Report on 3D printing

The upcoming IMMERSION 2015 has a history of successful previous 9 years of Immersive Education, iED, conferences. While Paris has been selected as the official site for IMMERSION 2015, the summit will address the individual and cultural influence of immersive technologies such as Virtual Reality, augmented reality, wearable computing, cybernetics, and etc. For more information on new forms and technologies at summit, this website http://summit.ImmersiveEducation.org should be helpful and accurate.

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, includes various processes used to make a 3D object. Additive processes are successive layers of material laid down under computer control. The objects shapes can be anything, which are produced from a 3D model or other electronic data source. The manual modeling process of making geometric data for 3D graphics is similar to sculpting. 3D scanning analyzes and collects digital data on the shape and appearance of real object. 

Recent developments in 3D printing took place at the 3DPrintshow in London. The art section had artworks made with 3D printed plastic and metal. One interesting part of the show was that 3D printing could advance the medical field. The 3D printers can be used to make parts that are printed with specifications to meet each individual. This would not only make a process easier but also more efficient.

3D printing can also replace moulding techniques, which in many cases are very expensive and more difficult. 3D scanning technologies would allow the replication of real objects better and easier than moulding. As a result, 3D printing is becoming more popular and demanded in the customizable gifts industry, who makes personalized mobile phone cases or dolls.

The open source Fab@Home project has developed more general printers with the technology. They were used in research environments to make chemical compounds with 3D printing technology. Since the printer can print with anything that can be dispensed from a syringe as liquid, the developers envision this technology as more of a domestic use. This would include enabling users in remote locations to be able to produce their own medicine or house chemicals.

RepRap 3D printers are the latest technology making into the classroom. Those printers allow students to create prototypes of objects without the use of expensive tools. With such technology, students can design and produce actual models they imagine. To be more specific, science students can study cross-sections of internal organs of the human body or explore graphically with 3D models of molecules and chemical compounds. 

Stratasys is one of the major manufacturers of 3D printers and 3D production systems for office based rapid prototyping and direct digital manufacturing solutions. Engineers use Stratasys to model complex geometries in a wide range of thermoplastic materals, including ABS and polycarbonate. Stratasys manufactures office prototyping and digital manufacturing systems such as automotive, aerospace, industrial, recreational, electronic and etc.