The ultimate nerd gadget
Wired has an article about the adoption of 3D printers, giving the example of a man who designed his fiance's platinum wedding ring on Autocad, then extruded a plastic prototype which was then cast into the real thing.
3D printers are driven by a computer to apply successive layers of polymers and build up a three-dimensional shape as a prototype. There are many possible future applications of this technology as the price comes down; medical one-off prosthetics, military parts, etc.
In many ways, this is the ultimate geek gadget. I look forward to getting one myself. Computing will go to the next level when you can leave the world of the virtual and build a real artifact from digital data. Imagine needing a spare part for a coffee pot, logging on to the manufacturer's website, downloading an xml-like file and building the part, right there.
Posted on November 23, 2007
