August 2, 2005 – Jerusalem & New York – HumanEyes is proud to announce that its HumanEyes 3D software solution is a recipient of a 2005 PIA/GATF (Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation) InterTech Technology Award. HumanEyes 3D software was selected from among a record-breaking 52 solutions nominated for the prestigious award. Inaugurated in 1978 to foster awareness and understanding of advanced graphic arts technology, the PIA/GATF InterTech Technology Award honors excellence in innovative technology for the graphic communications industry. “We are grateful for this very prestigious recognition, and we are thankful for the judges’ understanding and appreciation of HumanEyes’ technology. Because HumanEyes is such a departure from traditional lenticular solutions, it is hard for people to grasp just how far this technology has come in making special effects creation a fast, easy, far less costly, and more visually sophisticated and appealing process than ever before,” says HumanEyes’ Dani Herzka, Vice President and General Manager North America. “The graphic arts community not only reveres the InterTech Award, but it also knows that the Judges’ assessments are meaningful confirmations of a technology’s potential value. It’s a tremendous testament to the worthiness of our offerings.” “Technologies such as HumanEyes 3D software, which makes it easy to print lenticular, are giving print service providers who thought they could not compete in certain markets a chance to do just that—and do it easily, efficiently, and profitably,” says John Lind, PIA/GATF Senior Research Scientist. According to the award organizers, the judges’ comments reveal another trend among this year’s PIA/GATF InterTech Technology Award recipients and nominees: technologies are becoming not only user friendly for printers, but they have also become even more so for creative professionals, print buyers and others involved in graphic communications. HumanEyes 3D Software This patented software significantly eases a printer’s entry into the burgeoning and profitable; but previously specialized and expertise-essential, 3D lenticular market. The substantial investments and particular expertise required by yesterday’s lenticular applications are no longer prerequisites for those seeking novel new revenue streams today. Using off-the-shelf digital cameras, printers, and presses, HumanEyes 3D Software creates stereo panoramic 3D pictures up to 360 degrees, and special/lenticular effects (flip, morph, morph zoom, layered 3D, and 2D to 3D conversion). The HumanEyes 3D process has three simple steps: digital photography, processing by HumanEyes software, and printing using existing printing technologies. HumanEyes 3D Customers Speak UNIMAC HumanEyes also received an endorsement from George Amann, president of Unimac Graphics, who says: “At UNIMAC Graphics we are always on the lookout for new technologies that will serve our customers and distinguish us in a highly competitive marketplace. HumanEyes 3D software has given us the capability to print lenticular and 3D projects for our customers. Until HumanEyes 3D, we felt that conventional lenticular solutions were difficult to use and would require additional, expensive equipment. As such, we thought 3D and lenticular to be a specialty niche that only a few could venture into. We were able to install HumanEyes 3D at our facility, and in a short period of time we were able to produce amazingly realistic 3D lenticular projects. The software is highly automated and works well with our 6 color 64: press and as well as our (4) 40” 6 and 8 color presses. We had no previous experience with 3D and were able to produce quality results in short order. We have been so pleased with our results that we have been able to take on numerous 3D projects that have added to our profitability, and expanded our client base. This is UNIMAC’s most exciting venture and is making a meaningful difference to our customers and employees.” Blanks Imaging In a nomination letter to the PIA/GATF InterTech Technology Award judging committee, HumanEyes 3D customer Kevin Schrader, VP of Operations at Blanks Imaging, says, “The fact that we can give our customers a whole array of special, or lenticular, effects from one easy-to-use application is something new for not just Blanks, but for the graphic arts marketplace overall. In shortcutting the old, difficult lenticular processes without compromising quality, HumanEyes3D has opened up several significant new revenue paths for Blanks.” Druckerei Staffner In her nomination letter, Gabi Staffner, manager of Druckerei Staffner in Austria, says, “At DRUCKEREI STAFFNER Ges.m.b.H, in just 3 months we were up and running, producing amazing 3D projects for our customers who comprise advertising agencies, industrial concerns, commercial enterprises, hotels, etc. “With HumanEyes 3D we can offer our clients incredibly powerful 3D effects that no one else can offer. In fact, it has helped us to become one of the leading lenticular printing companies in Austria and southern Germany, and has opened up new revenue streams for our company.” About the PIA/GATF InterTech Technology Awards Inaugurated in 1978 to foster awareness and understanding of advanced graphic arts technology, PIA/GATF's InterTech Technology Award honors excellence in innovative technology for the graphic communications industry. The nomination criteria stipulate that the technology be recently developed but out of beta and be proven in industrial application, but not yet in widespread use. The technology must also be expected to have a major impact on the graphic communications industry over the next five years. Over 80% of past recipients have gone on to commercial success in the marketplace. PIA/GATF sponsors the award as a service to the graphic communications industry, and the organization coordinates the award process but does not select the recipients. InterTech Technology Award recipients are chosen by an independent, anonymous panel of judges. The judges, distinguished within the industry, all have demonstrated experience in evaluating or commissioning new products or technologies, plus expertise in premedia work, printing, binding and finishing, and related software and services. The judges review each nomination thoroughly. Each year, PIA/GATF publishes a technology review booklet profiling all of the current year’s nominees, with special emphasis on the award recipients. The coveted Lucite InterTech stars, recognized industry wide as a symbol of technological innovation and excellence, will be presented to 2005 award recipients at an annual banquet, which hosts an impressive audience of industry leaders, at the 2005 PIA/GATF Fall Administrative Meetings to be held November 10–13 in San Francisco, California. A technology review booklet showcasing all 52 of the current year’s nominated technologies will be produced by Graphic Arts Monthly for PRINT 05 & CONVERTING 05SM, which is being held September 9–15, at Chicago’s McCormick Place. For more information about the 2005 InterTech Technology Awards or the 2006 program, contact John Lind, PIA/GATF’s Senior Research Scientist, at 412/259-1815 or [email protected].