Many of us maybe new to the phrase “3D printing technology”, but this revolutionary idea has been around for more than three decades! This means we are slowly moving away from traditional printing technique of which makes use of toner and paper to creating 3D objects by adding layers using different raw materials. This method of printing is also known as additive manufacturing. This technology gained the much needed popularity in 2013 with the US President Obama endorsing 3D printing technology as the “next best thing of the future” and get his own 3D image printed.
From a broader perspective, this technology is definitely going to open up a world of options for us as consumers. This technology enables production of merchandise closer to the area of market consumption. This can even mean producing some of the goods at the comfort of your own home. Feels like a scene from a science fiction movie or cartoon!
If I were to give you an example for 3D printing, you can design your own clock at home and have a 3D printed working model hung on your wall to add spice to the decor of your home. A very interesting proposition isn’t it? This would also mean that you end up paying less for the goods, as you can manufacture from your home or nearest center of manufacturing. It would invariably reduce the cost of involved in transporting raw materials or finished goods. Also the goods will be more suited to your tastes and creativity. This amazing technology, allows users like us to go online find the models of goods we require and print it at our own homes.
If not in the immediate future at least in the next few decades, the 3D printers and the printing technology definitely going to change the way we live in an inconceivable way. It will bring before us an array of industrial and individual applications. It can be put to use in a multitude of largescale projects such as of construction of houses and buildings or in a small project like making your own coffee mug at home. In the medical field, it can also be used for organ replacement. This process is called as bio-printing. Scientists are still exploring the contributions 3D printing can make in this direction.
Currently, 3D Technology is still in its nascent stage, the lack of availability of relevant hardware and pricing have made personal 3D printers sound like a distant dream to us. With this said, 3D printing is definitely a disruptive invention that will eventually replace any co-existing technologies and is here to stay. It is worth waiting and watching for the innumerable opportunities and benefits this technology will open up for us in future.