Category Archives: News
World’s First Crowdsourced 3D Printed Sculpture to Debut in Calgary
Internationally Known Artist Partners with Award-Winning Startup for Crowdsourced Sculpture
PrintToPeer is a software startup company which aims to make 3D printing accessible through a web-based printer remote control and monitoring app. For their launch, PrintToPeer has partnered with artist Jeff de Boer to create “Linked,” the world’s first crowdsourced 3D printed sculpture. Unique medallions 3D printed across the world will be assembled into a hanging mesh, which will form a mosaic as the intersection of art and engineering.
“We’re able to take our artist’s vision and allow anyone in the world with this technology to be the sculptor. We’re excited to demonstrate the endless possibilities and limitless creativity of the community,” says PrintToPeer co-founder, Tom Bielecki.
3D printer owners from around the world are asked to personalize an interconnecting medallion design, and ship their contribution to Calgary. Contributors are encouraged to show off their logo, equipment, materials, and 3D modelling skill, and are invited to submit as many different designs as they like.
Here’s how to get involved: PrintToPeer has built a unique online platform at http://www.printtopeer.com/
The sculpture has been titled “Linked” to represent the connection of engineering and art, as well as the literal connecting links sent from around the world. de Boer has developed the concept from his experience with chainmail, and has designed a common linkage system to hold the pieces together. Guest artists will be invited to arrange the links into mosaics and different physical arrangements.
Printer owners are asked to ship their contributions by September 7th. Linked will be assembled during Beakerhead (September 11-15th), a city-wide festival in Calgary which celebrates the convergence of art, science, and engineering. The completed sculpture will be on display at the Calgary Maker Faire (September 14th), a festival of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker movement. This will take place at the Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD) in Calgary.
Below is a photo gallery of the team and sculpture process.
About Jeff de Boer
Jeff de Boer is internationally known for his four distinct bodies of work: armour for cats and mice, armour for executives, exoforms, and space objects including rocket lamps. Jeff has continued to work and grow, developing new and fantastic ideas. He has also gone back to the Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD) where he studied Jewelry Design, this time as an instructor teaching a Jewellery Design and Presentation class. He currently has a studio in south-east Calgary, where he now works with his wife Debbie.
Here is what de Boer said about “Linked”
The distance between art and technology is beginning to not just close; it is beginning to merge. The emergence of the 3D printer has given individuals who would not normally consider themselves makers the power to create in three dimensions. Now that the masses can make anything, the big question will always be, “what is worth making?”
The 3D printer right now is a little bit like a television without content provided by a broadcast network. The truth is, it is no longer necessary to have a centralized network for content, as each individual can now create the content in an open source environment.
“Linked” will be the world’s first collaborative 3D sculpture ever produced. The idea is to demonstrate the collective power of individuals as links in an open source content generator.
I have designed a standardized linkage system on which individuals can apply their own content, print it out and send it to us so as to be linked to an ever-growing hanging sculpture. In the end, each link will be unique, creating a vast gallery of colors and images. The links’ wide range of colors will act like pixels and can be arranged by a guest artist to create an overall image.
This sculpture can be arranged over and over by different guest artists, each time generating a unique overall image. The sculpture comes together in an additive way, not unlike the process of 3D printing itself.
Top 3D Printing News Last Week: The UPS Store, Eyewear, Mixee Labs, More
3D Printing News
A roundup of the top 3D printing news from July 29 to August 4:
Monday, July 29
Wednesday, July 31
Thursday, August 1
Friday, August 2
Saturday, August 3
Protos Eyewear Creates 3D Printed Glasses, Turns to Crowdfunding
Protos Turns to Crowdfunding for Next Evolution in Eyewear 3D Printing
Protos is an eyewear company based in San Francisco that combines computer-aided personalized design with 3D printing to create the perfect pair of frames. We featured Protos last fall and recently caught up again with founder and CFO Richart Ruddie.
Protos is turning to crowdfunding to take the company to the next level. With 24 new designs and advancements in its 3D printing process, the company hopes to raise $25,000 in pre-orders for its custom frames.
Go check out the Protos campaign and pledge if you like their project.
Below is our interview with founder and CFO Richart Ruddie.
On 3D Printing: What’s new at Protos since we last spoke? How have you further developed your 3D printed eyewear?
Richart Ruddie: We have designed 24 new frames. We have taken on a new partner who is an expert in the eyewear industry. We have refined our material and finish to be smooth, comfortable, and strong. We are able to custom fit glasses to an individual user’s face in a semi-automated fashion.
On 3D Printing: Why are you turning to crowdfunding now?
Richart Ruddie: We have reached a point where we want to offer our custom fit service, but don’t have the funds to develop it into a web application to be put on our site. We have the back-end programming worked out for it; all we need to do is integrate it into an attractive and easy-to-use interface. To do that takes a lot of development time and a mild barrier to entry in terms of funds that need to be spent.
On 3D Printing: Any plans to expand beyond eyewear in the future?
Richart Ruddie: Yes. We hope to leverage the properties of this new manufacturing for many other products. Eyewear is just the beginning.
Below is a gallery of the design process at Protos.
3D Printing On Demand – The UPS Store Launches Nationwide Test
UPS Launches Nationwide Test of 3D Printing in Retail
The UPS Store announced it is the first nationwide retailer to test 3D printing services in-store. Select UPS Store locations will be offering the services to start-ups, small businesses and retail customers, beginning in the San Diego area with locations in additional cities across the United States in the near future.
A recent poll of small business owners conducted by The UPS Store showed high interest in trying the services, particularly for those needing to create prototypes, artistic renderings or promotional materials.
“Start-ups, entrepreneurs and small business owners may not have the capital to purchase a 3D printer on their own, but they may have a need to show prototypes to their current and potential customers,” said Michelle Van Slyke, vice president of marketing and small business solutions at The UPS Store. “By offering 3D printing capabilities in-center, we’re able to help further our small business customers’ opportunities for success.”
The UPS Store is testing the Stratasys uPrint SE Plus printer, which according to Stratasys is most well-known for its ability to print detailed objects more accurately than home 3D printers. Stratasys notes that this is particularly important when parts need to fit into each other or fit some other object. With this printer, The UPS Store locations will be equipped to produce items like engineering parts, functional prototypes, acting props, architectural models, fixtures for cameras, lights and cables.
In addition, The UPS Store locations offer a range of services tailored to meet the needs of small businesses in all stages of the business lifecycle. Not only can small business owners receive well-recognized services like packing and shipping, printing, faxing, direct mail and mailbox services, but The UPS Store locations also will work with business owners to develop custom solutions to meet their unique business needs.
Below is a video explaining how 3D printing will be integrated at The UPS Store.
Mixee Labs Launches 3D Printed Slim Wallet Creator
Mixee Labs, a 3D printing startup that lets you create customized 3D printed figurines, cufflinks, and jewelry, has launched a new product, the Slim Wallet.
Slim Wallet is a thin and customizable 3d printed wallet. The wallet is under 1cm thin, and can be used it to hold 3 credit cards, driver’s license, a metro card, and some cash and keys.
What makes this product unique is that it is fully functional straight from the 3D printer. The clasps that holds everything in the wallet cleverly takes advantage of the flexibility and strength of 3d printed nylon plastic. Simply lift up the clasp, slide in your cards in, and everything snaps into place.
This wallet is designed by nxt3d with artwork by Bona Kim.
On Mixee Labs, people can choose from a variety of patterns and embellishments, and even upload their own images or text. More pictures and information on the product page: https://www.mixeelabs.com/creator/slim-wallet.
