Living a 3D life
A few of us from PHD & PHD Drum went over to see a company called Inition yesterday; we worked with them on making the Cadbury’s fairtrade ad from Fallon into a 3D version for showing before Avatar.
And we saw lots of really cool 3D TV stuff, and some augmented reality malarkey too…
…but the thing that I was most excited about was their 3D printer, especially after various posts here and there and of course the end section of my social production presentation.
They’re not just making solid objects… they can print mechanical models with moving parts…
…and even really complicated stuff like chainmail, all in one go. It moves just like you’d imagine chainmail to move, too…
(you can hear the costume designers in the movie industry celebrate, they no longer have to spend hours making this for Lord of the Rings style epics…)
You can even coat objects in metal… perfect for Marvel comic figures, of course…
Of course, such printers are still really expensive, and you need proper design CAD files to tell them WHAT to print in 3D…
…but as this technology gets cheaper, and people design simpler interfaces for it, they’ll start to find their way into our offices, and our homes.
Which means that in the same way that an iPod is the device that brings to life a digital MP3 file, a 3D printer will be the device that brings to life digital CAD files.
Instead of sharing songs digitally, you’ll be able to share objects, devices, art, fashion, jewellery, furniture… anything that’s got a digital file that describes it.
I like the future. It’s excellent.
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