OLO Smartphone 3D Printer

Este proyecto por financiamiento (KickStarter) me tiene sorprendido: una cajita de 99 dólares que convierte cualquier teléfono en una impresora 3D, utilizando la luz de este en lugar de un proyector (una de las partes mas caras de este tipo de impresoras). El telefono se ubica debajo de un contenedor de resina con fondo de cristal, para ir enviando patrones a diferentes capas del material por medio de una aplicación disponible para IOS y Android.

La aplicación es compatible los principales formatos y aplicaciones de 3D, y se pueden utilizar diferentes tipos de material, flexible, duro, traslúcido, de colores, etc.

Esto va a democratizar mucho la impresión en 3D, poniéndola prácticamente al alcance de cualquiera. Genial…

For those of you who might’ve missed the product’s debut, here’s the lowdown: OLO is designed to take your smartphone and transform it into a fully functional 3D printer. No joke — you seriously just fire up the app, choose the object you want to print, pop your phone into the device’s base, and pull out a completed part a few minutes later. It’s like magic, and the whole thing costs less than a pair of Nikes.

Here’s how it works: The printer consists of three main parts — a reservoir, a special photopolymer resin that you pour into it, and a mechanized lid that contains the build plate and control electronics. At the bottom of the reservoir, there’s a piece of polarized glass which you place your phone underneath, facing upward.

Basically, once you place the lid on top and the printer starts going, the app makes your phone’s screen light up with a specific pattern. The polarized glass then takes all this light (which shines outwardly to give your phone a wider viewing angle) and redirects it so that all the photons are traveling straight upward. So as your phone’s screen beams light up into the reservoir, the directed light causes a layer of resin to harden onto the build plate, which slowly moves upward as each new layer is created. It’s basically a tiny DLP printer that uses your phone’s screen instead of a projector — which is absolutely brilliant, because doing so replaces the single most expensive part of a stereolithography printer with something cheap and very common…

http://kck.st/1qawoBn

3D printed ear

Unos investigadores de Wake Forest (un centro de investigación médica en North Carolina) están llevando la tecnología de la impresión en 3D hacia un uso que poca gente se había imaginado. Imprimir órganos, como por ejemplo unas orejas (en caso de que pierdas las tuyas), hechas de un tejido bio-compatible con organismos vivos. No son prótesis, es tejido vivo.

Ya había compartido por ahí algo que un artista hizo con el ADN de Van Gog, imprimiendo su oreja. Pero esto no es para contemplarse, es para llevarse “puesto”, lo que creo lleva el asunto todavía mas lejos.

Supongo que con descubrimientos de este tipo, quizás llegue un día en que hacerte tu propia cirugía y/o reconstrucción facial sea algo tan trivial y casero como cortarte las uñas de los pies…

3D printing has helped us make plastic knick knacks, phone cases, action figures and braces for broken arms. And now it can help make you a new ear.

Researchers from Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine published a study in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Biotechnology detailing a new 3D printer that can build biocompatible tissues for use in transplants, including muscle, cartilage, bone and an entire human ear.

Don’t start getting reckless with your vegetable chopping yet though, the technology hasn’t been tested on humans and the research team isn’t finished.

http://on.mash.to/2186Nq3

Anatomy WIP

Me encontré por ahí este proyecto de anatomía y me gustó. Es una especia de exo-esqueleto humano trabajado  en 3D con los acabados con los que se hacen varios de los prototipos del nasa, con chasis metálico y pintados de blanco semi mate, llenos de indicaciones de seguridad, uso, y ensamblaje. Y ergonómicamente “redondeados” para ser de manejo amigable.

Los círculos amarillos con negro como claras referencias a los maniquíes usados en las pruebas de colisión automotrices.

¿Qué les dice a ustedes? ¿Los astronautas de la NASA son experimentos humanos? (tipo ”crash test dummies”).

Quizás. Pero ya habíamos hablado de eso aquí, ¿verdad?…

An ongoing anatomy project.
Sean Smylie Freelance/hobbyist – Newry, Ireland

http://bit.ly/1Oiue7h

Touchable Art

Me encontré con este otro bonito uso que se le puede dar a las impresiones en 3D: llevar las artes visuales a quienes no pueden velas, por medio de este crowdfunding de la página de Indiegogo llamado Unseen Art.

En él se quiere hacer versiones en relieve (y táctiles) de el mayor numero posible de obras de arte (clásico, sobre todo), para tener todo un “museo para ciegos”…

“You can look but you can’t touch.” That’s one of the first rules of museums, which house priceless works of art. But what about the community of blind and visually impaired who use their sense of touch to experience the world? The Unseen Art Project is an initiative to make art more accessible and inclusive by using 3D-printing technology to create replicas of masterpieces that can be touched ’till your heart is content.

“There are many people in the world who have heard of classical artworks their whole lives but are unable to see them,” says Marc Dillon, a Helsinki-based designer who wants to make works like the Mona Lisa touchable. In order to make his vision a reality, Dillon has recently established a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. He hopes to raise enough money to create an online repository where artists can contribute 3D data of artworks and anyone with a 3D printer will be able to print it out…

http://bit.ly/1OtOMMM

Rickard

awintyyr:

awintyyr.tumblr.com

El artista visual sueco Rickard tiene este extraño blog en tumblr (y la cuenta en instagram  awintyyr) con objetos en 3D abstractos, de donde me robé esta piedrita tornasolada. Sus posteos solo están así, flotando por ahí y sin mayor explicación.

A veces es mejor así. Like…

Rickard.30.Visual Artist.Gothenburg.Sweden. Instagram: awintyyr

http://awintyyr.tumblr.com/

Star Citizen

La compañia de video-juegos Cloud Imperium  está creando este proyecto llamado “Star Citizen”, un juego RPG de aventuras inter-estelares online, multi-jugador y de acción cooperativa que emplea varios tipos de juego (shooter, trading, estrategia, simulador de vuelo) y utiliza una de las recreaciones en 3D de mapas estelares más espectaculares que han visto.

El sitio que comparto tiene un pequeño demo con parte de ese mapa estelar donde el juego vive. No importa que sean gamers o no, si tienen una desktop a la mano, este es un sitio al que deben echarle un ojo…

At the dawn of the 29th century, a new center of knowledge and understanding was constructed: the ARK. Not bound to any one place, species or government, the Ark was established under a simple principle: to provide a neutral repository for all galactic knowledge.

A pet project of Imperator Marshall Leon, the desire was to usher in a new era of cooperation between species after hundreds of years of hostilities. Imperator Leon believed that the simplest path to peace was empathy and sought to unite the greatest minds of not only Humanity, but also of the Xi’An, Banu, Tevarian and even Vanduul* to endeavor towards this noble goal. There were many hurdles along the way. The Senate refused funding when they learned the project was going to be run privately. Some vocal opponents were worried that the data shared would be used against Humanity. The invitation to the Vanduul incited calls for Imperator Leon’s removal from office. Yet despite all that, the Ark was completed, and as we approach the institution’s sesquicentennial anniversary, it is hard to deny the positive impact this incredible resource has had on civilization. To this day it continues to strive to present a holistic viewpoint of history; collecting as much knowledge as they can, from as many sources as they can.

Currently residing in the Tayac System, the Ark and its team of dedicated archivists and researchers curate this information for the Galactapedia and the Starmap. Invaluable tools that allow all beings to better understand the universe and find their way through it.

http://bit.ly/1iGHVEf

Star Citizen

Dain Fagerholm

Me encontré este gif en el perfil de Dain Fagerholm (aka “DAiN 8)” aka “I>/-|i//8)”) del sitio de Giphy.com. No se cómo pero de alguna manera este dibujante de Seattle logra dar a sus dibujos un efecto de tridimensionalidad, con simples variaciones de color.

El rcurso es únicamente óptico, pero efectivo y sobre todo muy hipnótico…

I just made one of those trippy 3d gifs just like Dain Fagerholm…but I am Dain Fagerholm…

http://bit.ly/1gQcRSk

Scientists Have Developed Holograms You Can Touch

Chequen lo que estos científicos de Digital Nature Group (famoso centro de investigación y tecnología en Tokyo) están creando: hologramas en el espacio real, suspendidos en el aire, proyectados a partir de unidades de luz tridimensionales (conocidas como voxels) y que además tiene la sensibilidad para detectar cuando son tocados. Es decir, pueden ser interactivos.
¿Demasiada info?vean el video de la liga…

A scientist flicks on a switch. Like magic, a small, delicate image of a fairy appears, suspended in the air. The scientist then reaches out to touch the floating figure: it feels rough, like sandpaper. This might sound like it’s been taken straight out of science fiction, but think again, because this is the reality for Yoichi Ochiai and his fellow researchers at Digital Nature Group.

The team has been using a host of lasers, lenses and mirrors to create holograms suspended in the air that humans can touch. This technology means that holograms can now move away from two-dimensional surfaces and enter the limitless three-dimensional world. And since the holograms are touchable, they become interactive: when you touch a holo-heart it breaks in two, or when you touch a checkbox a tick appears in it….

http://bit.ly/1I3fiee

Dinosaur Supervisor

Ahora que todo mundo está de nuevo interesado con el tema de Jurassic Park, aquí hay una interesante nota que leí al respecto de esta secuela iniciada por Spielberg y que revolucionó los efectos especiales en el cine. La historia es sobre uno de los animadores de stop motion más famosos de antaño (Phil Tippett), que aprovechó el cambio de lo análogo a lo digital en el mundo de los efectos especiales (CGI) para obtener uno de los puestos mas envidiables que se han conocido en la industria del cine: “Supervisor de Dinosaurios”.

Me alegra pensar que lo nuevo siempre se alimenta de lo viejo…

Spielberg assembled the Mount Rushmore of VFX — Stan Winston, Phil Tippett, Dennis Muren and Michael Lantieri — to bring dinosaurs to life for Universal Pictures’ adaptation of Michael Crichton’s book. The plan was to incorporate a blend of conventional techniques: full-scale mechanical dinos (like the T-rex at the paddock and the ailing triceratops) and high-speed miniatures (the running herds, many of the raptor shots).

At the time, Industrial Light and Magic was experimenting with computer-generated graphics, which it had used in the James Cameron films The Abyss and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. But CGI had only been used to make stylized liquid and metallic surfaces, not living, breathing creatures. Muren, who had been working with the technique at the Bay Area effects shop, suggested they give it a try, and created a short shot of T-rex running through a field.

“I’ve become extinct!” Tippett famously exclaimed, a line Spielberg liked so much he wrote it into an exchange between Drs. Alan Grant and Ian Malcolm…

But Tippett had learned an extraordinary amount about paleontology, the physicality of dinosaurs and the movements of animals for Jurassic Park and his previous dinosaur short films. Though the creatures’ bodies were being moved from his fingertips to computer screens, Tippett knew how they were supposed to look and behave. He had a new role: dinosaur supervisor…

http://on.mash.to/1G8TGHW

Dancing baby

Ahí les dejo este bebe mal rendereado de badblueprints, el tumblr del artista británico Alec Mckensie (del que ya había compartido cosas), dedicado a buscar los “accidentes” propios del medio 3D y todo lo relacionado con CGI…

Alec Mackenzie is an artist who creates corrupted, grotesque and funny loops of low-end 3D animation and presents them as animated GIFs.
Towards the earlier part of his blog, you can also see some kinetic wall installations that Alec created using black lines (possibly made of tape or painted to look blocky and computer generated). The lines animate directly on the wall with small motors and a scroll of paper…

badblueprints.tumblr.com