I'm not one for wanting to know the future particularly. I must admit to being surprised at the number of Facebook friends who have horoscopes appearing on their wall. However, there's a difference between supposedly knowing, and imagining the future. Imagining is a little luxury I allow myself probably more time than I should and one recent news report about 3D printers now available to buy for home use got me quite excited. Many years ago a former work colleague was enthusiastially telling me about 3D printers. I could see the potential but wasn't sure of the practicalities. Now they are a much closer reality, so Julian, if you happen to read this, I'm with you now. I am assuming that most people like me about 8 years ago, won't share my excitement for 3D printers, so let me explain the potential.
3D printers work by printing thin layers on top of each other to create a three dimensional shape. The domestic printers available now can print something up to the size of a loaf of bread, using melted plastic as the 'ink'. My inital thought was how good it would be to be able to 'print out' replacement parts for broken toys or missing puzzle pieces, or even print out new toys. If the plastic used could be re-used, then toys could be recycled at the end of their life rather than thrown away. A whole new industry could spring to life selling designs, rather than the objects themselves. You could simply download a design for the latest 'thing' and set your printer to work. There is also mention of software to enable you to create your own 3D designs. I'm sure many of us have had at least occasional ideas for a new gadget, and this combination of design technology and 3D printing would make is possible for us to have a go at creating our very own 'thing'. What a fabulous learning resource for kids as well.
If the materials used by the 3D printers could also easily be returned to their pre-printing state by being melted or crushed, each household could also have a recycling machine. Imagine how much clutter could be got rid of. Melt down everything you don't need, just print out what you need, when you need it.
So my ideas were focussing on fixing broken toys and other potential household objects when I read another article detailing how a 3D printer had been used to print out a new jaw bone for an elderly lady in the Netherlands. Titanium powder was heated by a laser and the bone was then printed out one layer at a time. The replacement bone was successfully attached in only 4 hours, a fifth of the time reconstructive surgery would take. The woman was able to swallow the next day and go home after 4 days. Wow. This blows my mind.
So in the future I can imagine each household having a domestic 3D printer and using it to print out things like extra cutlery for additional dinner guests, picture hooks, replacement keys and even shoes. Then there would be specialist printers that could print for example, car parts, medical equipment and larger items. To me this is an exciting and very different world to where we are now. A real and significant threat to the manufacturing and retail industry. An exciting opportunity for the creative industries. As it becomes easier and cheaper to produce so many everyday items, the possesions we have might be divided into two types - those that can be easily replaced by printing and those that can't, resulting in more value being placed on the latter.
So, if I had spare cash to invest, 3D printing is definintely where I would be investing it.
