3D Printing Awesomeness
Today I attended a conference of Hawaii's technology folks, a group called TechHui. One of the presentations was about 3D printing, and... HOLY COW it's incredibly cool! I had no idea that it's not just a thing of the future, it's a thing of the present. You can actually buy a 3D printer for your computer today. It prints the object you've chosen (including any gears, ball bearings, etc.) in the color you've chosen. The material is apparently a little brittle, but once you coat it with an "infiltrant" to strengthen it, the speaker said the item becomes almost as strong as concrete.
The speaker said these things range from $25,000 to $75,000. For inventors, that's already cheaper than having just 1 or 2 prototypes manufactured. And it has other uses. For instance, the speaker said that surgeons are using these to model where in a person's skull their brain tumor is. When the surgeon sees the skull in 3D, it's much easier to strategize about how to reach the tumor than if the images are just 2D. And they can practice surgery on the 3D model.
Here's a video about a 3D printer you can purchase for your office today. (It's a little long, if you don't feel like watching all 4 minutes just watch 1 minute from 1:40 to 2:40, it's soo cool! )
Maybe someday you'll be able to go to Amazon, click "One-click-printing," and print off those bookends you wanted right in your home. Oh, or if you need a new car? Just print one off.
