Blog 1: Project One

September 5, 2023

I’m buying a 3d printer.

Discovering Three Dimensions

In May 2014, I drove to HexLab MakerSpace to find a summer job. While the front office was unassuming, the back workshop was dreamy.

Over the following months, I worked with a laser cutter to make signage, electronics boxes, and even ran an online 3D printing business. The Ultimaker was the chosen hardware and a half dozen array of them seemed to me industrial level manufacturing. It wasn’t, but I had caught the 3D printing bug.

3D printing was not the industrial level manufacturing that I thought it was. What I was enamored with was the ability to create in three dimensions what you could dream of. But as with all new tools that are created, it’s impossible to figure out what to build on your own. The people that surrounded 3D printing construct a curious, collaborative, and impressive community.

Since my childhood, I’ve been fascinated by construction, trains, and machines. Maybe it was a result of one too many window seats on an airplane or my mom taking me to her construction sites for work. So from a young age, I was dreaming of using my own hands to build something in the world, and 3D printing was my gateway in.

The Significance of 3D Printing

3D printers were created in 1980’s, but the first “affordable” consumer 3D printers showed up in 2009. While 3D printing is not the definitive manufacturing solution, there are acute capabilities that solidify its value in anyone’s tool chest.

3D printing advances rapid prototyping by an order of magnitude. Making physical prototypes becomes more time-efficient and design iteration is cheap.

The ideation and manufacturing process themselves also change. The biggest improvement is that many complex designs become just as simple to print as a cube. That’s because printers scale linearly with complexity, which is unusual while manufacturing objects.

3D printing’s flexibility makes one batch objects a reality. For the medical field, this can improve access to long-lasting care at an affordable price.

From Digital to Physical: Three Key Objects

As a maker, my immediate interest in having a 3D printer is to improve the usability of my home. Objects like a paperweight, headphone stand, and fasteners are all simple trinkets that I believe will help me stay organized and living in a space built for me. Here are the first few objects I look forward to printing:

Swoosh! The electric tea light flyer (@DrKronos on Printables).
Dachshund Low Poly (@ak_211779 on Printables)
Headphones Hook
Fruit Fly Trap Mason Jar Lid (@squinn on Printables)
Command Hook

The online maker community has a few note-worthy habitations. For DIY home projects, instructables.com gives some good step-by-step instructions. For ready-to-print objects printables.com and thingiverse.com are worth a look.

3D Printing to Spatial Computing Applications

Both printing and spatial computing are rooted in three dimensions. And I’m interested in both platforms because they assist creation within reality. 3D printers directly create in reality, and the spatial computing applications that interest me most are the ones that help builders design within the real world more efficiently. Skills in either field will be transferrable to the other.

Designing on Spatial Computers

I respect the way designers think. Designers will think about their process, the high level meaning, the most minute details when applicable, the material they build with, the tools they build with, and everything in between. Spatial computers will help designers think about space.

Here are some application categories that I’m excited about (for designers):

Collaborative Imagination

One of the standout features of spatial computing is its ability to weave shared experiences. In a space powered by this technology, collaboration takes on a new dimension. Teams, whether they are in the same room or scattered globally, can come together in a unified digital space, interacting with the same objects, brainstorming in real-time, and crafting solutions together. It's the epitome of collective imagination. A writer in New York and a graphic designer in Tokyo could simultaneously work on a digital book, watching it come to life before their eyes. Spatial computing turns solitary imagination into a symphony of collaborative creativity.

Design on Spatial Computers

New advancements in spatial computing are exciting — we’re inviting computers to our realm and it’ll be a melting pot of creation.

Here are some application categories that I’m excited about (for designers):

Improved Modeling - People will be able to create with their hands and in a more natural virtual space.
Close Inspection - See details up close, from new perspectives, and evaluate your changes easier.
Assembly - Put together pieces like you’ve never done before. Think building a model kit in virtual space.