IBM France rather upstaged the PS/1 home computer, announcing a software product that could make a major difference to the market penetration of the RS/6000 RISC Unix workstation. The TDImage three-dimensional image synthesis software developed was developed by IBM’s 49%-owned Thomson Data Images SA joint venture with Thomson SA, but will bear the IBM logo. TDImage is claimed to enable users with a mouse to create still or animated images in three dimensions with near photographic quality. It is intended to appeal equally to engineers and to Apple Computer Inc’s prime professional market for the Macintosh – graphic artists, architects and animators. It is designed to be used instinctively – by teams of designers as well as individually under control of mouse and scrolling menus. It can also be used for modelling – and simultaneous timely production of promotional material for new products without the need to build a prototype. It runs on all models of the RS/6000, will be marketed worldwide, but isn’t exactly cheap at the equivalent of $40,000.
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