How Will 3D Printing Affect Our Future Life?

In recent years,

It has become a very important force in the science and technology industry.

You may think that 3D printing is far away from your life, but it is a technology that will really change our future life.

Ecosystem of growth

With the help of open source hardware DIY clubs, hackers, and Makerspaces and Maker Faires sprung up in global cities, more and more people are exposed to 3D printing technology every day.

Wevolver, FabLabs and the latest 3D Hubs network in London and Amsterdam are good examples in the world.

Many top 3D modeling and design software, including 123D Design, provide easy access, which allows many people to start 3D printing in their communities.

Because 3D printing will flourish in the next few years, many enterprises will start building more 3D printing market and service center.

Shapeways and Maker6 are pioneers in the US, and iMaterialise is a famous brand in Europe (Belgium).

Many big companies have begun to focus their attention on the popularity of 3D printing, such as Amazon's recently launched 3D print store or American UPS Store.

Better material

Today, there are about 40 manufacturers of commercial 3D printers, and more than 200 start-up companies worldwide are developing and selling 3D printers. Their products are as low as a few hundred dollars.

The materials available for 3D printing are also increasing -- from different types of wax or plastics, ceramics to steel, brass, bronze, silver, gold and platinum.

Some interesting areas of 3D printing

Robot

French sculptor Gael Langevin produced a life size robot InMoov in January 2012 by way of 3D printing.

This robot can be produced using any household 3D printer with 12x12x12 cm area, and is considered to be a development platform for universities, laboratories and enthusiasts.

Earlier this year, Intel released Jimmy, a walking robot designed for consumers.

Intel calls Jimmy a research robot, but they will launch a less elaborate model for consumers later this year, selling for $1600.

Jimmy needs to be produced by means of 3D printing.

Intel will provide 3D printing drawings free of charge, but users will also need to purchase a set of packages, including those that can not be printed, including motors and Intel Edison processors.

Intel hopes to reduce the price of Jimmy to less than US $1000.

Architecture

Contour Crafting is a layered manufacturing technology developed by Dr. Behrokh Khoshnevis of University of Southern California.

This technology has great potential in automating the overall structure and sub components construction.

By using this way, one or more buildings with different designs can be completed by automatic construction at once. Every house will also embed all necessary circuits, plumbing and air-conditioning pipes.

Earlier this year, in China, the 3D printing technology built 10 single storey houses in the 1 days.

In contrast to more traditional architectural methods, 3D printing is a cheaper, faster and safer alternative.

These houses were built in Shanghai by 4 giant 3D printers, each with a length of 10x6.6 meters. The walls of the houses were built by layers of materials mixed with cement and construction waste.

The new 3D printer is not only environmentally friendly, but also has low cost.

D-Shape, a British company specializing in Freeform Architectural 3D printing, can print anything below 6x6 meters, such as park benches, pavilions, colorful marble pavements, fountains, small swimming pools, home and playground facilities, etc.

Finally, Emerging Objects realized that the use of 3D printing should not be limited to external support for building construction.

In fact, the company has decided to focus its research and development on interior decoration and design of buildings.

They are using renewable and innovative materials, such as cement polymers and salt polymers.

Design

Eric Klarenbeek studio in Amsterdam is exploring 3D printing living organisms, such as mycelia and fungal linear networks, and combining them with local raw materials to produce hyphae chairs such as carbon footprint.

fashion

Many fashion designers are now making experiments with 3D printing to make clothes and ornaments, such as hats, skirts, shoes and jewellery.

Iris van Herpen shows some interesting designs.

Last year, Bradley Rothenberg also made some 3D print costumes for Vitoria's Secret Fashion Show.

Invisible Light Network created a bracelet called Nu by voice.

Boston's design studio Nervous System has also launched jewelry series and supporting desktop 3D printer applications.

Silvia Weidenbach, a London designer, has produced a special necklace by combining 3D printing technology with traditional manufacturing techniques.

Nike 3D printing

Vapor HyperAgility Cleat brings innovation and athlete's flexibility to a new level.

In order to better help athletes, Nike is joining the production process of footwear products through 3D printing technology.

Mink 3D printer allows users to choose any color from the web or the real world, and print this color into blush, eye shadow, lip gloss or any other type of makeup using simple software.

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automobile

The use of 3D printing in the latest 007 movie "sky screen crisis" has begun to show how this technology can be applied to cars in the entertainment industry.

Nowadays, automobile manufacturers mainly apply 3D printing to the research and experiment of concept automobiles.

The designer Erik Melldahl and BMW CO produced the 3D printing Maasaica, while the London designer Nir Siegel put forward a more avant-garde concept to Audi: the 3D printing car assembled in front of the buyers.

Mercedes announced that they were considering making use of 3D printing parts to produce 2018 S grade models, not only conceptual models, but also interior models of mass production models.

It is also worth noting that workers in BMW German factory are already using the "super thumb" of 3D printer, which can be used to reduce the pressure on their joints when assembling automobile components.

In the distant future, we may make use of 3D printing to produce a car, then download Google's autopilot system to start the road.

entertainment

Earlier this year, Marvel studio and 3DplusMe presented a unique printer at the San Diego Comic Con exhibition.

It can scan your facial features and print you into Marvel's superhero based on your choice.

Art

We can see a lot of amazing 3D print art works and sculptures on the Internet.

This article will focus on the cooperation between Van Gogh Museum and Fuji in Belgium.

The project for both sides is named Relievo, which is a three-dimensional copy of Van Gogh's masterpiece.

These copies maintain the size, color, brightness and texture of the original to achieve the ultimate artwork reproduction.

For example,

The replica captured the direction and dynamics of Van Gogh's pen, and 32 different yellow colors.

The Van Gogh Museum sells these reproductions for us $34 thousand.

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