Autodesk Software Goes MobileAutodesk Software Goes Mobile

Using a new mobile-viewing application, product designerscan now publish documentation and assembly drawings on iPhones, iPads and othermobile devices.

Thesoftware, released last week by AutodeskInc. could allow manufacturers to eliminate the time-honored process ofcreating hundred-plus-page documentation manuals, instead enabling them to put2-D and 3-D drawings in a handheld phone, a tablet PC or even in an iPod.

"You canhold an iPad next to the product and say, a euro ~Look here, this is how you assembleit,'" says Raymond Price, a University of Illinois engineering professor whohas seen and used the software. "It takes the translation step out. Instead ofme having to translate, I've got the information in my hand."

The mobile-viewingapplication, added to an existing technical communication software productknown as AutodeskInventor Publisher, is believed to be the first of its kind. The InventorPublisher software is aimed at helping manufacturers explain and differentiatetheir products with documentation, even allowing them to import 3-D models intotheir information.

Autodeskexecutives believe the new mobile-viewing application could simplify thedocumentation process for manufacturers and improve the interface for theircustomers. In many cases, they say, product teams have been forced to assigndozens of employees to the difficult task of creating product manuals that cansometimes exceed 600 pages in length. Those efforts often fell short, however,because the voluminous information they provided weren't always appropriate atthe time and place where they were needed. Autodesk believes the mobile-viewingapp could help change all that.

"This interface is veryaccessible," says Keith Perrin, a senior industry manager for manufacturing atAutodesk. "To capture an immediate thought or an immediate environment, youneed a device with immediacy, like an iPhone."

Customers at a recent rollout ofthe software were encouraged by the availability of a mobile application. "Thisis going to affect the dad who has to assemble a bike on Christmas Eve for hiskid," says Craig Breckenridge, a senior designer for Dynamic Structures Ltd., adesigner of commercial products and structures. "And it's also going to affectthe technicians in the field."

Perrin believes the new featurescould also help bridge language gaps by enabling customers to work in agraphical environment. "In many countries, customers can't read theinstructions that are written in English," he says. "For someone who's tryingto assemble something in another country, this lowers that language barrier."