3D models and their history in Microsoft Office

The idea of two-dimensional drafting was expanded upon in 3D modeling, which gained popularity in the early 2000s. The amount of information that can be included in the resulting model increases exponentially with the addition of a third dimension. In AEC (architectural, engineering and construction) design, three-dimensional models are typically used for structures and building systems, but they can also be used to fabricate individual fixtures and components as a structure gets closer to completion. Early on in a design project, models are built as the basis on which designers build detailed construction drawings, renderings, and other visual representations of their designs. Now for some Microsoft history: 

"Every year, The Garage organizes Microsoft’s annual Hackathon in locations around the world for employees, including in the Bay Area. In Summer 2016, the Silicon Valley campus cafeteria was turned into a Science Fair where employees from different teams could demo dozens of Hackathon projects to a curious audience and be inspired by the creativity of their peers." 

"From this culture of hacking grew projects small and large that became part of product, including 3D models in Office. It began as an idea first prototyped in December of 2015 as 3D in PowerPoint by Alexandre Gueniot in partnership with a team in London who were building a 3D viewer. Then, during the 2016 company-wide Hackathon, Gueniot built a fully functional prototype with Eric Gao and Onur Onder and showcased it to peers at the Science Fair. Employees visiting the Science Fair enjoyed playing with the project in new and creative ways to bring content to life. Some employees even brought their kids who enjoyed manipulating and animating 3D models of their favorite cartoon characters."

"Feedback on the prototype was so positive, organizers from the October 2016 Microsoft event in New York City to introduce Windows 10 Creator Update included a demo of 3D in PowerPoint at the event. Heather Alekson demo’d it on stage, along with Paint 3D and other apps that would become part of the new 3D ecosystem."

"Turning a hackathon project into a real feature can be a lot more work than it seems. The team needed to make further improvements and optimizations. They had to think through different scenarios and make sure they had the correct behavior, file formats, and UI. Gueniot shared the project code with the Office Graphics team in Redmond, and Stephanie Horn, Matt Kernek, Anca Zaharia and Jie Lie became the main drivers to help push it over the finish line and into the product as 3D models in Office."