Printeer ~ 3DP Tools for Kids & Schools Kickin'

Our MIT Imaging & Fabrication Ventures class alumco Mission Street Manufacturing led by Brian Jaffe and team are now Kickstarting their Printeer!

"Unlike other 3D printers, using Printeer doesn't require advanced technical or engineering skills. For starters, you don't need to learn CAD (computer aided design) software, a professional-grade tool that is required to generate the 3D designs used by other 3D printers. Printeer design software is different in the following ways: (1) It runs on iPad, a platform most kids are more comfortable with than a PC. (2) It can be learned in about 30 seconds. (3) It doesn't require any intermediate steps between design and 3D printing. No PC, no complex software, no fancy configuration settings. Just touch the "print" button and watch it go."

Form 1+ ~ Formlabs Improved Hi-Res 3DP...

MIT Media Lab 3DP spinoff Formlabs announces Form 1+. Not much flashy newness, but I like their video animatographics...

Making Machines that Make ~ Peek @ Solid 2014

MIT CBA's Nadya Peek on Making Machines that Make at Solid...

Seaboard ~ ROLI's Continuous Musical Keyboard!

Check out ROLI's Seaboard...

"A radically new musical instrument that reimagines the piano keyboard as a soft, continuous surface. [...] The Seaboard’s polyphonic pitch bend, vibrato and per-note dynamic changes are all available at your fingertips, marrying the intuitiveness of a traditional instrument with the versatility of digital technology."

Digital Paper ~ Sony's A4 Featuring E-Ink Mobius!

E-Ink co-founder and MIT Media Lab colleague Joe Jacobson shared their saga in Imaging & Fabrication Ventures class this morning and spotlit the latest development: Sony's revelation of the semi-flexible 13.3-inch diagonal A4 sized Digital Paper. ExtremeTech's Sebastian Anthony writes...

"At $1100 (shipping in May), Digital Paper is being pitched at education, business, and legal environments. Digital Paper appears to only support PDFs, but the website implies that software is included to convert Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files to PDF format. Stylus input appears to be accurate and high-resolution, though e-ink’s refresh latency might cause you some mental discomfort. 4GB of internal storage and a micro SD slot should give you plenty of space for annotating textbooks and documents. At just 357 grams (12.6 ounces), Digital Paper is by far the lightest large-screen tablet on the market, too (the iPad Air is a chunky 469 grams). Hopefully this is the beginning of an exciting, flexible-and-light-weight computing revolution!"

New Skull ~ 3DPrinted Replacement Braincase!

Wired's Nicholas Tufnell notes that Neurosurgeons successfully implant 3D printed skull at the UMC Utrecht hospital...

"A 22-year-old woman from the Netherlands who suffers from a chronic bone disorder -- which has increased the thickness of her skull from 1.5cm to 5cm, causing reduced eyesight and severe headaches -- has had the top section of her skull removed and replaced with a 3D printed implant. The operation, which took 23 hours, was led by Dr Bon Verweij. The patient's skull was so thick, that had the operation not been performed, serious brain damage or death may have occurred in the near future. [...] The lead surgeon had previous experience with 3D reconstructions of skulls, but such a large implant had never been accomplished before. "It is almost impossible to see that she's ever had surgery," said Dr Verweij in the university's official statement. It is hoped this technique can also be used for patients with other bone disorders or to repair severely damaged skulls after an accident or tumour.

And here's UMC Utrecht's surgery video...

MX3D Printing ~ Laarman's Multi-Axis Metalics

24Oranges spots Joris Laarman showing large scale multi-axis 3D printing in metal!

Ping Pong Fauxbots ~ Handy Robo Partners?

At first I got all excited about these ping pong-playing robots but MIT colleague Steven Keating called "BS" and points out these are either fake CGI or crafty editing with limited actual repeated back'n'forth gameplay. Even the Bruce Lee advert is a fauxmercial. Blah. And here, not a robot, but almost equally godly!

Fab Labs ~ NeilG on Making & Makerspaces!

Mawuna Remarque Koutonin at SiliconAfrica reminds me of this 2006 TED talk by MIT colleague Neil Gershenfeld on Fab Labs...

Silk Pavilion ~ MIT Media Lab's Collective Cocoon!

MIT Media Lab's Mediated Matter group presents the Silk Pavilion, a collective cocoon by thousands of silkworms!

Custom Earscans ~ Lantos Enables Smartbuds...

MIT spinoff Lantos Technologies custom earscans enable smartbuds!

4D Printing ~ 3DP plus Shape-Shifting Design...

Inhabitat spots Skylar Tibbits' 4D Printing: Cube Self-Folding Strand...

3Doodler ~ 3D Printing-in-Air Pen on Kickstarter...

Check out cool 3Doodler on Kickstarter!

3D DNA Nanostructures ~ Wyss Biolego Blocks

Thanks to my MIT colleague Jose Gomez-Marquez for spotting Wyss Institute work on Building 3D Structures with DNA Bricks...

Reconfigurable Robots ~ MIT CBA's Milli-Motein

MIT's David Chandler writes about The robotic equivalent of a Swiss army knife...

"The little device is called a milli-motein -- a name melding its millimeter-sized components and a motorized design inspired by proteins, which naturally fold themselves into incredibly complex shapes. [...] The team had to invent an entirely new kind of motor: not only small and strong, but also able to hold its position firmly even with power switched off. The researchers met these needs with a new system called an electropermanent motor."

Thus mechanical proteins as programmable matter!

Phantom Geometry ~ Ginormous Robotic 3DP

Thanks to Birago for spotting Phantom Geometry on NotCot...

Printed Optics ~ Disney's 3DP Light Interactives

Cool Disney Research work on Printed Optics for photonic action! Thanks to eyeNetra's Vitor Pamplona for spotting this!

DIY Toy Car ~ Cameroonian Kid Proto-Engineer!

UD spots Recycled Toy Car Made In Cameroon by DIY proto-engineer clever kid! A few more years and he'll be ready for MIT...

PopFab ~ MIT's Portable Fabrication Multi-Tool!

Nadya Peek & Ilan Moyer showcase PopFab!

"PopFab is a multi-tool for the 21st century. At its heart is a computer-controlled motion platform and a means of attaching various toolheads. These enable PopFab to make objects from a digital plan in a variety of ways: current capabilities include 3D printing (as you are about to see), milling, vinyl cutting, and drawing -- with more on the way. PopFab has traveled the world as a carry-on item of luggage to Saudi Arabia and Germany, and within the USA to Aspen in Colorado. We hope that this is only the beginning."

How It's Made ~ Fantastic Fabrication TV Series!

UniqueDaily reminds me of the many fantastic fabrication shows in the How It's Made series! For example... And more!