“Elon is a paragon of enthusiasm, good humor and curiosity — a Renaissance man in an era that needs them.” – Jon Favreau
Imitation has now come full circle as Musk shared that he has “figured out how to design rocket parts just w[ith] hand movements through the air.”
We figured out how to design rocket parts just w hand movements through the air (seriously). Now need a high frame rate holograph generator.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 23, 2013
Will post video next week of designing a rocket part with hand gestures & then immediately printing it in titanium
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 23, 2013
Still a fan, Favreau tweeted back asking “like in Iron Man?” and Musk responded in affirmative.
Like in Iron Man? RT @elonmusk: Will post video of designing a rocket part with hand gestures & immediately printing in titanium
— Jon Favreau (@Jon_Favreau) August 24, 2013
@Jon_Favreau Yup. We saw it in the movie and made it real. Good idea!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 24, 2013
Now Musk has released a video demonstrating the cutting-edge technology. The video shows how SpaceX has advanced their work using 3D renderings of system components and leveraging a Leap Motion Controller to explore them with natural gestures.
While movies like Minority Report and Iron Man have excited our imagination, Musk has demonstrated these systems are possible with current technologies and the future may be closer than we believe. The future of computing and manufacturing may be as simple as leveraging 3D printers, input devices like the Leap Motion Controller and the right software to create and project our virtual designs.
