source: the Verge

In fact, it has already started.  We have already seen 3D almost everything, and recently 3D candy. But lately we been seeing 3D chocolate, cake decoration and even an experimental pizza for NASA.  Not sure about that pizza though.  What is interesting about the 3D printed candy is that Designer and architect Liz Von Hasseln, the co-creator of ChefJet did not build a special 3D printer.  They tool a normal Cube 3D printer and with some modification, were able to create 3D candy.  The opened Sugar Lab where people could order 3D printed sweets and soon 3DSystems bought the company and turned their modified 3D Cube in the ChefJet and ChefJetPro.  But its not just sweets.

source: the Verge

Hershey and 3D Systems are teamed up to make 3D printed chocolates available to the public.  This is the same idea with the 3D sweets and opens the same possibilities.  Image amazing 3D chocolate sculptures at the next event you attend. We already do this for Easter and Christmas, why not less popular holidays?  Why not on cakes?  ( check out the image at the bottom ). So think about it.  How many cakes do you see when you go into the supermarket?  Quite a bit.  Each one is hand created.  Normally if you have a special event, you chose from a preset catalog of designs and have a message printed for you.  Instead, we have have various cake shapes, perhaps primitives that can be cut and combined in to more interesting ‘core’ cake shapes. And then you can create your own design from a collection of 3D objects, images and text.  You can create you own cake design on the fly.  You can take pre existing designs and modify it.  Given that we can 3D print candy, chocolate and I assume anything else that can go from liquid to solid, out cakes would not be limited to just icing.  Although I have to question if there is any value to pizza on a cake….  well actually it could be good.

source: the Verge

Source: The Verge

I grabbed the .stl 3d digital file from  makerbot thingverse. Credit C Perlman for this.  You can also buy one from his site.  So first step, downloading this .stl file.  Done.

One thing I could have done is opened this file in a 3D editor and made some modifications, however,

Next, I need to get this file to the printer.  The good people from Cubify brought 3 3D printers.  I put the .stl file on a usb stick and walked it over there.  They then opened their custom application and converted from .stl to .cube format used for their printers.  This file is the conversion from 3D to 2D layers building up into the 3D object.  Save.

Next we take the USB to the printer and the magic happens.   In this case it is a simple PLA plastic material coloured grey.  Perfect for the grey Pebble.

The total printing time was around 2 hours.  Not too bad.

And here is the final result!  I can take some soft sandpaper and smooth it out, or I could paint it which would do that same thing.  However, I like the raw layered look.  The whole process was extremely easy.  Not that I ever thought 3D printing was hard, but now that I have gone from file to finish, I want to print something else!

Have you seen the game trailers for Watch Dogs? In the game, the player is a cyber-vigilante that explores a connected ‘smart’ city and accesses its 2D and 3D information like a high tech Batman. As an example of this, the game even has a website called We Are Data that shows real geo-located information about Paris, Berlin, and London from social media sites and public government datasets. The game seems like a glimpse into a distant future but believe it or not, we have the technology to make this notion of a ‘smart’ city happen now.

Unfortunately the building industry is currently very change-resistant and far behind almost every other industry in adopting new technologies, despite the fact that it has potentially the most to gain from interactive data visualization technologies and the Internet of Things. The technologies also already exist to model our buildings and communities in extremely high levels of detail, including fabrication-level data that is both extremely accurate and ideal for efficient fabrication of buildings components and large assemblies.  This same data can then be used by almost everyone to manage the facility and enable interaction with the occupants, both locally and remotely.  The lack of change is therefore not primarily a technology problem  (and the technology is getting better at an accelerating rate) but rather entrenched change resistance and silo thinking among architects, engineers, fabricators, builders, real estate developers and owners. Sure there is a growing use of 3D by both the geospatial and building communities, but the idea of intelligent interactive 3D cities seems more far fetched than a vacuum tube that shoots people from La to SF in 35 minutes.

In addition, currently we are seeing wearable tech becoming more common with devices like Google Glass, the Pebble watch and other tech that allows us to know things around us as well as letting other systems know that we are there. Yet most buildings are only smart enough to know when to turn a light off and on or other very basic functions. There is far more we can do, but the industry is risk averse and most building owners are unaware of how best to use these innovations. Someone needs to hack this…

Using advanced technologies, we can collaboratively design, manufacture and construct  innovative and high-performance buildings far less expensively and faster than by using conventional processes; but legal concerns, mindsets, domain wars and stubborn change-resistance is holding the industry back and delaying the inevitable democratization of the built environment through open digitization and automation. This has to change!

Imagine using an Oculus Rift to walk through a building to see proposed design changes and its surrounding area, accessing building data via a Google Glass to assist with onsite construction, controlling the systems of a building touch free with haptic devices like LEAP Motion, or having intelligent building systems that interact with occupants via wearables and mobile devices. All of this is possible now,  but who is going to build it? We need a group of cutting edge designers, builders, coders and other change agents that are looking to disrupt the current status quo.

The biggest hurtle is really mindset. But this is not like the issues faced when web 2.0 was proposed, HMD’s for gaming, driver-less cars, even smart watches. Yet here we are. So to combat this, we have to hack it.  The goal of this event that will be held at Facebook’s campus, is to try to kick start the imagination of people in and out of the AEC community to realize there is a lot we can do with the tools we have now.  Imagine using a 3D printer to print out a new facet.  Why not?  Pipe broken, print a new one. Want to add that extra room to the house?  Call your local prefab house builder, send them your house’s digital files and everything is created exactly to fit your existing. Want some new wall art? Put on a Google Glass like device and load up some designs.  The computer already knows about your building so it can match up anything you want to see.

We are starting to see small starts in our smart buildings.  You can buy systems that allow you to turn lights on and off, change the temperature, smart fire alarms, and a few other small things from your mobile phone, but this is barley the tip.  If we can connect smart people with the right data, there is far more we can do.  Hopefully over the next few AEC hackathons, we will see a few hints of that future.  And who knows?  It’s possible something very cool, very fundable will come right from the event. Perhaps something the next version of Watch Dogs will incorporate as we build beyond what even the game proposes for our future.

He also placed the .stl files on makerbot thingverse so you can grab and print yourself.  Sweet.

Over the past few years I have been engaging a lot more with various entities in Denmark. One such group that has recently caught my attention is the Danish library system. Now I remember coming across this report years back about the city of Aarhus Main Library’s Transformation Lab.

Recently Dave Arendash and I were invited to present at SimLibrary, an event highlighting mixed reality technologies for libraries, held in Odense, Denmark.

From the SimLibrary Website (translated from Danish): SimLibrary is a cooperation between Odense Central Library, Aalborg, and Herning libraries with Euman A / S, and Educational Media Centers in the project cities. The SimLibrary project aims to develop libraries to a prominent place in the digital experience community with young people as drivers in a user-driven innovation process. To create virtual and physical environments that encourage young people to form relationships.

The goal is to develop new delivery of physical and virtual library spaces by incorporating the Playingmondo 3D platform and create user-driven innovation processes in SimLibrary, with young people ideas as the basis for new library services. The project is based on user-driven innovation by young people actively involved in building the 3D world, SimLibrary and helps to create the library space, in a combination of physical presence and online communications.

3D Mixed Reality Gaming

Work on the Playingmondo platform can be used for virtual playgrounds and play spaces where mobile technology, GPS and broadband used to support physical play and games as well as use and highlight local area spaces. 3D technology makes it possible to mix reality and the virtual world. The technology opens up entirely new possibilities for e-learning and provides unique opportunities to motivate movement in nature, urban or indoor.

3D gaming technology makes it possible to test concepts before they are created, making it a great interactive tool for user involvement in construction or upgrading of existing structures and facilities. 3D technology for mobile can make the virtual experience in a natural setting more realistic and lifelike. Mixed reality gaming is tool and teaching materials that support the need for delivery of “text” to the context and coherence in the movement around the many ude-/inderum (spaces / contexts).

Mixed reality gaming is also learning for children who use the children’s reality – computer games and social media – as a tool and medium for learning. When mixed reality gaming based on game or competition in a good way and in the children’s universe, the students are constantly measured and weighed as a natural part of learning.

Development of a 3D model of a library can provide a basis for such the following applications:

 Ability to learn library better to know in advance. Users of the library can use the 3D model on a web page to orient themselves and navigate the library before a visit. Users can play the library’s existing Playingmondo games and themed walks by in 3D on the Web to move around with the keyboard and mouse and activate the items and effects. Play multiplayer games on mobile and web users will be able to play multiplayer Playingmondo game.

In 3D on the Web, some players move around with the keyboard and mouse and activate the items and effects, while opponents or team-mate moving physically around the library with mobile phone and activate game elements.
Interact with the library in new ways can imagine that library users can interact with library staff, visitors, and facilities at thelibrary in new ways. Examples may be that virtual home can visit the library via web-based 3D version, go to a shelf, take a book out and look at it and possibly, the book. It can also contribute to social interactions between library users who are physically present (with cell phone) and those who sit at home or at school in front of the computer.

In our presentation, we outlined a variety of new technologies that are making their way to the mainstream, and our ideas of how they can be used to create a new type of library experience. Dave also showed an augmented reality example he created where a video about Deepak Chopra’s new book played on the cover of the book once the camera saw it. Our presentation was a big hit, and I am very thankful I got the opportunity to participate.

The video I made on slide 11:

More information on the SimLibrary workshop can be found here. I recommend visiting the site with Google’s Chrome web browser as it will translate the site from Danish to your preferred language.

Three-dimensional printing is, as the name implies, the production or “printing” of actual objects, such as parts for a small airplane, by using a machine that traces out layers of melted plastic in specific shapes until it builds up a piece exactly according to the size and dimensions specified in a computer-aided drawing produced by an engineer.

In this case, the engineers were Easter and Turman, working with insight from their adviser, mechanical and aerospace engineering professor David Sheffler, a U.Va. Engineering School alumnus and 20-year veteran of the aerospace industry.

It was a daunting project – producing a plane with a 6.5-foot wingspan, made from assembled “printed” parts. The students sometimes put in 80-hour workweeks, with many long nights in the lab.

“It was sort of a seat-of-the-pants thing at first – wham, bang,” Easter said. “But we kept banging away and became more confident as we kept designing and printing out new parts.”

Sheffler said he had confidence in them “the entire way.”

The way eventually led to assembly of the plane and four test flights in August and early September at Milton Airfield near Keswick. It achieved a cruising speed of 45 mph and is only the third 3-D printed plane known to have been built and flown.

CEO Peter Weijmarshausen said last year that the plan was to create a number of these manufacturing hubs in key spots around the county to not only save on shipping but allow better response time and community connection. Sounds good, but its the marketplace that really interests me. I can see this becoming the real popular part of the service.  Sure its cool to know you can create your own things, but how many people out there have a copy of 3DStudioMax much less know how to use it to create CAM level quality models?  Not many I would guess.  Even more so, I used to create CAM level models and I have a hard time imagining I’m going to do this.  But this does not matter.  All you need is few really good designers to populate the store and your there. Or better, I could take a 3D model download it, tweak a few things and then sent it to print.

Check out this video below..

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQoTro9WfbQ

Need to create a personal gift? How about a custom container where you type the words?

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvwFl3ShBrc

Materials comparison sheet

• Shapeways offers several production and material options for printing and is continually working on adding new ones.
• Please note: the pricing is based on the actual amount of material used in your final object.
• The size of the bounding box, complexity of the model or amount of support material are not relevant for the price.
• There are no extra shipping costs, shipping is included in the price and we ship worldwide.
• Each material has its own properties and price – use the table below to select the right material for your project:
• Check out our materials sample kit

Name	Image (click to enlarge)	Production method	Color	Strength	Minimum detail	Minimum wall thickness	Maximum size (H x W x D)	Heat resistance	Price per cm³
Alumide		SLS	Grey with speckles	Moderate	0.4 mm	1.5 mm	31x23x18cm	172 ºF	$1.99 + $1.50 startup costs
Ceramics		Ceramics 3D Printing + Glazing	Shiny White + High Gloss White & Black**	Brittle	2 mm	3 mm	23x15x9cm	1000 ºC	$0.18/cm2 surface area
Milky White Matte Glass		Glass 3D printing	Milky White + High Gloss White & Black**	Brittle	0.2 mm	3 mm	7.5×7.5×7.5cm	500 ºF	$5.99 + $5.00 startup costs
Full Color Sandstone		Zcorp	Full color + Sandstone	Delicate	1.0 mm	3 mm	25x38x20cm	140 ºF	$0.99 + $1.50 startup costs
White, Strong & Flexible  (see special rulesfor larger WSF designs)		SLS	Bright White + Black* Red* Indigo* Grey*	Highest	0.2 mm	0.7 mm	70x38x58cm for white  23x18x31cm for other colors	80/176 ºF	$1.50 + $1.50 startup costs
Transparent Detail		Objet	Semi- transparent	Moderate	0.2 mm	1 mm	49x39x20cm	48/118.4 ºF	$2.77
White Detail		Objet	White	Moderate	0.2 mm	1 mm	49x39x20cm	48/118.4 ºF	$2.89
Black Detail		Objet	Black	Moderate	0.2 mm	1 mm	49x39x20cm	47/116.6 ºF	$2.90
Frosted Detail & Frosted Ultra Detail		Multijet Modeling (MJM)	Frosty	Moderate to Strong	0.2mm (FD), 0.1mm (FUD)	0.5mm (FD), 0.3mm (FUD)	298x185x203mm (FD), 127x178x152mm (FUD)	softens at 80 ºC	$2.89/cm3 (FD), $4.39/cm3 (FUD)
Stainless Steel		Metal 3D printing	Steel + Gold Plated & Bronze***	Highest	1.0 mm	3 mm	100x45x25cm	831/1527.8 ºF	$10.00**
Silver		3D Wax Printing + Casting	Silver	High	.3 mm	.6 mm****	15x15x3cm****	850 ºC	$40 flat fee for first cm3, $20/cm3 after first cm3. $10 for high gloss finish.
Grey Robust		FDM	Grey	High	2 mm	1 mm	25x25x30cm	127/260 ºF	$2.50

* The price per dyed model is $4 (ex sales tax) start up costs and $1.99 ($1.78 for Night Black) (ex sales tax) per cubic centimeter of material you use for your model.
** High Gloss White and High Gloss Black are $5 start up cost + $6.99cm³
*** For prices of Gold Plated and Antique Bronze please refer to the relevant material page.
**** Dependent on the design, for more information see Silver Design Rules