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 »
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3D Printed Phone Cases: UCreate3D Seeks Crowdfunding to Best Nokia
3D Printed Phone Cases: UCreate3D Takes On Nokia?
Two Dutch entrepreneurs who call themselves “pleasantly insane, incredibly ambitious” are crowdfunding to build a multilingual global platform they call UCreate3D to offer 3D Printed customizable phone cases.
Koen is running the offices in Hong Kong and is responsible for production. Vincent moved to San Francisco to focus on sales and e-commerce! It all started when Koen couldn’t find a nice case for his HTC Sensation. Only one year later they launched this IndieGoGo campaign!
We got a chance to interview these two Dutch 3D printing enthusiasts. Here’s a transcript of our interview.
On 3D Printing: It seems like your inspiration to use 3D printing is about personalization. Can you elaborate?
It is about availability and personalization. How cool is it that you can give your two year old Galaxy SII with a customized case to your parents when you are buying an SIV? Instead of buying a one-fits-all sleeve you can create something they like, they can relate to and make it a personal gift instead of just a phone. And the cool thing is, if they don’t like the design you’ve made, they can create a new switchable panel!
On 3D Printing: Nokia announced a 3D Printing Kit for its Lumia series phone. How are you going beyond what they’re doing?
We’re really happy that a big brand like Nokia understands the importance of 3D Printing and starts experimenting early. What Nokia is doing is for 3D Printing experts, engineers or developers, in other words people who know what they are doing. Designing a case and getting a perfect fit isn’t easy, even for educated industrial designers. It takes a couple of test runs to get a good case. 99.9% of the (mass) market is not interested in doing this. We want to make it simple! People can design their own case or choose one of the pre-selected designs, choose one of the seven colors we’re offering and can expect a perfect case with high quality on their doorstep a couple of days later. This isn’t only for Nokia users, but all smartphone and tablet owners!
On 3D Printing: Who created the design software? What was that experience like?
We´re working with an amazing team of software developers. One of the reasons we are doing crowdfunding is the webshop. We’ve are investing a large part of the $20,000, we’re raising, in the webshop. Vincent has over 7 years experience with E-Commerce and start ups and developed more than 20 webshops in multiple languages. The plan that we have for our webshop is ambitious, but realistic. Realistic if you work with the right people. Our webshop will be very simple, easy to use and our customer service will be amazing. This is the combination for a successful E-Commerce company.
On 3D Printing: Where will you 3D print the actual cases? Will you use an existing 3D printing service or your own production?
Co-Founder Koen Munneke runs our office in Hong Kong and is responsible for production. If you want to be better, you have to think outside of the box. Koen is a 3D Printing expert and knows everyone in the field in Asia. Vincent´s expertise lies in consumer products, so we have combined the best of two worlds. The 3D Printing technique (this needs a verb, not sure what you want to say here) with painting and coating from different markets. Our coating originates from the automobile industry. We’re working with several 3D Printing, paint and coating experts to get the best quality for our products. The 3D Printer that we’re using costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, so we partnered with a manufacturer.
On 3D Printing: How do you plan to market your service?
IndieGoGo is the start. We have been featured on several blogs and websites, so we’re off to a good start. Our first market will be the US & Canada and China. We want to make 3D printing simple and available to everyone. So don’t be surprised to find our services in Korean, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese and Russian in the coming years!
Want to fund their campaign? Go to Indiegogo and contribute!
3D Printing Research: Liquid Droplets Lead Way to Drug Delivery
3D Printing Research: Liquid Droplets
3D printers don’t build only solid objects anymore. They also build liquid objects, thanks to a research team at the University of Oxford.
Microscopic water-filled, lipid-coated droplets pop from a printer’s nozzles and stick to one another to form patterned structures. The researchers envision the clusters’ use in future tissue engineering. They also demonstrate the construction of a flowerlike droplet network that curls into a sphere because of osmosis. This self-folding behavior, the research team contends, might be put to use in drug delivery systems someday.
Watch the video below to learn more about this research.
Top 3D Printing News Last Week: Fashion, Fab Lab, Pricing, iPhone
3D Printing News
A roundup of the top 3D printing news from March 25 to March 31:
Sunday, March 31
Get your exclusive 15% discount to the Inside 3D Printing conference with discount code PRINT.
3D Printed Fashion: Interview with Pioneer Designer Shoes by Bryan
3D Printed Fashion Hits the Runway
3D printed fashion has literally come into vogue and enabled designers to expand their craft in new ways.
In London this past fall, the critically acclaimed Shoes by Bryan début collection Heavy Metal Series generated buzz in fashion and technology circles at the 3D Print Show as products of more advanced 3D printing technologies are being perfected and refined for the collection’s eventual release to market.
Bryan Oknyansky of Shoes By Bryan continues to push forward and has made a landmark breakthrough in the global pursuit to bring 3D printing into our everyday lives – like 3D printing a pair of shoes from home.
Says Oknyansky, “The day the 3D Touch 3D printer arrived at the studio I powered it up and immediately started printing prototypes of Split Heels. This is my first design that I could make completely from my studio without outsourcing production. One month later I had 13 cutting-edge high heels ready for the catwalk at a fraction of the cost. It’s a real game-changer and it will soon change how shoes are made and sold.”
Interview with the Designer
We asked Oknyansky for a few updates on his innovative 3D printed fashion business. Here’s a transcript of our interview.
On 3D Printing: What is the latest on your debut collection or other collections since the 3D Print Show in London? Have you been selling in retail or online?
In keeping with the momentum from last season’s Fashion Fringe 2012 winning collaboration, Shoes By Bryan announces the visionary footwear label has initiated its first limited sale direct through the brand. Having kicked off a limited sale of the latest 3D printed design Split Heels at Bloody Gray Press Days SS13, Shoes By Bryan has sold 11 pairs of Split Heels – the world’s first eco-friendly bio-plastic 3D printed high heel shoes that can be worn like traditional shoes, and can almost be printed from home. As Split Heels are composed of three main parts, Oknyansky opened up a number of colour styling options to private buyers of first edition Split Heels and named pairs with unique colour combinations after the buyers who styled them.
Equipped with a Bits From Bytes 3D Touch plastic extrusion 3D printer from 3D Systems, designer Bryan Oknyansky was able to take orders on a limited release of 10 made to measure pairs of Split Heels two months in advance of Christmas. The first 10 pairs were sold to private buyers in the US, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, and Brazil. With an order placed for Valentine’s Day 2013 and 100% of buyers reporting 100% love for their Split Heels, Oknyansky has committed to extending the first edition of Split Heels to 100 pairs directly through the company.
Shoe lovers and art collectors from around the world can place an order for a numbered edition of the first 100 pairs of first edition Split Heels – complete with a certificate signed by the designer himself – by emailing sales@shoesbybryan.com to receive details on available colours and design options.
On his decision to extend the first edition to 100 made-to-measure pairs, Oknyansky says: “Split Heels are the first of their kind in the world. The process of making Split Heels is on the leading edge of technology, which makes them experimental art works as well as statement shoes. As such, buying a pair of Split Heels is different from buying an ordinary pair of heels. My clients have bought their Split Heels as much because they are amazing and perfectly comfortable statement shoes as they are collectible art works from an emerging artist. They see it as an investment that will make way for more visionary footwear from me and the Shoes By Bryan brand.”
The additional 89 pairs of the extended first edition 100 pair limited release of Split Heels are available to order directly through emailing sales@shoesbybryan.com and will be produced in monthly batches of up to 20 pairs per month beginning Summer 2013. The award-winning designer has set the starting price for these personalised, made-to-measure, collectible art statement shoes at a competitive £390.
On 3D Printing: How do you plan to scale up production to meet demand? Will shoes be 3D printed to a size or personalized for each customer?
Scaling up production of Split Heels requires getting more plastic extruding 3D printers on board. Ultimately, the printing process used to produce Split Heels is not fast enough to sustain long runs of the design. Therefore,the decision was made to release Split Heels in limited runs. Currently all Split Heels can be personalised as any standard shoe size can be ordered and the buyer can choose up to two colours from an assortment of options at the base price of £390 with slight increases in final price if additional colours are chosen.
On 3D Printing: What’s next for Shoes by Bryan?
Next up for Shoes By Bryan is to bring 3D printed fashion and innovative footwear to the world. 3D printing and other digital fabrication tools allowed my brand to hit the world stage in a short space of time, rich only in design. With press exposure begetting more exposure and demand steadily growing, the brand will continue to leverage alternative manufacturing technologies along with current and new industry alliances to grow.
Photo Gallery
Below is a gallery of the 3D printed fashion collection Shoes By Bryan on the runway. Click for larger images.
Follow news and updates on www.shoesbybryan.com, on facebook.com/shoesbybryan and on Twitter @ShoesByBryan. For more information on the technology provided by 3D Systems go to www.bitsfrombytes.com or www.3Dsystems.com.
Photo credit: Mel Bagshaw Photography used by permission from Shoes By Bryan.
Video: 3D Printing Gives UK-Based Collcap Packaging Competitive Edge
Collcap Packaging in the UK is using revolutionary 3D printing technology to prototype cosmetics packaging for their many international perfumery and cosmetics suppliers. Using the Stratasys Objet30 Pro 3D printer, Collcap’s designers are able to turn 3D CAD designs into accurate prototypes using a choice of 7 different materials ranging from blue, gray, white and black to clear transparency, high temperature resistance and polypropylene-like.
The transparent material (Objet VeroClear) is particularly useful in simulating glass and PMMA. 3D printing allows Collcap to place precise transparent replicas in the hands of their customers only a few short hours after their initial design. Once the chosen 3D printed models are approved the designs are sent to glass cutting and then final manufacturing.
