3-D Printing Professionals Weigh in on Fabrication Future
VANCOUVER, British Columbia Everyone involved in the nascent 3-D printing industry agrees that the technology could drastically alter everything from design to home life to international politics. However, that doesn't mean everyone involved in 3-D printing agrees on the scope, specifics or goals of the medium.
This year's SIGGRAPH interactive technology conference featured more 3-D printing and 3-D scanning related technology than ever before, providing an opportunity to survey how far the field has come, and where it may go next.
InnovationNewsDaily tracked down some luminaries in the field and asked them all the same two questions: "What would you like to print that current technology won't allow?" and "What is the biggest barrier to widespread home adoption of 3-D printers?" Their answers proved as illustrative about the different strains of development in the technology as it did about the future of the industry.
Adam Mayer, cofounder of MakerBot Industries
What would you like to print that current technology won't allow?
A house. And I mean that seriously, because that's coming. People are working on concrete printers.
What is the biggest barrier to widespread home adoption of 3-D printers?
Primarily, machine price. Also, people are still kind of scared of these machines from a technical standpoint. Ease of use is a big thing. It needs to be a single button to push for printing.
John Penn, president of JWP Design
What would you like to print that current technology won't allow?
Rubber parts. It's just something we can't do know, it's the next challenge.
What is the biggest barrier to widespread home adoption of 3-D printers ?
3-D content, and the price barrier. More people need to have more content. So far, artists have content, and engineers have content, but regular people need more.
Derek Johnson, product manager at 3D Systems
What would you like to print that current technology won't allow?
Metal. Low cost metal. You're putting something together, lose a screw and instead of hunting it down, you just download and print it. When Ikea forgets that one metal piece, no problems.
What is the biggest barrier to widespread home adoption of 3-D printers?
There's no real barrier except time. It follows the same path TV followed, that phones followed. Before you know it, everyone has one.
Taylor Hokanson, co-owner, DIYLILCNCL3C
What would you like to print that current technology won't allow?
The basic limitation is the true example of a machine that makes itself. It's a symbol, because there's still so much more you need to do to producing something in an automated way. But when a 3-D printer can make another 3-D printer, we will have reached a symbolic milestone.
What is the biggest barrier to widespread home adoption of 3-D printers?
The technology has been around a while, so it's not about innovation anymore. In the case of 3-D material, the barrier is more about imagination. If you can write, you can imagine what something will look like when it is printed in 2-D. for 3-D, you need more imagination.
Dan Gustafson, marketing director at NextEngine 3-D Scanning
What would you like to print that current technology won't allow?
I'd like to be able to print metal tools. Take measurements, and make custom tools at home for specific jobs.
What is the biggest barrier to widespread home adoption of 3-D printers?
In one word: cost. But cost can be measured in many ways. The cost of time with printing speed, the cost of materials, cost in the resolution limiting the output; those are all problems.
Duann Scott, spokesman for Shapeways.com
What would you like to print that current technology won't allow?
Smart materials. Fit a material to its need, not objects to their material.
What is the biggest barrier to widespread home adoption of 3-D printers?
The ability to make 3-D forms easily, simplifying the design software itself. And we're getting there. Soon you'll be able to create without those software skills. We need to make it fun, and as easy as downloading an app to your iPhone.
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