Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Future assemblers may be able to pick up massive numbers of voxels in par-
allel (meaning several at one time) and place them into layers simultaneously,
opening the door to what one day will be “digital materials.” To distinguish
these printers from their analog ancestors, we called these members of the
new generation of machines “rapid assemblers.” The next revolution after 3D
printing will be the transition from analog to digital materials.
Hybrid analog-digital printing
Imagine a future where human-made artifacts are composed of billions of
tiny building blocks. These building blocks each have the same size and
shape, and the same electric and mechanical connectors. Like tiny LEGO
bricks, no larger than 100 microns in size—the size of a pixel on your
screen—they interlock. Each of the two dozen or so building block types
is made separately in bulk, and shipped as powder in a cartridge for an
assembler.
Concept demonstration of hybrid digital-analog print. Body printed in transparent
analog (smooth) material. Inside is a visible digital lattice structure of mock-voxels.
