News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Luxexcel, the undisputed technology leader in 3D printed prescription lenses, and WaveOptics, a leading designer and manufacturer of waveguides and light engines, have collaborated to create an innovative module integrating three of the vital elements required for developing consumer Augmented Reality smartglasses: a 3D printed prescription lens, a waveguide, and a projector.
Google’s Advanced Technology and Project (ATAP) division has created Jacquard, a wearable platform that brings the digital world into everyday experiences. The Jacquard team used Stratasys‘ PolyJet technology to create a product that fits seamlessly into its user’s lifestyle.
In 1827, The Book of English Trades summarized the cobbler’s profession: “There are few trades more useful than that of a shoe-maker, and, perhaps, not many that are more profitable, when it is carried on to a considerable extent.” We have largely forgotten this profession as, two hundred years on, the cobbler has been replaced by mass production. Additive manufacturing, however, promises a return in some ways to the personalized shoe of earlier extraction. Such a return, as with many things relating to AM, makes mechanisms and their operators artisans.
The ability to leverage parametric online customization tools to create and personalize entire products is embedded in the potential of 3D printing as a production technology. Until now this potential has been only marginally exploited but the possibilities are rapidly increasing: more optimized products, more customized, more innovative, more sustainable: in the footwear segment, Impact Footwear is introducing all these features truly next-gen 3D printed flip flops: the Impact F1.
First it was the $14,000 Gold Spica Virginis, the 3D printed pen created by designer Rein van der Mast to resemble an ear of grain and named after the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. As with any new technology, 3D printed pens, even collectible designer ones, are now becoming more accessible. That’s the case with van der Mast’s latest TypeONE 3D printed pen design.
German large-format 3D printer maker BigRep continues to push the limits and boundaries of its 3D printing technology, introducing new ideas and concepts that can truly disrupt traditional manufacturing practices. The latest is a concept that appears to be quite feasible: a 3D printed airless bike tire that can actually be used on a normal bicycle.
While they are a certain source of hype, 3D printed sex toys have not yet take been able to break into the global sex toy industry due to limits in material quality and well, design. Now the new Tenga 3D range of male target products seems to finally take a more professional approach to this potentially huge market niche for 3D printing. Operated by Love is Life Ltd, company registered in England & Wales, Tenga discretely and directly provides the UKs most comprehensive range of TENGA products. The company has recently launched a range of high quality 3D printed “male masturbators”.