Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
The day when products will be made entirely of digital voxels may be far off,
but meanwhile I expect that some combination of analog and digital materials
will emerge. Hybrid 3D printing will combine continuous analog printing for
some passive materials, and digital voxel printing for other materials that are
more dificult to fabricate using continuous processes.
Machines making machines
Technological singularity, a concept popularized by writer Ray Kurzweil, is a
hypothetical future in which machines possess capabilities that enable them to
accelerate their own development exponentially. One of the more widely rec-
ognized aspects of the idea of singularity is an “intelligence explosion” where
intelligent machines design successive generations of increasingly powerful,
even more intelligent machines.
As sophisticated as modern-day manufacturing machines have become,
they do not have the capability to design and produce more physical instances
of themselves. Today's manufacturing machines can't redesign themselves in
response to some sort of challenge in their physical environment. 3D printing
technologies will challenge our notions of what's normal, natural, or original
by supplying a missing link in the speculation of singularity.
3D printers will someday fabricate active, digital matter that has the capabil-
ity to reconigure itself into intelligent machines that, in turn, will redesign
and fabricate improved versions of themselves.
The idea of machines making machines is a recurring theme in both science
iction stories and serious academic studies. There are probably two reasons
for this fascination: One is a practical view of scalability. Creating a machine
that can create more machines leverages technology to its maximum capac-
ity: With no humans in the loop, production is limited only by availability of
material, power, and time.
The second reason for fascination with this topic may be rooted in a deeper
psychological need—one that some might call hubris—our need to create.
The natural distinguishes itself from the artiicial in that natural creatures
can make more creatures but machines cannot. At its core, self-reproduction
is the ultimate hallmark of biology. If you can create a machine that can make
other machines, you will have attained a new level of creation.
