TUUN

Print Me A New Shirt

A story in Wired this morning caught my eye. It seems a famous clothes designer has perfected a system that will easily port to computerized design and 3-D printing.

Normally, clothes are made by weaving thread or yarn into fabric, which is then snipped and stitched to create, say, a dress. The A-POC method requires no sewing. Thread goes into the loom, the dress comes out. Specifically, a flattened tube of material emerges that contains the finished shirt, skirt, or pants, which need only to be cut out along the faint outline already woven or knit into the fabric. Moreover, the material can be snipped anywhere without unraveling, a feature that allows for complete customization. A pair of scissors and a flirtatious spirit can turn a turtleneck into a plunging V-neck.

But the reporter also points out how the same technology could easily be used for many other products.

Any material that can be turned into a fiber can work in the A-POC process, which gives Miyake the opportunity to produce anything from shoes to portable shelters. The A-POC team already has developed a series of colorful beanbag-like chairs and sofas that will come to market this year. The studio is also interested in a new corn-based fiber that could be used to construct other types of furniture, and it recently developed a resin-linen blend that a University of Tokyo lab found to be as strong as steel.

A revolution is moving the world quickly toward molecular manufacturing and an economy turned upside down. What will it mean when anyone can have any material object for free? Food, clothes, transportation, spacecraft; any object made of molecules essentially free of cost, free of human labor, free to be created by anyone with a clever idea?

Big 3-D Printer

The recent issue of New Scientist has an interesting blurb titled Robot builder could 'print' houses. "The goal is to be able to completely construct a one-story, 2000-square foot home on site, in one day and without using human hands..." Cool.

I have been watching the progress of 3-D printing, and this news shows how pervasive the changes will be in a few years. And then, there is nanotechnology...

3D Printing

I was fascinated as I read an essay on Edge this morning about the use of 3D printers in the lives of people. It seems that a professor at MIT has discovered the untapped demand of "personal fabrication." There are many interesting things shared in the article. For example:

We started using micromachining and microcontrollers to set up field "fab labs" (either fabulous, or fabrication, as you wish). They weren't meant to be economically self-sustaining; it was just a way of building up experience. We intentionally put them beyond the reach of normal technology in places like rural India and the far north of Norway. Once again we found a desperate response, but here personal fabrication does address what can truly be life-and-death problems.

3-D Printing's Great Leap Forward

Those who have followed my interest in 3-D printing know that I have been monitoring the progress of this technology for many years. "Rapid prototyping" is now a muture technology. 3-D printers that just a few years ago cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars are now available for thirty to fifty thousand dollars. The 3-D printing market is about to move to a new phase, "rapid manufacturing."

I also hear rumblings that HP is about to announce a 3D printer for consumers priced at $1,000.

Here is a short article about this emerging technology that gives us a hint about what life will be like once nanotechnolgy takes hold:

Wired News: 3-D Printing's Great Leap Forward

Emerging Technologies

MIT's Technology Review has an article about the ten emerging technologies they think will have the greatest impact on reality over the next ten years and the innovators behind each of the technologies. See if you agree with their choices:

http://techreview.com/articles/print_version/emerging0203.asp

The Age (one of Australia?s top technology news sources) has a fun article on nanotechnology. It details some of the new products that will soon be available:

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/01/19/1042911268269.html

Talking about new nanotechnology products, how about a 3D printer that prints living tissue! Three-dimensional tubes of living tissue have been printed using modified desktop printers filled with suspensions of cells instead of ink. The work is a first step towards printing complex tissues or even entire organs. You will want to read this article recently published at NewScientist.com:

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993292

Michelin (the tire manufacturer) has announced that it will embed RFID transmitters into its tires. The article states that "the microchip stores the tire's unique ID, which can be associated with the vehicle identification number" and, in turn, the owner's contact information. Check here for more details:

http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/269/1/1/

Printing Stuff

I have been monitoring the progress of three-dimensional printing technology for sometime now. As we learn to manufacture items using this technique we are preparing and practicing for molecular manufacturing in the not-too-distant future. We are rushing toward a new industrial revolution that will drastically change reality.

A significant step in the process was announced in New Scientist recently. UC Berkeley engineers are now developing 3-D printers that allow fully assembled electric and electronic gadgets to be printed. You can read the article at:

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993238