Finally, the era of 3D printers is here with tons of possibilities. Of course, while it is true that the concept of 3D printers is relatively new, and also the fact that they are going to cost a fortune, it doesn’t have to stop you from imagining a few things. What would you do if you got your hands on a 3D printer?

Before we go any further, let’s take a quick look at what 3D printing is. Just bear with me for a minute or so – I just want to introduce this lovely gadget to people who don’t know anything about it.

What is a 3D Printer?

At the moment, a 3D printer is nothing more than a device that can only print simple objects. Think of printing a box or layer of objects, using plastic and metal as “ink”. Since this technology is fairly new, we can only expect it to evolve towards printing more complex things. People are already thinking of printing human organs that would be later on used as transplants! Can you believe that?

3D printers are being used in companies that like to take advantage of customized products. Such companies, later on, sell these products to their customers because of their personalized nature. Home users are nowhere near the idea of buying these printers because of several factors. I already talked about the cost thing. It would be too expensive to buy a 3D printer and then be able to maintain it over the course of few years.

Affordable 3D printers are capable of printing your home equipment, the plates in your kitchen, your toys and etc. are going to be here in a few years. By then, people will definitely start buying these printers for the sake of their unlimited benefits.

For now, let’s just imagine what one can do with 3D printers:

• Environment Helping?

You could be helping the environment by printing things from your home or office. Under conventional circumstances, products are developed in factories. As a result, waste material accumulates over the passage of time. Later on, the toxic waste is dumped into rivers, seas and grassy knolls where it kills hundreds of animals and birds.

3D printing, in this context, would completely change the idea of product manufacturing. You could be creating things through downloadable designs and blueprints.

• Printing Weapons?

The U.S. authorities have already issued orders against printing weapons through 3D printers. The possibilities of using these printers in a negative way are also limitless. As much as they can help in facilitating human lives, these printers also pose a threat. Even though the said weapons are probably plastic replicas of the real deal. But if armed robbers were to print them easily, they could trick the innocent people into believing otherwise.

• Human Organ Printing:

Already, talks of printing human organs with 3D printers are going on. This idea is quite unusual and it’s going to take a lot of research, budget and technological advancement to create 3D printers of such caliber. But then again, if the printers are already here, we are no far from seeing the day when human organs will be printable. Later on, these organs could be used for transplants.

What do you think about 3D printers? What would you print if you got one?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013 at 4:44 AM and is filed under Crave o' Mania, National News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.