It's a Shoe Story

Women usually have a love hate relationship with shoes. We love them because they're beautiful and they make us feel beautiful but we hate them because we don't have enough space to store the countless pairs. I have shoes in boxes under my bed, in my drawers, hidden in bookcases, stacked up against the wall, the list could go on. We buy shoes that make a statement about how we feel and where we want to go. That's why women collect so many pairs; we are full of passion and have endless destinations. We will be in more trouble now with the introduction of digital fashion. Shoes can now be individually designed and produced, to the taste of each individual women. The London School of Fashion recently exhibited a line of 3D printed shoes that may mark 3D printing technology as an important fashion design tool in the future.

Some of these maybe a bit to Lady Gaga for me but isn't high fashion always? If they're tamed down a bit, I could definitely add the baby blue ones to my collection.

How 3D Printing Works

When I first learned about 3D printing, it was very difficult to visualise how it actually works. The term "additive process" is used to describe the method but quite a foreign concept to most consumers. This illustration from Ivey Business Review explains the 3D process in a clear and simple format.

Does it help you to visualise the process?

3D Printed Home Decor

For many, it may be challenging to understand and accept 3D printing as a real game changer. However, I believe awareness of 3D printing is growing rapidly as it becomes more relevant to our everyday lives. Consumers need to see that 3D printing can be of immediate use to them. For this reason, I have shared some photos I found on freshome of 3D printed home decor items.

I especially love the first lamp shade for its clean yet feminine lines. For those of us who want to make a statement with our home decor, 3D printing enables consumers to purchase unique design pieces at affordable prices. While it's hard to completely avoid Ikea, I welcome the possibility of other accessible modern products with open arms.

The Skin We Live In

On this beautiful Friday, I have come across an article on 3ders that further proves the amazing reach of 3D printing technology. Printed skin cells! Just another example of fine German engineering, Lothar Koch and his team at Laser Zentrum Hannover used a laser 3D printer to produce skin cells. Could this replace anti-aging products? You never know. But more importantly, this could be an incredible invention for burn victims and people suffering from skin diseases. 

My grandpa had a good friend from his chemical research lab who suffered severe burns on her face and hands during a lab explosion. She was an incredible person and founded an educational summer camp which I attended during my summers in Beijing. She loved children and was passionate about science. But she never married nor did she have any children of her own. Kids were scared of her due to her appearance so she never came in close contact with us. Imagine the impact skin cell printing technology would have made on her life. With this new capability, we would not have to rely on skin transplants or grafts from other parts of the body.

How do you think this will affect our lives?

The First 3D Imprint

I admire creativity. My father used to work for Motorola and when I turned 12 he took me to see the company museum. As he patiently explained the inner workings of the mobile phone system, I thought my dad was the most brilliant person in the world. I wanted to be a part of the tech world just like him. Unfortunately, I didn’t grow up to be one of the greatest engineers; but I am inspired by them.  I am not the kind of person one might expect to be writing a blog about 3D printing. To tell you the truth I didn’t know anything about 3D printing until recently; but what I have seen over the last year is nothing short of a revolution; a change that is going to affect all our lives in a profound way over the coming years, and I want to share that change with you.

3D printing technology has been around since the mid 80’s; a time when E.T. was born and before the Berlin Wall came down. It started off as rapid prototyping so that engineers could see their 3D designs in actual form. In the last three decades, 3D printing technology has evolved immensely. It has already become relevant to the average person.

From iPhone cases to jewellery, to dental implants, to bicycles, to prostheses; the list of 3D printing capabilities is endless and just at its beginning. When I talk about 3D printing, people like to sceptically challenge its potential. “It’s never going to be as efficient and cheap as mass production.” Henry Ford would be proud. Assembly lines and mass production have been so perfected in the last century that it’s difficult for people to imagine another form of manufacturing.

In the next century, I believe that we will develop different values. It will no longer be about buying cheap and buying bulk. The brilliance of modern-day engineering is pulling us towards customisation and ethical consumption. And 3D printing will be an enormous enabler of this shift in consumer ideals.

If you have ever had a crown or a mouth guard made at the dentist, you know about biting into the clay tray. After the horrible experience of gagging on the clay, the mould is taken to a lab, then hand-sanded again and again to fit. Now, dentists are able to use a wand to take a digital profile of the patient’s mouth and directly print the device.

During the Paralympics, prostheses are heavily regulated. We saw Oscar Pistrious complaining about other runners’ artificial legs. The controversies gave the public a false image of the prostheses industry. The truth is that many amputees still must rely on one-size-fits-all prostheses. With advancement in 3D printing technology, bodily measurements are used to generate 3D designs and customised prostheses can be printed for each individual.

3D printing is not a technology of the distant future. It’s happening now. It will disrupt the way we think and live.