Materialise published a series of trends and we have some thoughts. Materialise is one of the larger and more notable 3D print services in the industry, and they’re one of the oldest as well. They work with global businesses to help produce 3D prints in many ways, including software and services. Recently they published a list of five 3D printing trends they’ve observed and expect to continue into 2019. Let’s take a look at them. 1. Applications, not technology, will drive the 3D printing industry forward They propose: ”The industry was shifting its focus to identifying the right applications for 3D printing, rather than in developing new technologies. In 2019…

Thomas Ollivier isn’t like some designers – he was born in the 20th century. There are so many products from that time, that inspired the products of this time, but Thomas has made the correlation even more direct. Using decades-old products as an inspiration, the French designer rebranded the ancient gadgets with apps and programs we use today. Dubbed Re:Birth, the project should be near and dear to those born waaaaaaaaaay back before the year 2000. There’s the high-tech Netflix View-Master you can use to stream over a million movie and TV reels. You can call over your friends to watch them using your What’s App Walkie-Talkie and document the…

Three words for ya. Camping. Is. Fun. Besides the heat, the cold, the rain, the wasps, ticks, poison ivy, and animals that would devour you given the chance, it’s one of the most enjoyable experiences you’ll have. Prepping and lugging the necessities into the great outdoors can present some other challenges. Did you remember your sleeping bag and headlamp? Tent and toiletries? Clothes and food? Speaking of food: while you can get by on trail mix and 5-year old Spam, nothing beats cooking your own meals. The problem? More stuff to pack in your bag. But you can start whittling weight and extras down with some smart design. THE SPLITTER…

Despite often being pragmatic to the point of dispassionate, it turns out that I am not immune to hype, particularly when it comes to 3D printers. So, I fell for the lure of MakerBot’s announcement of a new product reveal on December 11th featuring cryptic and tantalizing images of glass and angular enclosures. It was a delightful marketing ploy that tugged our emotional heartstrings and PLA filament things. And then the reveal… TheMakerBot The MakerBot Method–a deep-space hibernation pod!  A surprising, no, shocking reveal that solidifies MakerBot as part of the vanguard leading the industrial revolution while using their foreknowledge of an impending robot revolution to help humanity prepare for off-earth…

You know how tough it can be without a stylin’ set of headphones bakin’ up sweet sounds in your earholes, aaaaand how handy they can be to avoid talking to people. Either way you use them, you need a place to store them and the bottom drawer next to that stale pile of Cheez-It’s ain’t cuttin’ it. If you don’t have a headphone stand, we’ve got one you can 3D print in a matter of minutes for a dose of super style and easy access when you see that jabber jaws comin’ round the corner. The Monastic Headphone Stand you see here was designed by Jan Geloen. Though Jan has…

You don’t have to be an absolute green thumb to understand how plants eat, breathe, and even generate their own bio-electricity. But can a plant use its own bio-energy sources to power a robot? Thanks to a recent project by MIT scientists Harpreet Sareen and Pattie Maes, we now know. Elowan is a self-driving robot powered by plant energy. Using the bio-electricity generated by the plant on top of its head and a series of electrodes attached to the robot, this plant-robot hybrid propels itself forward or backward depending on where the light shines on it.  Just like humans, changes in the environment such as gravity, light exposure, and temperature cause…