DesignNews discusses the recent “Design and The Elastic Mind” exhibit at MOMA in New York City, with an emphasis on the radical.
They indicate that while “engineers who control the practical aspects of design and manufacturing”, “artists and industrial designers can provide some insight into additive fabrication too”.
The article goes on to list specific exhibits that push the envelope of current 3D manufacturing techniques, including:
- “Materialization of free-hand sketches”, in which hand motions are dynamically captured and transformed into 3D models which can then be printed using conventional fabbing equipment
- Printing of flexible fabric using laser sintering, normally used to produce rigid objects
Fascinating, for sure. But that’s not what we are interested in at the moment. The idea that Engineers and Artists being able to provide insight seems a bit narrow in our opinion.
Yes, these are the people who use fabbing equipment today, often in a very inventive manner. But to us the true future will emerge when hobbyists and entrepreneurs latch onto this technology en masse. It’s at that point that the Web 2.0 effect will kick in and the really interesting stuff happens.
Via DesignNews
