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INVENTOR-IN-RESIDENCE


In March 2015, I was named Inventor-In-Residence by the Executive Director, 4‑VA@JMU (PDF), and the 4‑VA Collaborative Partnership, a grant funding initiative for innovators and educators at Virginia's public universities. In June, I shared an Innovator Of The Year cash prize awarded by James Madison Innovation Inc., a university business incubator. In July, an exhibition of my interpretive posters opened at JMU's off-campus Ice House Building. CAD models and renderings created with 3ds Max. Wide format prints on bond paper, 24 by 36 inches.

3D OBJECT SCANNER Designed and Developed by Thomas M. Wilcox, Inventor-In-Residence, JMU X-Labs This invention scans people and other three dimensional objects using LIDAR and a photogrammetry process. LIDAR bounces a low intensity laser off of the scanned object. Photogrammetry uses a high-resolution digital camera to produce a multi-gigapixel, all encompassing photographic scan resulting a spherical projection map applied to a 3D computer model. The computer model or mesh object, also called a point cloud is derived from either photogrammetry or LIDAR scanning data. The result is an ultra-high resolution, three dimensional representation of a person or object. I expect these to become commonplace in the near future. I think of them as an extension of traditional photography for recording or documenting the appearance of people and things, and as works of art. From a single scan I can generate any number of unique photographic images. Such 3D scans could prove useful to nascent technologies like virtual reality and real-time, computer generated holography. The constraints of the scanner design are a rigid structure made of inexpensive sheet goods cut with a CNC routing machine for precisely dimensioned parts. A potential by-product of my design is build-it-yourself scanner kits including computer files to drive a typical CNC router, and pre-cut, ready-to-assemble parts. The scanner itself is intended to look impressive, especially while operating. Its appearance comes from my personal, visual esthetic. In that sense it is functional art. wilcoxtm@jmu.edu, 2014
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY IN VIRTUAL WORLDS Designed and Developed by Thomas M. Wilcox, Inventor-In-Residence, JMU X-Labs Artists are often driven to create after experiencing or hearing about calamitous events. After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, I couldn't stop thinking about the tragedy and what it must have been like. I was unnerved by the thought of being trapped on an island in a disastrous situation. After several months I had to do something. So I got to work with 3D Studio Max, software used to make movies and computer games. I created a group of imaginary islands and began to photograph them as though I were flying. I enjoy flying, and this comforted me and gave me a sense of control. Five years on I'm still photographing what I now call The Island Nation. I have thousands of such photographs. I added an airplane to the scene to impart a sense of scale. It's a 1936 Lockheed Electra, a favorite of mine from childhood when I build model aircraft. This changed everything for me. In my mind, I was flying among the islands, free of the events happening below. Now I understand what pilots mean when they speak of flying over tragic occurrences from war to natural disasters. It disconnects you from the reality on the ground in a way that's terrifying in its own right. Last year I began using a virtual reality head mounted display to make my art in The Island Nation. The difference is profound. In the past, I used and ordinary computer display to pick a spot or vantage point for a photograph. Now I can actually fly through the scene in real-time, noticing changes in light and color, shape and form. I've been a photographer most of my life, and I can tell you, this no artificial world. It is entirely real. I often dream about The Island Nation. Now I spend time there, too. wilcoxtm@jmu.edu
HYBRID BOARD GAMES Designed and Developed by Thomas M. Wilcox, Inventor-In-Residence, JMU X-Labs These illustrations represent the physical prototype of an outdoor board game for cattle herders in Kenya to practice ground and surface water resource management. The game models a complex web of culture-specific dependencies making it challenging for those unfamiliar with Masai life. The game was developed by a Masai college student, an anthropologist, and quantitative analyst. It is an example of an advanced hybrid board game performing on multiple levels. I was asked to re-design the original board game with a mandate to prepare the product for use on the ground outdoors in a windy environment. Another constraint was limited production of the final game with as few as one and up to 250 reproduced at once. Typically board games are reproduced in the thousands to make them cost effective. One-offs and limited production disallows standard printing processes and by extension impacts graphic and other design elements. Hybrid board game design and production is a powerful teaching tool. Developing game play as well as physical product provides a platform for channeling diverse creative skills. Design team members discover what matters most in game play and how to condense salient elements for intuitive and meaningful user experiences. Using a digital laser cutter and 3D printer allows rapid turnaround of physical game prototypes played face-to-face by actual people. wilcoxtm@jmu.edu
FRAME CONNECTOR Designed and Developed by Thomas M. Wilcox, Inventor-In-Residence, JMU X-Labs A lab frame organizes and supports equipment in a lab or workshop. For decades designers and inventors have cooked up ideas for lab frame connectors. It seems like a simple enough project. My idea for making spherical connectors has more to do with JIT manufacturing (Just In Time) than a clever new design. I wanted something easily made with asmall 3D printer; an FDM machine (Fused Deposition Modeling). They have a characteristic limiting the types of objects they can print. FDM printers squirt melted plastic from a heated nozzle, kind of like a hot glue gun, layer upon layer until the object is complete. The problem is gravity. If an object has holes in it like my spherical frame connector, and any of those holes are drilled or oriented horizontally, then the layers of hot plastic will begin to collapse near the top of the arch completing a hole. One solution is to orient all holes such that none are horizontal or parallel to the build platform. Inventions take many forms. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (U.S.P.T.O.) accepts applications for patents that describe a non-obvious manufacturing process. Soon wel will begin to see patents granted to processes involving new machines like 3D printers. Making machines like these accessible to everyone kicks off waves of innovation. Inventing new ways to make common objects is great practice and exercise for creative thinkers. wilcoxtm@jmu.edu, 2014
VAN DER ROHE CITY Designed and Developed by Thomas M. Wilcox, Inventor-In-Residence, JMU X-Labs Mies van der Rohe helped define the look of modern cities. An early 20th century architect, he envisioned massive structures utilizing innovative construction techniques allowing multi-story buildings on fantastic scale. It was time when things were getting huge; hydroelectric dams, transoceanic cruise ships, interstate highways. Among designers, engineers, and architects, there was sense of limitless, unbounded possibility. The scale of project seemed irrelevant; the bigger, the better. With a virtual reality head mounted display and a computer, I can create vast architectural spaces where physical scale is not a constraint. I'm starting small with a place I call Van der Rohe City. I've begun with five modest sky scrapers twelve stories high and 2500 square feet per floor. Unlike my brick-and-mortar brethren in the real world, I can dispense with intrusive facts of life like gravity, mass, and weight. And once a building is complete, I can clone it instantly to make another. Van der Rohe City has a purpose. I need a place to collaborate with designers, artists, and engineers at other 4-VA institutions. Visual artists have a thing about working together one-on-one. Many of us thrive on synergistic show-and-tell. Personally, I haven't used a telephone for design meeting since forever, and Skype is way too... Skype. I want to say to someone in a virtual reality meeting space, Step over here and check out the prototype I'm making. wilcoxtm@jmu.edu, 2014
WORKSTATION TABLE Designed and Developed by Thomas M. Wilcox, Inventor-In-Residence, JMU X-Labs In the middle of the 19th century, the industrial revolution changed the way designers approached manufactured goods. Mass manufacturing of cast iron components allowed mundane items to take on decorative flair at little cost. Popular Victorian design motifs could be found embellishing just about anything, from train engines to office chairs. Bench craftsmen were still responsible for assembling and finishing products by hand one at a time. It remained a costly aspect of production. Soon even bench finishing would fall to the demand for profit. By the early 20th century, designers were increasingly compelled to create products that could be assembled without skilled craftsman, saving time and money. What we commonly think of as modern design, with its absence of decorative complexity, was partially inspired by cost reduction. Modern minimalist design ethics continue to satisfy the demands of profitable mass production. Promoting design simplicity as being synonymous with formal elegance is a purposefully contrived fashion that's simply easier to manufacture. Something remarkable is taking place in the early 21st century. The means to manufacture complex objects is now accessible to anyone. For designers, this heralds a return to purely decorative embellishment and experimental, one-off functionality. My Workstation Table prototype was designed with a computer, with parts produced by a laser cutter, resurrecting bench finished furniture build of machine-made components. With such digital techniques, it can be customized and reproduced at considerable profit. wilcoxtm@jmu.edu