Contour crafting
3D printing has incredible potential to overhauling manufacturing. The same principles could upend building construction too.
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Top 5 technologies that are shaping the future of design
The Sproutling
Wearables for babies, theatrical robots and 3D bio printers are some of the types of technologies that might be “out there,” but they show off key enabling technologies that are pushing the future of design forward. These types of technologies were highlighted at Bloomberg Business Week’s Design Conference in San Francisco this week.
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3D printing may finally give artificial organs a blood supply
Vascularized tissue constructed by printing cell-laden inks in a layered zig-zag pattern.
Harvard researchers say they have created tissue interlaced with blood vessels in what may be a critical breakthrough for creating artificial organs.
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Passing the Fortune Cookie Test
Futurist Thomas Frey: Yesterday my wife Deb and I had lunch at one of our favorite Chinese restaurants, and afterwards we’re given the typical fortune cookies that come with the bill. Jokingly I broke open the first one and asked, “I wonder if it’d be possible to create a real fortune sometime in the future and put it into these cookies?”
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Lego toying with idea of letting customers 3D print their own bricks
Legos
The toy industry has become stagnant due to the competition from digital games, Lego is among the companies looking at 3D printing as a potential fix. The Danish plastic brick manufacturer told The Financial Times that it is considering “what potential opportunities there are for consumers.” Legos are very easy to print on home 3D printers (in fact, some people are already printing them).
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Top 10 reasons 3D printing hasn’t caught on yet
3D printers may not be as easy to use as they seem. Photo credit: FredKahl/Flickr
3D printing stands to completely transform the way we make, replace, and transport products and will disrupt nearly every major industry. However, the technology is still geared toward passionate, motivated makers and hobbyists—not the average citizen.
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Top 13 amazing tech inventions you might have missed in 2013
In 2013, the tech world gave us plenty talk about. We can build smarter robots. We can 3D-print pretty much anything. Tablet wars are still going strong, Snapchat is still a thing, and now we can binge-watch our favorite TV shows in more ways than ever before. (Videos)
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3D printed prosthetic eyes could be made faster, cheaper, and better
3D printed prosthetic eyes.
U.K.-based Fripp Design has found a surprising application with 3D printing: prosthetic eyes. Fripp Design says it can churn out as many as 150 prosthetic eyes an hour, and sell them for as low as $160 each. That’s a major improvement over glass prosthetic eyes, which not only take weeks to make, but also sell for thousands of dollars.
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Will 3D printing bring space-based solar power to reality?
SpiderFab 3-D robotic printer
Since the 1970’s, space-based solar power has been a futuristic fantasy but the advent of 21st century 3-D printing may bring it a step closer to reality. (Video)
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Project Ara: Motorola And 3D Systems will 3D-print modular cell phones
3D printed modular cell phone.
Motorola announced last month a plan for a modular smartphone. Project Ara will be a simple way for users to individualize their phones, swapping out parts like the battery and camera until users have a phone that’s just for them. They plan on doing that with 3-D printing.
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3D printed human cells could end animal testing within 5 years
3D-printed human tissue could very soon begin saving millions of lives — those of the humble lab mice.
A hundred million animals are killed in labs and classrooms across the U.S. every year. Many of these mice, rats and rabbits are needed in part to develop the early stages of new vaccines and medicines, which might later go on to treat human illnesses. It is a harsh reality for the animals involved, but one which may be about to change.
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Amaze project to take 3D printing ‘into metal age’
Concept of a Mars probe.
The European Space Agency has unveiled plans to “take 3D printing into the metal age.” They will be building parts for jets, spacecraft and fusion projects. The Amaze project brings together 28 institutions to develop new metal components which are lighter, stronger and cheaper than conventional parts.
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