Rapid Prototyping!
You know what's awesome?
Rapid Prototyping is awesome.
For those who don't know, Rapid Prototyping is essentially 3-dimensional printing. You create a 3D design in a computer program, whack that into your Rapid Prototyper, and you get to hold your creation in your hands. It is essentially your science-fiction replicator. And we already have them. That, to me, is as sexy as fuck. And let's face it, that's about as sexy as it gets.
To be fair, as the technology stands they can only work with plastics, and the machines are hugely bulky and expensive. But they can work with some pretty damn strong plastics! They've already managed to make a plane that's 90% RP components. You can print planes with this thing. OK, some assembly required, but still! That is awesome. You cannot deny its awesomitude.
Personally, I'm hanging out for the RP machine that's targeted at your average consumer. Combine it with our humble friend, The Internet, and I guarantee that within a day or two you'll have a worldwide database of tools, knick-knacks and works of art that can be printed out at a moment's notice. You can even design your own if you want, and if the 3D design tools in upcoming games like Spore are anything to go by, it's going to be incredibly simple to create virtually anything.
I'd like to be able to custom-design a lamp. Make sure it's got holes in the right places, and buy a few cables and light fixtures from the local hardware shop. It would be simple to integrate the technology with the software that creates 3D models from photos, so now anything you've taken a photo of, you can recreate. Why not have accurate models of your family members on your desk at work instead of photos? Scaled-down monuments? Construct your own little fantasy town from architectural photos taken around the world! The possibilities are enormous.
I can see it being pretty badly abused, though. If they made it too efficient, I can really see myself just printing out extra copies of things I didn't feel like looking for. Let's say, for argument's sake, that the washing up hasn't been done for weeks. Months. You can't go in there. If you start cleaning up, you gotta finish it, and you're pretty sure there's something alive in there. The solution here, of course, is to print yourself out a new set of cups, plates, and cutlery every time you go to eat a meal. Remember the opening scenes of Withnail and I? It'd be that, but a thousand times worse because you'd be able to go for so much longer without dealing with it.
Or maybe you'd get into wargaming. You'd print out hundreds of tiny little soldiers to make up massive armies, print out mountains of terrain, then decide that you want to print out something else because you've gotten bored of all that already. Let's face it, if we have the ability to create anything we feel like creating, we're going to create a lot of completely useless crap just for the sake of it. Our lives would become filled with piles upon piles of useless crap, cramming up our desks and floors and wardrobes. Maybe the spammers will hijack our printers, creating waves of little advertisement sculptures that flood our homes if we forget to turn off the machine.
The commercial Rapid Prototyping machine will change our lives. Will we use its power sparingly, or will we be buried under the sheer weight of our own fickle desires? Only time will tell.
Rapid Prototyping is awesome.
For those who don't know, Rapid Prototyping is essentially 3-dimensional printing. You create a 3D design in a computer program, whack that into your Rapid Prototyper, and you get to hold your creation in your hands. It is essentially your science-fiction replicator. And we already have them. That, to me, is as sexy as fuck. And let's face it, that's about as sexy as it gets.
To be fair, as the technology stands they can only work with plastics, and the machines are hugely bulky and expensive. But they can work with some pretty damn strong plastics! They've already managed to make a plane that's 90% RP components. You can print planes with this thing. OK, some assembly required, but still! That is awesome. You cannot deny its awesomitude.
Personally, I'm hanging out for the RP machine that's targeted at your average consumer. Combine it with our humble friend, The Internet, and I guarantee that within a day or two you'll have a worldwide database of tools, knick-knacks and works of art that can be printed out at a moment's notice. You can even design your own if you want, and if the 3D design tools in upcoming games like Spore are anything to go by, it's going to be incredibly simple to create virtually anything.
I'd like to be able to custom-design a lamp. Make sure it's got holes in the right places, and buy a few cables and light fixtures from the local hardware shop. It would be simple to integrate the technology with the software that creates 3D models from photos, so now anything you've taken a photo of, you can recreate. Why not have accurate models of your family members on your desk at work instead of photos? Scaled-down monuments? Construct your own little fantasy town from architectural photos taken around the world! The possibilities are enormous.
I can see it being pretty badly abused, though. If they made it too efficient, I can really see myself just printing out extra copies of things I didn't feel like looking for. Let's say, for argument's sake, that the washing up hasn't been done for weeks. Months. You can't go in there. If you start cleaning up, you gotta finish it, and you're pretty sure there's something alive in there. The solution here, of course, is to print yourself out a new set of cups, plates, and cutlery every time you go to eat a meal. Remember the opening scenes of Withnail and I? It'd be that, but a thousand times worse because you'd be able to go for so much longer without dealing with it.
Or maybe you'd get into wargaming. You'd print out hundreds of tiny little soldiers to make up massive armies, print out mountains of terrain, then decide that you want to print out something else because you've gotten bored of all that already. Let's face it, if we have the ability to create anything we feel like creating, we're going to create a lot of completely useless crap just for the sake of it. Our lives would become filled with piles upon piles of useless crap, cramming up our desks and floors and wardrobes. Maybe the spammers will hijack our printers, creating waves of little advertisement sculptures that flood our homes if we forget to turn off the machine.
The commercial Rapid Prototyping machine will change our lives. Will we use its power sparingly, or will we be buried under the sheer weight of our own fickle desires? Only time will tell.