Disruptive Technologies.(Technology Information)

The kindest comment one could make about technological developments in the CAD industry over the past couple of years is that they have been evolutionary rather than revolutionary. But that is about to change. Indeed, recent announcements from new and old vendors at the recent Daratech CAD/CAM/CAE summit threaten to completely upset the status quo of the CAD world as we know it. These new "disruptive" technologies, as Daratech CEO Charles Foundyller dubbed them, are storming the market on a number of fronts, including the following:

Interoperability: The most disruptive technology would be one that allows total CAD software interoperability, so that any system would be able to work freely and completely with data from any other system. A new company called Proficiency promises to make this a reality by enabling the exchange of model intelligence--not just model geometry--between disparate CAD systems. Proficiency's software interprets a model in one system and then recreates it with all corresponding parametric feature intelligence in the native format of the target system. The program could have a huge impact by cracking the lock that vendors now have on data created with their systems, saving users the enormous costs of converting drawings and models, which in the automotive industry alone can total $100 million for a single new car program.

Collaboration: Also debuting was ImpactXoft, which introduced a pair of technologies that could redefine Internet-based collaboration. The first is a novel approach to solid modeling that simplifies the process of making modifications. Whereas most solid modelers use history-based parametrics, which PTC pioneered ...