3D-Printable Gun Project Announces Plans For A For-Profit Search Engine Startup
For the last six months, Cody Wilson and his non-profit group Defense Distributed have worked towards a controversial goal: Tomake as many firearm components as possible into 3D-printable, downloadable files. Now they’re seeking to make those files searchable, too–and to make a profit while they’re at it.
In a talk at the South By Southwest conference in Austin, Texas Monday afternoon, Wilson plans to announce a new, for-profit spinoff of his gun-printing project that will serve as both a repository and search engine for CAD files aimed at allowing anyone to 3D-print gun parts in their own garage. Wilson says the startup, hosted at Defcad.com, will be a redesigned version of a website Defense Distributed already maintains at Defcad.org for uncensored printable gun component files. But Defcad, which launches next month, will also host its own search engine for all types of 3D printable files, displaying search results as rotatable and zoomable three-dimensional models on a single page.
See the full story here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/03/11/3d-printable-gun-makers-announce-plans-for-a-for-profit-search-engine-startup/?partner=yahootix
NO MORE 3D GLASSES FOR ITALIAN KIDS UNDER 6
Italy’s Ministry of Health has ruled that 3D glasses used to watch stereoscopic movies should be limited to viewers age 6 and above. Also, an investigation has been opened into a decision from the Cinema Exhibitors’ Association from last year to allow 3D glasses to be used by viewers as young as 3 years old. Warnings will be added to the instruction packets for all 3D glasses sold for home use.
See the full story here: http://www.stereoscopynews.com/hotnews/history/digital/3013-no-more-3d-glasses-for-italian-kids-under-6.html
Tech start-up launches home 3D scanner
Makerbot’s “Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner”, debuted at the South by South West Interactive festival in Austin, Texas, on Friday, promises to skip the often complex process of designing 3D objects using PC software, by simply allowing people to scan then print the objects they want.
The Digitizer can scan objects sized between 2 and 8 square inches in less than three minutes. Makerbot suggests using the device to copy and create a child’s artwork or first shoe, or to kick-start a “mash-up” combining several different objects into new forms.
However, the Digitizer could also be used to recreate copyrighted products, raising the spectre of a new kind of physical-object piracy of the kind that has ravaged media companies during the past decade. Makerbot already operates a community site, Thingiverse, where customers can swap digital templates.
However, Makerbot claims to be the first company to offer an integrated system of both scanner and printer, which it promises will make the technology accessible to those who lack computer-design or hardware-hacking skills.
See the full story here: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/90b546ba-8847-11e2-b011-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2MzxoCbHl
3-D Printed Car Is as Strong as Steel, Half the Weight, and Nearing Production
Kor and his team built the three-wheel, two-passenger vehicle at RedEye, an on-demand 3-D printing facility. The printers he uses create ABS plastic via Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). The printer sprays molten polymer to build the chassis layer by microscopic layer until it arrives at the complete object. The machines are so automated that the building process they perform is known as “lights out” construction, meaning Kor uploads the design for a bumper, walk away, shut off the lights and leaves. A few hundred hours later, he’s got a bumper. The whole car – which is about 10 feet long – takes about 2,500 hours.
SENSIO Technologies and The Walt Disney Studios Announce VOD Distribution Agreement to Provide Consumers with High-Quality 3D VOD to the Home
SENSIO Technologies Inc. today announced a 3D VOD content license agreement with The Walt Disney Studios to make 3D movies available for on-demand rental on SENSIO's 3DGO! service, beginning in March on selected devices across the US. 3DGO! is a dedicated 3D transactional VOD service that offers the largest selection of high-quality 3D content to consumers whose 3DTVs support the SENSIO(R) Hi-Fi 3D technology, such as Hollywood blockbusters, must-see documentaries and special interest content. For a current list of compatible devices, please visit www.3DGO.com.
World’s first 3D printing pen revealed
[Philip Lelyveld comment: this is sort of a second generation glue gun. Its an interesting concept.]
See the full story here: http://www.computerarts.co.uk/blog/worlds-first-3d-printing-pen-revealed-133661
The ingenious plan to preserve Holocaust survivors as holograms
The holograms in the USC project, however, are actually 3D, and are projected into space rather than onto a screen. The New Dimensions team has also taken pains to make the holograms into more than simple projections: For example, 80-year-old survivor Pinchus Gutter, who saw his family herded into a Nazi camp's gas chambers, sat for hours answering 500 questions about his experience in order to create a hologram that can field questions from a live audience.
See the full story here: http://theweek.com/article/index/239767/the-ingenious-plan-to-preserve-holocaust-survivors-as-holograms