G'day! Fresh from the future, some great articles surfaced this week in the realm of 3D printing.

Above: Tinkercad just launched their Shapes Scripts API! You can now programmatically create shapes right within the Tinkercad interface. Have a play!

Innovation

Disney Creates A Method To Turn Any 3-D Surface Into A Display

"As of now, the team has successfully printed light pipes as small as 250 microns, the diameter of a few human hairs. Each of these pipes theoretically serves as a pixel, revealing an image that comes from a source display embedded deep within the object. In essence, a somewhat traditional screen still exists somewhere (for example, Disney created chess pieces that glow from a display hidden within the board), but a screen’s rigid construction is no longer limiting the aesthetics of an object."

Read more on Fast Co

Submitted by @coliwilso

World's First 3D Printed Acoustic Guitar

"These days, Summit spends most of his time designing custom body parts and stylish prosthetics that get built from 3D printers. He is, in fact, one of the world’s leading 3D printing and design experts, and he decided to put those skills to use over a holiday, refining his childhood vision."

Read more on Business Week

Submitted by @BillTomiyasu

Law

Nathan Myhrvold's Cunning Plan to Prevent 3-D Printer Piracy

"The patent, issued Tuesday by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, is titled “Manufacturing control system” and describes methods for managing “object production rights.”

The patent basically covers the idea of digital rights management, or DRM, for 3-D printers. As with e-books that won’t open unless you pay Barnes & Noble and use its Nook reader, with Myhrvold’s technology your printer wouldn’t print unless you’ve paid up."

Read more on Technology Review

Submitted by @praxxis and @natebirdman

Events

art+bits festival

6-7 November, Rondo Sztuki, Katowice, PolandExhibitions, Workshops, Presentations, Screenings, Concerts

(one of their many topics is 3D printing!)

View the event site

Maker Faire 2012 New York - Attack of The 3D Printer Bots

"One of the big attractions, a technology area that has experienced explosive growth recently, is the land of 3D Printing.  MakerBot took the open source RepRap 3D replicator project mainstream back in 2009 with the release of the Cup Cake CNC machine, then came the Thing-o-Matic and then a little bot called Replicator. 

With each iteration, improvements in process and technology are bringing better, more capable 3D printers to market, from MakerBot's new Replicator 2, to new machines and technologies in the field from Solidoodle, Up!3D, Ultimaker, and Tinkerines."

Read more on Hot Hardware

Submitted by @makenai

See you next week!