The topic of this episode is 3D printing and the democratization of global cultural heritage.
3D printing is a disruptive technology that has exploded in the past few years and has touched all sectors. For those who are not familiar with it 3D printing is also known as additive manufacturing because 3D printers print successive three dimensional layers of material one on top of the other.
The type of “ink” for 3D printers is referred to as filaments or cartridges and they come in many forms including: plastic, metals, ceramics and wood.
Its expanded to all kinds of industries including the automotive industry, the construction world where it is possible to print buildings with big 3D printers that print with cement. There are a few companies in China who have been doing it for around a decade now. In Amsterdam DUS architects are designing the 3D Canal House printing with different forms of materials
Even the food industry welcomed this new technology and they print all kinds of things, including amazing chocolate shapes and sugar – the options and varieties are limitless! As a matter of fact at a nursing home in Germany, they offer smooth 3D printed food to help elderly who suffer with dysphagia and they are not able to chew and swallow normal food.
Great things are also happening with 3D printing and the art world, where interdisciplinary and collaborative works are producing new music instruments, shoes and furniture among many other things.
3D printing has also been used to help the blind experience art. A company called 3DphotoWorks has been working on translating scanned 2D paintings into digital data that can be digitally converted by specialists who determine and account for the sense of depth in the images for the 3D version of it. This expands the accessibility of art to help the visually impaired overcome the visual boundary of paintings and experience it in 3D with their hands.
They are not the only ones trying make the finest art accessible to everyone, the folks at My Mini Factory are trying to change the way we relate to art and make our global cultural heritage accessible even to those who do not have physical access to it.
In this episode Johanthan Beck from My Mini Factory joins us to talk about the Scan the World Initiative. Where they are creating a digital archive of sculptures, landmarks and monuments from around the world using 3D Scanning and Printing technology.
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Espisode 3: Food for thought questions:
1. 3D printing is a disruptive technology for many sectors, in terms of the art world, what challenges would we face when contemporary art is scanned and spread on the internet without the artists knowledge?
2. We have countless examples of how once a picture, computer virus, 3D render or other file is released into cyberspace, it difficult it is to stop it from spreading anywhere and everywhere around the world. What kind of new understanding within the international cyber community should we have regarding the things we attach when we click “send”, “upload” or “publish”?
3. Besides 3D printing paintings and skyscrapers for the blind, and scanning ancient sculptures and artifacts, how else can 3D printing be used to preserve and share cultural heritage?