“Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real.” -Niels Bohr
One of the most amazing recent technological innovations is the advent of 3D Printing, where any shaped or textured object can be accurately reproduced with the right software and printing materials. The things that I've seen made so far have been so creative that I thought the right song to take you through what I'm about to show you is Ween's upbeat (and amusing) song,
Over at the fantastic do-it-yourself website, Instructables, they're currently having a competition called Make it Real, where they're giving away over $100,000 worth of 3D printing prizes.
Image credit: http://www.instructables.com/.
A huge number of brilliant entries have been submitted, and they've already got their list of finalists selected. There are some great projects and videos to check out there, which showcase the power and creativity of 3D printers.
Image credit: http://www.instructables.com/.
But perhaps the coolest demonstration of 3D printing that I've seen was how the integrated lego-into-the-sandstone, at the top of this page, was created. Greg Petchkovsky is the creator of that piece, and here's the bit that he designed and 3D printed himself.
Image credit: Greg Petchkovsky, captured from the video below.
How did he do it, and how did he create a piece to integrate so seamlessly in with the natural stone base materials? It's really amazing what computers in the hands of the right, skilled people can do these days, and so without further ado, I present Greg's video, "A sandstone block built from lego, blending real objects with 3D prints." (I think his choice of music is lousy, so feel free to mute his and listen to Ween instead.)
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The creativity behind this is mind blowing. This is what more people need to come up with, intuitive ideas, to show that the 3D category is not just movies and glasses.
3D printing surely took a high peak in the past few months.
OMG, this is so cool. Wish my 3D skills were better.
Ethan,
Thanks for the story. I especially enjoyed the comments under the film and the one with the link to the TED lecture!
I want one I love it...
But it won't last.
The first lawsuit over this will be the death knell. Think of it. Consider just how loud the recording industry screamed when they realized how easy the internet had made it to copy music.
Now plastics manufacturers will need to face a new reality where people can print legos, or plastic spoons, or highly specific replacement parts for the dishwasher. What side will the law fall on? In the end, I see a situation where people can't print an action figure, and possibly worse, won't be able to print up any patented component to repair that dishwasher, forced to forgo an immediate and cheap fix sitting right in their home to buy an expensive part that'll take days to get there.
Ethan, Very nice.
And it is much further along than legos and other fun
Watch this http://blog.ted.com/2011/03/07/printing-a-human-kidney-anthony-atala-on…