Posts tagged 3D printing

AOTW: Last Life Sci-fi Noir Game – Reinventing Murder Mysteries

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11 years
by in AOTWs

Eleven years after Earth was destroyed, the detective Jack Parker was killed on the transhumanist colony of MarsTopia on Mars. Luckily for him, the Dead Man’s Party holiday is just around the corner, when all the dead people get revived into a 3D printed body for one day to enjoy a gala. Of course, being the detective he is, Parker escapes and goes on a crazy adventure to find his killer, while at the same time maybe finding out what triggered Earth’s demise.

At least, that’s the plot for the exciting new Kickstarter campagin game, Last Life, by Sam Farmer. Last Life is a sci-fi noir game for PC, Mac and Linux that has been attracting a lot of attention recently.

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Made in increasingly popular minimalist/modernist/geometric style, this game’s gameplay is similar to, from what they have already released, a choose your own path game, except with the ability to move around and interact with many different items and people. The whole game has a darkened feel, with the dark grays and maroons of MarsTopia in the background certainly not making the game feel more lively.

Throughout the game, you (Parker) will be scouring the streets of MarsTopia, which Farmer describes as “Orlando, Florida, but on Mars.”, looking for clues to find his killer. According to Last Life’s Kickstarter campaign, you will “wrangle deadly secrets out of an enormous cast of bizarre characters using whatever works: charm, bribes, or something less pleasant.” Sounds fun. 197905aebb3ce834262c1dd190d9ab95_large

Not only capturing the imagination of the media, the creators of the massively successful Kickstarter game Broken Age, Double Fine took an interest in Last Life. So they decided to help Farmer with distribution, their crowdfunding campaign and more. In return, Last Life with be one of the first games to fall under the “Double Fine Presents” banner.

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Not only does Last Life sound sooooo awesome, but it is a very realistic and possible version of the future (besides for the “Earth’s demise” thing). 3D printing, as I have said before on this website, is most likely going to be a big part of the future, providing an easy and affordable way to make products and more. Scientists are even speculating on a way to 3D print a moon colony, after they sent the machine that prints it up there. Who knows. Could happen. “The 3D printing idea just feels like a natural evolution of the technology,” says Farmer. “I mean, we’re already printing organs. And I’m fascinated by the implications of this tech and how it could lead to a post-scarcity society.” 

Last Life is a game with amazing possibilities based off of its fantastic storyline, great set of characters and intriguing world state and scenario. This game could be absolutely a gigantic hit (which it no doubt will be) and become the game of the year, but that depends on a couple variables, including the length, the cost, the ability to replay the game and more. Surely though, after raising $50,000 (and counting to $70,000) on Kickstarter, money hopefully shouldn’t be a problem. The game changing idea that the game starts where you die, which is usually the end, is genius. Sure, the expectations are high, but from what we have now, the future’s looking bright for Sam Farmer and Jack Parker.

TOTW: Makerbot Digitizer 3D Scanner

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11 years
by in TOTWs

Makerbot have been the leading force in the 3D printing revolution since the start. Their cheap, easy and very popular systems are at the top of the 3D printers charts. With their new system, the Makerbot Replicator 2, you practically have your own mini factory in your office or home. Along with their Makerbots, they have been updating their software to make it really easy to design something from scratch. But, with their new Makerbot Digitizer, you may not have to start from scratch.

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The System

The Digitizer really completes the Makerbot set. If you want to produce your product, you can. If you want to play around with 3D design and print your results, you can. Now, if you want to scan something, scan it, and reprint it, you can. Yes, the Digitizer one of the first 3D scanners. But, now you can have one of these yourself, right at home. This will the ultimate tech tinker’s toy, or a engineers prototyper.

To scan an object, place the object on the mini turn-table. Once you set it up, the turn-table will spin. Then, lasers will scan the object, so that when you get on the Makerbot software, you can view a complete 3D rendering of your object. If you aren’t quite happy with your rendering, you can edit it, shape it and add to using other Makerbot software.

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A Sample Of What It Can Do

Overall, the Makerbot Digitizer is a great and amazingly useful useful companion tool to the Makerbot. You can scan anything you want in the size range, then edit them. It’s basically like a duplicator. But better. If you want this, you can preorder it for $1,400 to be delivered in October.

 

 

FastNews: Baby Saved By 3D Printed Trachea Splint

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11 years
by in FastNews

So far, 3D printing has been used for fast and cheap production, online customizable toys and jewelry, and much more cool stuff. It is also being used for researching replaceable organs and other medical replacements, which, given time, will save lives. But, it hasn’t saved a life yet. Until now.

A Model Of Kabai’s Trachea And The Split

Kaiba Gionfriddo, a child who was born with tracheobronchomalacia, had his life saved by 3D printing. Tracheobronchomalacia is a disease that weakens your Trachea. When Kaiba was born, the doctors thought he was a goner. At the last minute, though, researchers at the University Of Michigan had a last minute brainwave. They designed a splint especially for Kaiba that would stabilize the trachea and allow it to grow around it. This had to be made relatively quick, of course, and they didn’t have time to have it specially hand-carved by a trachea expert. The only option was 3D printing. So, they printed it off, and surgically implanted it into Kaiba’s trachea. It was successful.

Kabai Gionfriddo

Not only was Kabai saved, he was also mended. The splint help fix the trachea, then (this is ingenious) it just dissolved. When the researchers at Michigan printed the splint, they printed it using a biomaterial. That way, it all went smoothly and he didn’t have to undergo another surgery. And, when he got to go off ventilator support, he was fine. He hasn’t needed it since. This is a great discovery, and hopefully it can be recognized and used on other tracheobronchomalacia patients, and help save more lives.

TOTW: 3D Printing Sites Are Making 3D Printing Easy

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12 years
by in TOTWs

The 3D printing age is just beginning. 3D printing is a cheap way to mass-produce anything. One of the first and more popular 3D printers is the MakerBot, which you buy and can 3D print from your house. This is an amazing new capability. You can easily produce you own products. But, then again, these things aren’t cheap. Many websites are trying to make this easy and cheap by 3D printing it for you, such as Shapeways, Sculpteo, I.Materialise, and others.

Shapeways

Shapeways is sort of like the Kickstarter of the 3D printing sites. It is amazingly set up, making very easy for you just dive right in to all the amazing products. Also, it has many easy online tools to help make great products. Most of them are very limited, but it also allows 3D programs like Google SketchUp and Blender. One of the best tools it has is Mineways. Mineways allows you to take some of your best Minecraft creations and 3D print it out. You can even sell it, and they go for a lot. In fact, a really big, detailed, colored Minecraft creation will go for something like $800 per creation. Plus, the buyer can change the material of the creation(same with everything on Shapeways and Scupteo), but I’m not sure who would want a giant gold plated version of a Minecraft castle. But who knows?

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The Minecraft Castle On Shapeways Selling for $800

Sculpteo

All the 3D printing websites are pretty similar. They have the same price range, they all have some easy online/via-smartphone ways to make creative, customized things, and they all accept the same 3D modelers. Sculpteo, though, has partnered up with a couple companies to have some very cool services. One example is their partnership with Infinite Dreams. Infinate Dreams makes a game called Lets Make Pottery!, where you use a virtual clay wheel to make you own pots. Then, you can paint the pots and sell them for money. With the money, you can buy new handels and patterns to go on your pots. Now, with Sculpteo, you can 3D PRINT your pots, to actually get them in real life, with real texture and color. And for only $44.99, you can get your own, personalized pot. Tihis is only the start of the amazing things 3D printing will let us do.

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The Lets Make Pottery! app, along with some 3D printed pots.

I.Materialize

Like all the others, I.Materialize has all the small features, such as easy online creations. One thing that I.Materialize lacks, though, is a good store. It hides the store away in under “Gallery”, which may be confusing. Still, I.Materialize has 2 great features that keeps it good:

 

Easy Model Uploading

You always need to be able to easily upload your 3D model to be 3D printed, or all these websites are pointless. I.Materialize has set up a good way to do it. All you have to do is hit “3D print lab“, and it will take you to a page where you can easily look at your design, change the material of the design, and add it to your cart. After that, you are on your way!

 

3D Modeling Service

Don’t have any experience with 3D modeling? Still have a great idea and want it to be 3D printed and sold? No problem! I.Materialize has a service where you can hire a professional 3D modeler to do it for you. The rates vary between modelers. Also, if you YOURSELF are a modeler, all you have to do is fill in a application form and you are set! Then, anyone can contact you and ask to design their product. Plus, you don’t have to make it cheap.

 

Overall, I.Materialize is a great way to get all you models in, and get them formatted well, but it’s not really good for selling. If you want to make profit, you should probably take your model to somewhere like Shapeways. Still I.Materialize not very much different from all the others, and it is really just your personal preferences.

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3D printing is the future. Sooner or later, we will be able to 3D print anything from clothing to food. These 3D printing sites are just helping usher in the 3D printing revolution. Online 3D printing allows anyone with a computer to sell 3D printed thing via the internet. It is such an amazing capability, which only closely compares to transporting. You design something here, someone halfway acros the world gets it. 3D printing will make shopping, selling, and even living, easy.

 

 

 

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