Selparis

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, explains some of the back-end technology his company is working on that will revolutionize the way engineering is done. First he shows the technology used to manipulate 3-D designs intuitively with a hand in 3-D space instead of in a clunky way with 2-D interfaces (like a mouse). Anyone who’s tried to do 3-D design in the usual software using a mouse and all sorts of buttons will appreciate the potential that this new interface represents.

Unfortunately, he only shows manipulation of the design – there’s no indication that they can actually design parts from scratch using this interface. As a consolation, though, we do get to see them printing rocket parts with a 3-D printer (you know, a replicator).

Even though it’s not the great leap I was hoping for when Musk tweeted about it as a teaser, it’s still a step in the right direction from a company that’s producing a startling number of those steps, so I couldn’t resist sharing the video: