3D printing has to be one of the most crazily diverse technologies ever known to man (or woman).
This week alone brought news that doctors are now 3D printing vertebrae and bone parts for use in reconstructive surgery, whilst in Portland a 24 year-old student (and amputee) 3D printed his own prosthetic hand. Then on the other hand there was also the breaking news that 3D printed gummy humans and city-skyline-topped custom hermit crab shells are a thing that exist. Talk about being on opposite ends of the spectrum.
In other news, hype surrounding Project Morpheus continues to build, whilst Kobe Bryant helps launch the most hi-tech basketball court you’re ever likely to see (for the moment, anyway).
So, just a regular week in the tech world, in other words.
Virtual Reality
- Sony’s Project Morpheus proved to be quite the favourite at the E3 gaming expo
- Scientists are developing plans to allow us to ‘step inside’ data using virtual reality
- “How virtual reality could help treat Dementia”
- A handy recap of the recent Los Angeles VR Meetup
- Google Ventures officially invests in virtual reality cinema by way of Jaunt VR
- Take documentary journalism into your own hands with VR Documentary Gaming
- Facebook is literally giving money away (… to anyone who can find bugs in their Oculus Rift headset / website)
Augmented Reality
- Kobe Bryant (and Nike) have debuted quite possibly the coolest, most-futuristic sports-related development since Marty McFly’s self-lacing kicks (if they existed)
3D Printing & Scanning
- An incredibly bright student from Portland 3D printed his own prosthetic hand and has noble plans to help other amputees
- A printer that can print in confectionery is something I never knew I urgently needed until now
- 3D print your own wind turbine and unlock unlimited power (to charge small devices like your smartphone or laptop)!
- For those times when a humble gummy bear simply isn’t enough: the 3D printed gummy human
- 3D printing and reconstructive surgery: it’s a thing and it could prove very important
- “I’d really like a sculpture of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody” or how to turn pure sound into a 3D object
- Nissan have begun 3D printing actual parts for their actual race cars
- 3D printed vertebrae are now being implanted into patients in China
- There’s a new 3D printer in town and it prints in molten stainless steel
- If these aren’t the cutest, most sophisticated hermit crab shells, then I don’t know what is
- ‘Dryosaurus’ – sure, it’s the most unexciting dinosaur name in the history of anything but it gets to have its skeleton replicated via 3D printing
- Happiness: the one thing you can’t 3D print (but could actually be a by-product of 3D printing)
- FarmBot: will 3D print your crops and send you an email when they’re done – who knew farming could be so tech-savvy
Other Tidbits
- Burning Man Festival (otherwise known as the new Silicon Valley Millionaire’s playground) will be home to a 30ft skull and some pretty fancy projection mapping
- And in other projection mapping news: watch as some seriously cool designs completely transforms this model’s face (whilst simultaneously proving just how much of a difference makeup makes)
OMOTE / REAL-TIME FACE TRACKING & PROJECTION MAPPING from something wonderful on Vimeo.