Build your predictions on a solid foundation

     Predictions are tricky ask any weather forecaster and they will tell you that emphatically. However, they will also tell you that they are necessary because without them people would  still rely on a farmer's almanac. That is like relying on an encyclopedia and we know how their sales went. Often times being ahead of the curve means taking a risk. The rewards are there but you also may be embarrassed and may end up completely off base. Why would I be stating these obvious risks of business? Well there will be a deluge of news coming soon as South by South West Interactive Festival begins. After early January at CES in Las Vegas this should be the largest reveal of news for the year. We will see next week who will make the trip to Austin, Texas for the mixture of music, film and technology. The festival is consumer friendly but also a launching pad for cutting edge technologies.

   Something that will be in short supply in South by Southwest because of it's popularity is housing. Snoop Dogg will be designing a pop-house with Airbnb at South by Southwest this year. He actually documented the meeting and it was pretty interesting. However, they were going through a huge book with pictures and renderings. The Plan Collection has just introduced 3d printing of house plans which could add a real design and interactivity to projects like these for Airbnb. A model could be printed with internal and external views and instead of show houses more accurate and unique representations could successfully be constructed at a miniature scale. Full scale dining room tables can now be printed through the BigRep ONE which offers a 45 x 39 x 47". Which offers more unique home furnishings for Snoop Dogg to choose for his pop-up house. These are some of the new tools and utilizations we may see at the upcoming South by Southwest Interactive