City X melts with Exponential Technology in Budapest

Guest Post by Matthew Straub, Communications Director of City X Project.

Leaders in various fields of exponential technology and executives from over 30 countries came together recently in Budapest, Hungary for the Singularity University Summit Europe, a weekend-long conference focused on innovation and exponential technologies.

The City X Project, sponsored by 3D Systems, was proud to participate in the Summit. Not only were we active in the conference itself, we also took 3D printers, 3D modeling software, and design thinking workshops into a local school in Budapest to run two consecutive, three-day workshops with nearly 50 kids attending the conference.

Budapest became the fifth city in the world to participate in our City X Project, which is a hands-on educational initiative that empowers kids to be change makers by using the design process and exciting 3D modeling and printing technology. We use the powerful possibilities of 3D printing both today and in shaping the future of humanity as a tool to encourage kids to create. In the workshop, every student is paired with a citizen from “City X,” the first human settlement on a new planet. Each citizen has a problem related to large, real-world issue we face today; it’s up to the student to get creative and invent (and eventually prototype on a computer and a 3D printer) an invention that solves that citizen’s problem! With the creative genius of kids, we get inventions like the garbage-eating robo-cat. We put a few of our favorite inventions from Budapest up on our blog.

We also had the opportunity to exhibit 3D prints of inventions made by kids in our workshops around the world during a gallery night hosted in partnership with the Summit. This event allowed adults and kids alike to hold actual models made by our young inventors thousands of miles away, which really speaks to the power of 3D printing as an accessible tool for sharing ideas and connecting people; a point we try to drive home everywhere we travel.

If you’d like to learn more about our time in Budapest, you can read more about our experience on the City X Project blog.

by Roxanne via Cubify

5 reasons we are grateful for 3D printing

When our day-to-days are spent fixating on what we need and what’s next, how cool is it to designate a day exclusively to being grateful for what we have?

Rhetorical question: It’s really cool.

Here are just a few reasons 3D printing gives us something to be grateful for:

1. 
   

   We’re in the future.

   
   

   

   
   

   We’ve gotten used to having the Internet in our pockets over the last few years, and now we’re at a point where we can weightlessly and instantly send coffee mugs, pairs of shoes, watches, belts, and even car parts across geographies and time zones, all with digital data. Now. Today. We have this technology because our peers and colleagues dreamed it up and made it real. With access to a 3D printer, we can push a button tonight and wake up to our imagination in 3D. Experts and novices, young and old: 3D printing is here and happening.

   
   

2. 
   

   Unique problems get unique solutions

   
   

   

   
   

   3D printing is powering some much-talked-about breakthroughs in engineering, as well as some incredible innovations in medicine. Personalized surgical kits and patient-specific devices are a file and a click away from reality. Thousands upon thousands of medical and dental solutions are already being printed, and this is distinct from the current explorations of bio-printing with human tissues. Prosthetics and braces can be custom fit to the patient and 3D printed to match existing or pre-existing anatomies. Not only did a man 3D print a prosthetic hand for his son, but an animal enthusiast used 3D printing to create a prosthetic for a duck with a malformed foot. The possibilities are endless, with impacts both great and small, and everything is scalable to what matters to you.

   
   

3. 
   

   Complexity is free

   
   

   

   
   

   Striped shirts cost more than solids. You want your latte with soy? That’s an extra 50 cents. We have options all around us that better suit our style or flavor, but even the smallest personalization tends to come at a cost. Not so with 3D printing! A 3D printer relies on your file to create your design, and it follows that design layer by layer. A 3D printer can make sugar sculptures just as easily as sugar cubes. If it’s free, why not have fun with it? It’s that kind of choice that makes this technology so sweet.

   
   

4. 
   

   It’s nice to our planet

   
   

   

   
   

   3D printing creates by building up one layer at a time, attaching materials only where they are needed. This means that by its very nature, 3D printing is a waste-free technology. What’s more, many of the materials used can be recycled or composted. And because 3D printing relies on weightless, shapeless, instantaneously shareable 3D printing files, tremendous amounts of inventory and cross-continental, cross-oceanic transport can be cut down, making a big dent in the carbon footprint of making and manufacturing. About time, too!

   
   

5. 
   

   It gives us something to look forward to

   
   

   

   
   

   Wrapping one’s head around 3D printing can be more or less difficult, depending on how new it is to you. For those dwindling beings that have yet to come around to email (if such beings still exist), 3D printing is nothing short of voodoo. For those that grow up with it, though? Designing for 3D and thinking in 3D terms is set to evolve into a new literacy the world over, and kids are the ultimate boundary pushers. As “Why not?” replaces “Why?”, we are sure to be awed and delighted with what the future holds.

   
   

by Saskia via Cubify

Solved with a Scan: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3D Print Clue

Being an agent of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D.) isn’t all cutting edge science, high tech labs, solving riddles and having great hair. Come to think of it though, that’s a pretty central part of the gig, and ABC’s new Marvel series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., has hit the ground running with an impressive arsenal of powerful gadgets to aid the agents’ investigations (and of course, that hair).

In the latest episode, “The Well”, premiering on November 19, 2013, the agents call on 3DS’ Sense 3D scanner to set them on the trail of the latest ne’er-do- wells. With access to the tree that once encased the mysterious artifact in question, the S.H.I.E.L.D. team scans and digitally transmits 3D data to their lab, which is rightfully outfitted with a Cube 3D printer. Using the 3D print as a clue, they are able to consult with an expert in the field who recognizes it as the fabled… Well, you’ll just have to watch to find out.

Nothing like a little 3D restoration project to return peace and order to the civilized world!

by Alyssa via Cubify

Art and 3D Printing: Van Gogh Sunflowers

3D printing is used in many industries, including automotive, fashion, and even art! With the help of 3D printing, artists were able to reproduce Van Gogh’s Sunflower painting into a 3-dimensional masterpiece to make it look like a physical sculpture-like piece of art.

With 3D software, the artists created the sunflowers and then added layer upon layer of 3-dimensional brush strokes to give the illusion of the pained strokes on the original canvas.

The file was then printed on a 3D Systems ProJet 3500 using the visijet-x material and then cast in a silicon bronze. The new piece of art is on display in London at the Fine Art Society.

Try recreating your own fine art masterpiece with Cubify Sculpt.

by Saskia via Cubify

Throw Back Thursday: 1989 interview with Chuck Hull

Did you know 3D printing has been around for over 30 years? Check out this awesomely 80′s Good Morning America interview with our founder, Chuck Hull, from 1989.

by Saskia via Cubify

Adventures of a Cube Printer Extraordinaire – Riley goes to Hawaii

Never doubt the highly imaginative mind of a growing adolescent! The famous psychologist Jean Piaget published his first scientific paper at age 10, and French mathematician Blaise Pascal invented the first mechanical calculator as a teenager. While not everyone grew up as a child prodigy, anyone given the right tools and ambitious attitude can strike genius. Take the story of Riley, equipped with a second generation Cubify Cube, he distributed a hundreds of 3D printed models through the help of 3D Systems and Kickstarter.

Over the past summer, Riley had the once in a lifetime experience to travel to Honolulu, Hawaii– not for the warm weather and surf– but to intern at Skaai Ventures, an up-and-coming biotech company. After meeting Skaai’s CEO Hank Wuh, at a 3D printing event last May, Riley joined the Skaii team to assist as a summer intern.

When they needed a custom built plastic part for the project, Riley offered to print the part himself using the Cube 3D printer. According to Riley, the process saved a the company a lot of time:

“I finished the first design in about thirty minutes. Normally, getting it manufactured would have taken over a week in turnaround time, and cost over a hundred dollars. Luckily enough, 3D Systems sent a cube along with me.”

Hank Wuh was so satisfied with the part, he bought a Cube for Skaai’s office:

“We got the initial first design and over 5 iterations done over the course of three weeks, and my supervisor at Skai was so happy with the printer that he purchased one to keep in the office for in-house manufacturing.”

Riley enjoyed printing parts that had real world applications. So when he returned from Honolulu, he started a Kickstarter project to distribute a design for a ring which shot rubber bands.

“My dad helped me put together a marketing campaign around it, and we were fully funded halfway through the campaign. Normally, kickstarter delivery time is usually three to four weeks delayed, but we managed to get our delay down to less than a week by using our home lab setup, printing over one hundred rings in five days. A backer even commented that we had the fastest delivery he’d ever seen on our page.”

Riley’s not sure what he plans to print next do next with his Cube, but given the success of his Kickerstarter campaign, the future is looking bright!

by Saskia via Cubify

We’ve Got You Covered – New iPhone 5s Cases Released

The new iPhone 5s cases are out, so snap them up soon! There are four different options available, and all of them are fantastic. We have the Ribbon, the Monolith, the Wave and the Godiva Clutch cases available for order now. Each have their own distinctive style and will help you show yours. The Ribbon is effortless modernity, the Monolith is simplicity in clean lines, the Wave is color and sound in motion, and the Godiva Clutch is chain mail fashion at its best. Any one of these showstoppers will have your friends asking where you got it, but more importantly they aim to express the limitless vision of 3D printing available at Cubify. They are available in a range of colors to further express your creative self into the world as you live with your phone day to day. This case will be with you as life happens, all the while making a statement about your unique vision.

by Saskia via Cubify

Featuring Hiroshi Yoshii’s Magnificent Creature Collection

We are very excited to welcome the marvelous creations of Hiroshi Yoshii to Cubify.com. Yoshii is one of the most acclaimed digital artists in Japan and has created over 1,000 3D characters as private works. His designs often sell out faster than he can produce them! That is where the efficiency of 3D printing comes in. 3D printing each unique character allows Yoshii to keep up with the growing demand for his lovable characters while maintaining the outstanding quality his fans are use to. The figures you see here on Cubify were hand-picked from this selection of 1,000 characters to create a collection 3D printed figures. The lineup on our website will continue to grow on a regular basis.

“My characters are created by a harmonious combination of beauty, ludicrousness, and humor,” says Tokyo-based character designer Hiroshi Yoshii. Since 1999, he has created an original creature almost every single day. Yoshii calls his project TDW for “The Daily Work,” and in addition to being quite an adorable triumph, it’s also a thriving example of the artist’s need to make real all of the wonderful ideas in his head.

“I have a few thousand ideas stocked up in my head. When I am doing my sketching the characters seem to call out to me, ‘Make ME! ‘Make ME!’ So when that happens, I put them in to my list of pieces to make next.”

Through a laborious process, Yoshii also creates limited edition art toys by hand, which routinely sell out at shops in Japan and the USA. He is excited to work with Cubify in a collaboration that can bring his wonderful creatures to the masses and you at home. Buy your very own Hiroshi Yoshii character here.

by Saskia via Cubify

Time-Lapse Thursday : Awesome GS4 Case

Check out this GS4 Case by David Farmer . Have you made anything awesome on your cube lately?

by MarcelleRice via Cubify

Make Me Monday: Ear Headphone Wrap

Always losing track of your headphones? Well, as long as you know where your ears are you will never misplace those headphones again. This back-to-back pair of ears, designed in Cubify Sculpt by Joenard Camarista, offers a discreet solution to messy, tangled headphone cords.

Download your own free Ear Headphone Wrap here. Feel like customizing your own pair of ear earbud holders? Perhaps a Spock inspired Design? Download our free 14-day trial of Cubify Sculpt, import the .stl for this file and customize these to fit your style inclinations.

by Saskia via Cubify

AppCreate Update! Themes and Render Shadows

Do you have 3D modeling chops? If so, have you been taking advantage of Cubify’s AppCreate? It’s a free tool that lets designers quickly build apps without needing to have any programming skills. Cubify apps like our jewelry line use this kind of technology. Upload some base options and some add-on options and then submit it to Cubify for approval; once it’s live you can point people to your app and they can create new coolness using your designs.

If you haven’t tried it yet, jump in – all you need is a free Cubify account. If you’re already a loyal fan, you’ll be thrilled to hear we’ve added a bunch of spunky new UI theme options, and the option to add render shadows. These settings are available in your Edit App panel – take a look! Here are a couple of examples:

What will you make next?

by Ilana via Cubify

Time-Lapse Thursday : Tiny Watering Can

We found this time-lapse of a Tiny Watering Can by Mike Mehlman 3D printed on the Cube!

What will you make on your Cube 3D Printer?

by KeithOzar via Cubify

Featured App Friday: Star Trek 3DMe

Last week we talked about the 3DMe app, which lets you upload a couple of photos in order to create a 3D figurine with your own face. This week, if you’re a Trekkie, you’re in for a treat!

Today we’re talking about the Star Trek: Original Series & Star Trek: Next Generation 3DMe apps, which let you upload a couple of photos of your face and then put yourself into Star Trek uniform. This weekend only, use promo code Trek20 to get 20% off your figurine.

First pick your app: Original Series or Next Generation. Then you’ll choose your gender, your pose (Basic, Phaser, Tricorder or Vulcan), your shirt color and your rank. Upload a couple of photos of yourself, and choose a personalized message to put on the bottom. That’s all there is to it.

Suit up!

by Ilana via Cubify

3D Print Your Own Flexible Woven Cups

What is a 3d Printer? Watch it Printing a MakerBot RoboHand!

Buy a 3d Printer at Low Cost: The Makerbot Replicator2

Buy a 3d Printer at Low Cost: The Makerbot Replicator2