Motorola Mobility, a Google company, is building a 3D printed modular phone, and has partnered with 3D Systems for commercial fulfillment. More »
The Captured Dimensions pop-up studio was located in the Smithsonian Castle and featured approximately 80 digital cameras all connected to 3D software. More »
Microsoft expanded their support for 3D printing by launching a Windows 8 app called 3D Builder. It includes a library of objects you can edit and 3D print. More »
3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) announced the availability of the Sense 3D scanner, the first 3D scanner designed for the consumer and optimized for 3D printing. More »
With rumors circling that 3D Systems will be purchased by IBM, the stock soars. We look at why IBM might be interested in the 3D printing giant. More »
Top 3D Printing News Last Week: Maker Faire, Contest, Art, Kickstarter
3D Printing News
A roundup of the top 3D printing news from May 28 to June 1:
Tuesday, May 28
Wednesday, May 29
Friday, May 31
- ModelBox 3D: Artists Launch Kickstarter to Bring 2D Images to Life
- 3D Printing is Now – Perspective of a Dad Entrepreneur
Saturday, June 1
Do The Mutation: 3D Printed Masks Take Art to a New Level of Personal
Incredible Art with 3D Printed Masks
Italian designers exploring generative design have taken 3D printed art to a new level of personal. Design lab Do The Mutation developed software called Collagene to create the exquisite masks you can see in the gallery below. These masks were displayed at Milan Design Week inside the venue [Re]vive in April 2013.
Faces were scanned using a Kinect sensor, and then software generated customized masks for each person. Each mask was produced as a unique piece through 3D printing and Windform materials. The three masks were produced by CRP with their reinforced polyamide-based materials.
The designers provided this perspective on their work:
The creation of a set of masks offers the opportunity of deepening the sensibility throught a research on the relationship between body and dress, imagining the mask as the product of the growth of a virtual organism on the human face. The object keeps its traditional functions of body prosthesis, providing identity alteration and concealment, stimulating viewers’ imagination and visual association.
This project explores the border territory between physical and virtual, connecting computer code’s abstractions with the intimate, visceral dimension of body alteration’s sense brought by the mask theme. The topographic anatomy of the face acts as input for a set of algorithms that under designer’s control generate the fibers that form the object, creating a material formation that after 3d printing perfectly fits its territory, people’s faces.
The set of objects made in Windform LX 2.0, a polyamide-based material reinforced with fibre glass represent a population of differentiated individuals, phenotypes sharing the same genotype. No matter how many masks might be produced, they all will share the same genetic code. The system is then flexible in offering possibilities of formal and diagramatic variation, in creating even highly different objects, customizable on different faces and as expression of different designers.
Watch the video below to see how the masks were made and the amazing use of generative algorithms paired with 3D printing to create truly unique art.
3D Printing is Now – Perspective of a Dad Entrepreneur
3D Printing is Now, Says Dad Entrepeneur
Australian entrepreneur, and dad, Steve Sammartino shared a great story on his startup blog about 3D printing a piece of jewelry for his 3-year-old daughter. The takeaway is that 3D printing will be ubiquitous in the future, so get started now on your 3D printing venture!
Steve was playing with his desktop 3D printer when his daughter entered the room, so he offered to 3D print her a piece of jewelry. When the 3D print was completed, Steve narrates: “She said “Thanks daddy” and then put it on her wrist and skipped away to get on with her 3 year old life.”
Steve’s insight:
3D printing to her is as ‘normal’ as cars, TV, airplanes, computers and microwave ovens. How can it not be, it was invented before she was born. It’s just another of the thousands of normal everyday thing she is seeing for the time. Nothing more or less special that the other technology in our lives.
But the really significant element is that by the time she is 13 years of age, yourself and every person we know will have a 3D printer. We’ll all be printing things in our homes on a daily basis. And if you think that isn’t possible, let me remind you that every social media channel you currently use today didn’t exist 10 years ago, and we already know how much that changed our social and economic landscape.
Via Start Up Blog.
CC image by jurvetson
ModelBox 3D: Artists Launch Kickstarter to Bring 2D Images to Life
ModelBox 3D Brings 2D Images to Life – Crowdfunding on Kickstarter
Here is a completely different take on 3D printing. And a great one.
Artists Laura Krause and Eric Sagotsky are based in LA and describe their profession as “we make art things.” One of their latest projects was a large-scale sliced sculpture. Through experimentation, they came up with a process to develop a physical 3D holograph out of about 28 2D printed images.
The team has turned to Kickstarter with a campaign to raise $30,000 and they are almost halfway there with 23 days to go.
Here’s how they describe the ModelBox 3D:
ModelBox 3D is a fast and affordable 3D display which allows anyone to bring 3D models and 2D designs to life regardless of their technical background. Using the printer that you already own, you can make a full color 3D image that appears to holographically float within an elegant acrylic box. What we provide is a combination of software and hardware. Each kit includes with a frame to hold 28 inkjet or laser printable transparencies and the software to turn your designs into a series of flat layers to print. Together they form a uniquely vibrant full 3D image that’s viewable from both the front and back. ModelBox 3D also comes with access to an online library of print-ready artwork so that anyone with access to a standard printer and a pair of scissors can build one. Whether you use it as fun art project or as an eye-catching functional display, ModelBox 3D is a new reason to dust off your printer and create something truly unique.
ModelBox 3D is completely new art form that gives your existing inkjet or laser printer a new life to create eye-catching 3D images. Whether you want to create a unique interchangeable lamp, show off a new product, or enhance your prototyping and creative development process, using ModelBox 3D does not require any complex technical knowledge to use. Our product finally brings 3D visualization to the masses at a truly affordable price.
Watch the video below to learn more about their Kickstarter campaign.
Win an Ultimaker! 3D Printing Competition at CGTrader
3D Printing Competition at CGTrader
3D model marketplace CGTrader is hosting a 3D printing competition. The company is looking for innovative 3D printable models and are giving away great prizes, including two Ultimaker 3D printers, 3D prints, gift cards from Sculpteo, Filaco, Stash, as well as an opportunity to sell designs in 3D printing store iMakr in London.
In order to participate, designers need to create 3D printable models in .STL format and upload them for sale or download to CGTrader. Further information on the competition is available here: http://www.cgtrader.com/
We talked with CGTrader’s Dalia Lasaite about the competition and the marketplace.
On 3D Printing: What is CGTrader and why are you running this competition?
Dalia Lasaite: CGTrader is a designer-friendly 3D model marketplace for artists and designers. We aim to offer the best conditions for both sellers and buyers of 3D models – the authors on our marketplace receive over 90% of royalties, and can interact directly with the buyers, thereby landing additional jobs or establishing relationships. On the other side, the buyers enjoy direct contact with the sellers, low prices, as well as high quality of the models. Our aim is to make sure that talented designers can make a living off creating and selling professional-level, high-quality 3D models. The 3D models traded on CGTrader are used in a variety of fields, including games, visualizations, ads, architecture, simulations – and now, increasingly, in 3D printing.
The 3D printing industry is rapidly developing, and we noticed increasing interest in this technology from both buyers and sellers on our marketplace. In order to encourage our designer community to step into this exciting field, we decided to start this competition and challenge them to create 3D printable models. While majority of 3D designers have primarily worked in digital domains, they typically have very strong 3D modeling skills and unlimited creativity, but may have not tried using a 3D printer or designing for 3D printing – so this competition was a natural step and had a very positive reception.
On 3D Printing: We’re not quite halfway through the competition yet. Are you seeing any submissions that excite you yet?
Dalia Lasaite: We’re always amazed by the creativity of the 3D designer community! The submissions started rolling in recently, but we’ve already seen a whole spectrum of models from useful to beautiful to crazy. Steampunk-based alphabet letters, parts for coffee machines, Escher sculptures, graffiti spray gun, cars, characters, toys – you name it! And of course, there is the Robohand, whereby you can actually print the whole prosthetic hand – definitely changing the world for the better. There are a few submissions representing the first 3D printable model of designers – and it is great to see how willing they are to learn and pick up this technology.
On 3D Printing: You’re giving away an Ultimaker 3D printer. Why that 3D printer?
Dalia Lasaite: Yes, and not one – but two 3D printers! We’re very excited to work with Ultimaker for this competition. Ultimaker printer is one of the best printers on the market right now. It has a large build volume, is very fast, and delivers high-quality prints. When organizing the competition we discussed it with several experts, and all recommendations pointed to Ultimaker – so it was fairly easy to choose.
We also have other awesome sponsors – including 3D Print UK, iMakr, Sculpteo, Filaco, Stash – the winners of this challenge will be very lucky!
On 3D Printing: What’s the future hold for CGTrader?
Dalia Lasaite: CGTrader aims to be the largest 3D model marketplace for professional level, high-quality 3D models. It is hard to say how the 3D printing industry will develop during the coming years – but our goal is to help designers monetize their creations, and provide the buyers with a wide selection of 3D models directly from designers. At the same time, we hope to contribute to the growth of the industry by providing a place to trade 3D models and encourage more designers to try their hand in this field.
Thanks to CGTrader for this interview!
Enter the CGTrader competition before June 30th to qualify.
