3D Printing: The Future Is Now
The advent of affordable, consumer-friendly, 3D printing technology presents an answer to this universal challenge and offers big opportunities for small businesses. It is an intriguing intersection of design, manufacturing, sports, engineering and technology with implications for sectors as diverse as health, education, home improvement and space exploration.
A Printing Revolution
3D
printing is not really that new, it’s just newly affordable. It
popularity was confined to the world of engineering, architecture and
manufacturing until the last few years. That all changed with the
introduction of relatively low-cost 3D-pirinters, and the wider
availability of 3D-printing software, online how-to guides and thousands
of practical applications. This convergence has sparked a 3D printing
revolution, fuelled by mainstream media interest and growing popularity
with consumers and small businesses. Today, 3D printing is one of the
most hyped advancements in the technology arena.
Why?
3D printing puts the power of affordable prototyping and short-run
manufacturing into everyone’s hands. With one machine and a digital
design, 3D printers can build a three-dimensional object of virtually
anything right on the spot. It can allow jewelry designers, for example,
to go from flat sketch to an exact physical model in just hours.
