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Sketch Furniture Ultra Rapid Prototyping
Sketch Furniture allows designers to actually materialize free hand sketches made in thin air. Really.
(Sketch furniture in the drawing)
Designers work in open space in a room; their movements are recorded with motion capture devices. The pen strokes are then made into 3D digital files. These files are sent, in turn, to a rapid prototyping device that fabricates the object out of liquid plastic.
(Sketch furniture in the making)
Take a look at the remarkable Sketch Furniture video below to get a better sense of the project.
(Sketch Furniture Youtube Video)
This is so futuristic it's almost out of place on a science fiction site - the only precursor I can think of for this idea is not sf but pure children's fantasy.
(Harold and the Purple Crayon)
Whatever Harold drew with his purple crayon became real.
Update 17-Nov-2016: Aha! Murray Leinster nailed this one exactly in Plastic Constructor (3D Printer) in 1945!
End update.
Read more about rapid prototyping Read more at Sketch Furniture via BoingBoing.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/4/2006)
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Related News Stories - (" Manufacturing ")
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Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
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