[3D PRINTING IS AN ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY WHICH MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO TURN 3D MODELED DESIGNS INTO CUSTOM SOLID OBJECTS ON DEMAND.]

[THIS TECHNOLOGY HAS BEEN ADAPTED BY MANY ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS, MANY OF WHOM HAVE COME TOGETHER THROUGH THE ONLINE COMMUNITY OF SHAPEWAYS.]

3D printing has been around

for almost 25 years now.

[PETER WEIJMARSHAUSEN CEO, SHAPEWAYS] But for a long time it was used

for engineers and by engineers

for prototyping new products

that they would then mass produce.

What we did in 2007

is we realized basically that

"Hey. Why don't we use this amazing technology

to give anyone access to manufacturing."

Why don't we use this technology, these 3D printers

to make actual, final products?

[SHAPEWAYS + 3D PRINTING]

The 3D printing

it's a rapid prototyping technology.

[NATALIA KRASNODEBSKA COMMUNITY MANAGER/JEWELRY DESIGNER] The same way that you might carve something out of wax

or make a little sculpture

glue a bunch of matchsticks together and make a castle

is the same way now you might sit down at your computer

and use a CAD program

Rhino or Armea

to sculpt something and then print it out.

So, for me 3D printing was a way

to bring together art and science.

I was able to express the artistic thing

that I could see in my head

but use really precise techniques

and technology to realize that.

[MODELAB 3D PRINTING WORKSHOP]

If you understand 3D printing to mean

[GIL AKOS MODELAB] the deposition and/or fusing of material by layer

it really opens up what you could consider 3D printing to be.

I think that most interesting advancements

in terms of where 3D printing is and is going

have to do with dimensionality and materials,

both at the small scale of dimensions

and the large scale.

People are getting parts scanned in their body

to get custom implants made

for like, if they're having heart troubles

and things like that.

Or at the very, very big scale

like the large Gantry Mounted building scale applications

I think those are really interesting

and then, shifting out of plastics

into things like ceramics

like other biological materials

that people are looking at printing in.

Really, that opens up what 3D printing is

and what its applications can be

in an exponential rate

in terms of where it would go

and what you would do with it.

It's a good time for experimentation.

It's a good time to think about

how something that's as old as the clothing industry

[MARY HUANG FOUNDER, CONTINUUM FASHION] could be redefined with new technologies.

We use digitical fabrication technologies

and software techniques

to invent what fashion design means for a digital age.

Artists are always the early adapters.

We essentially want to be the first fashion label that's software.

We started working with 3D printing

because we like this idea of

could we make clothing without sewing.

Having one machine that can make really impossible shapes

is a huge benefit.

So, this is a 3D printed bikini.

The design of the bikini

was really about designing this generative textile

like, designing a way for 3D printing

to be almost like fabric

and be flexible and fit to the body.

And so, how this is done is

after we model this 3D shape

it actually fills the surface that you want with this geometry

that creates this fabric-like structure.

It packs the circles closer and smaller at the edges

and then towards the middle sections you have bigger circles

and this is nice because it actually looks interesting

for a bikini

and it's aesthetic as well as functional.

So, we've done some work with 3D printing.

We felt that people really understood shoes.

So, our goal was to actually have a dedicated shoe printer in the store

and then people could print their shoes

or you could even have basically a printer you could buy

just to be able to make yourself as many shoes as you want.

Inspiration, I think is one of the things

that most people need to really get started.

Especially with new technology

so, what we've therefore created

are creators in our co-creation platform

is where you can adapt in a very functional way existing in science.

So, at Shapeways we built a basic platform

to enable people to upload and print the designs they care for.

You can share it with your friends.

You can even open a shop

and you can start selling your new invention

your new creative idea

to a worldwide audience.

The one thing that's really interesting about this technology

is that it's more accessible.

Because it's more accessible

it's not only the hardware's more accessible

it's also the language that it's been coded in

is more accessible.

Also, the learning resources that you need

to be able to do it yourself is also more accessible.

So, now all of a sudden

the big walls that existed before

in terms of who had the privilege of being able to create what

and largely dictate how people used it

are gone.

But again, I think it just goes down to the fact that

information is everwhere now.

Everyone has access to it

and it's very easy to do whatever you want with it.

The technology that exists today

it also shapes the way that you think about

what the possibilities of tomorrow might be.

So, if you have a great idea

that idea might not be ready

to come into the world yet.

Until there's a mechanism put in place, right

that makes that idea now realizable.

People are comparing the 3D printing revolution

to the revolution that happened with personal computing.

I don't necessarily think there will be a 3D printer in every home

but I think there will be 3D printer product in every home.

There will be an application for it for everyone.

[INTEL]

[A VICE PRODUCTION]