Will 3D Printing Change the World? | Off Book | PBS Digital Studios

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Much attention has been paid to 3D Printing lately, with new companies developing cheaper and more efficient consumer models that have wowed the tech community. They herald 3D Printing as a revolutionary and disruptive technology, but how will these printers truly affect our society? Beyond an initial novelty, 3D Printing could have a game-changing impact on consumer culture, copyright and patent law, and even the very concept of scarcity on which our economy is based. From at-home repairs to new businesses, from medical to ecological developments, 3D Printing has an undeniably wide range of possibilities which could profoundly change our world.
This video includes copyright material from www.explainingt... You can learn more about 3D printing on the ExplainingTheFuture channel at / explainingthefuture
Featuring:
Sam Cervantes, CEO of Solidoodle www.solidoodle....
Carine Carmy, Shapeways www.shapeways.com/
Michael Weinberg, Public Knowledge www.publicknowl...
Joseph Flaherty, WIRED.com www.wired.com/
3D Printing Footage Sources:
1) Mashable - • Turn Yourself Into an ...
2) Mitchell Leben, BusyBotz 3D Printing / busybotz www.busybotz.com
3) BromptonWorld - • Printing a bicycle wit...
4) stratasysfdm - • 3D-Printed "Magic Arms"
5) Lisa281977 - • Prusa Mendel Printing
6) CNETTV - • Always On - DIY: 3D pr...
7) Glenn Langton - • Solidoodle 2 making a ...
8) Melanie Gonick, MITNews - • MIT Media Lab: 3-D pri...
9) Fred Hagemeister - • Solidoodle 3 - First P...
10) SketchySam123 - • Skull on Solidoodle 3D...
11) ExplainingTheFuture - • 3D Printshow London 2012 AND • Bioprinting
12) Maureen Kerr - • Teaching 3D Printing t...
13) 3dprintingsystems - • Affordable Desktop 3D ...
14) soscomponents - • Video
15) ObjetGeometries - • Video AND • Video
16) John Ecker, GeoDroidJohn - • Reprap Project- Full P...
17) Guus Eldering - • Solidoodle 2 one of th...
18) Mishkin Berteig - • First Print on Solidoo...
19) T3 - • Inside the Amazon Ware...
20) cacmcrew - • Chair UP! - 3D printer
21) Vik Olliver - • Printed Dart Gun Assembly
22) pp3dp - • Printing 2 bottles by ...
23) Amanda Ghassaei - vimeo.com/5601...
24) Jon Bondy - • Solidoodle operating f...
25) Globetechnology (NAPSTER DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE)- • NAPSTER DOC1 HD 480p
26) UnivPennsylvania - • Video
27) appworld7 - • Video
28) TEDtalksDirector - • Anthony Atala: Growing...
29) Choc Edge - • Choc Edge Printing Sno... AND • 3D Chocolate Printer c...
30) Diginfonews - • Print a 3D model of yo...
31) VPROBacklight - • Video
32) FunTheoryVideos - • Video
33) onshoulders - • onshouldersTv: RepRap ...
34) mrmatz408 - • Video
Music:
CMA,"Chasing Dreams" - / cma-chasing-dreams-full
Sacred, "Speed of Light" - / speed-of-light
AudioPad, "Grafit - Be Free", • Royalty Free Music - G...
Dexter Britain, "Beyond The Finish Line", / beyond-the-finish-line
Sacred, "Flying High" - / flying-high
et_, "3.0" - www.jamendo.com...
Binarpilot, "Goof" - www.jamendo.com...
AKAJULES, "Back" - www.jamendo.com...
More Off Book:
Our video on The Art of Illustration • The Art of Illustratio...
Our short documentary on The Rise of Competitive Gaming & E-Sports • The Rise of Competitiv...
We took a look at What's The Deal With Internet Comedy? • What's The Deal With I...
We Celebrated The Art of Creative Coding • The Art of Creative Co...
Follow Off Book:
Twitter: @pbsoffbook
Tumblr: / pbsarts
Produced by Kornhaber Brown: www.kornhaberbr...

[@RBarros01]

For those saying that 3D printers will ruin the global economy: The money saved by not needing to buy such products anymore will be spent on OTHER things such as services and entertainment, creating jobs in other markets. Also, almost everything will be much cheaper so people wont need as much money and work to trade for goods. The result will be freeing the human race of pointless work such as working in industries and allow us to pursue higher goals, such as arts, science, entertainment and spiritual development.

[@footballanalysis1473]

One of the best comment I ever saw in youtube

[@TheOnly1Zalo]

I still remember watching a documentary about "revolutionary technology" like 5 years ago, where they introduced world's first 3d printer, able to produce an almost shapless, but solid fork in about 3 hours. Now a 3d printer can make a freaking weapon and its been only 5 years. Man.

[@centers46]

I remember hearing so many people saying "what would anyone do with a computer in their home?". I remember hearing others say "a wireless phone is only for the rich people". Home computer, wireless phone, what will they call a 3D printer in another 10 years (replicator)? I think we are witnesses to the leading edge of another revolution. Maybe the USA could be a leader in this technology.

[@cmoney447]

Buy a 3D printer. Print a 3D printer. Sell 3D printer.

[@footballanalysis1473]

Perfect idea.. But I think buy 3D Printer.. Print Donald Trump to be your gardener.. Print Hilary Clinton to be your maid..

[@chandlerbing7269]

lmaoooooooo.

[@ExplainingComputers]

Yes, sorted.

[@_teagan]

It's almost scary how far we've come with technology! I love it.

[@greaafs]

We have just started a company which we hope will bring 3D printing into the home. Our Kickstarter project which promotes our company, thrint, will hopefully do that but we need pledges to make it happen. KZbin videos like this one are great to spread the excitement but we do need to get it into the home to make it mainstream.

[@mcBeast]

I don't even know what to think anymore. 20 years for now we will be printing all our stuff, cars, clothes, tvs, computers, etc... I can see a lot of bankruptcy for a lot of companies. This is a crazy invention.

[@Threvlin]

Yay, Shapeways! I'll admit that Shapeways is the site that really opened my eyes to 3D printing and I suggest that anyone who is interested in what they see here should go and see what is available on that site.

[@thegame346]

It is still a technology in its infancy though. When television first came out nobody ever thought you'd possibly be able to have color images.

[@freedomisntfreeffs]

Thank you to the people who helped develop the 3D printer!

[@Hexlattice]

Dude! 5 years?! More like it just started! The video just showed a working adjustable wrench!

[@sinnad07]

I'm mind blown not because of 3D printing but because of the amount of people who are just recently aware about 3D printing.

[@spamerman]

It has been done, "Cube" is one example. I have seen many other printers that are made from 90-95 percent 3d printed components. There is a bit of a race to perfect printing printers, but in a few years you should be able to print out a fully assembled 3d printer in a single print.

[@LVC85costa]

not just creativity but i hope it helps combat the planned obsolescence of most products we have today. imagine instead of throwing away something cause they say they dont make this product anymore and its cheaper to replace you just download the models from an archive and print it.

[@adampkalb]

Remember when Futurama had an episode about 3D printers? It was called 40% Leadbelly. September 28, 2017, 9:08am

[@putts4]

I love that dubstep is in the backround of every commercial now

[@bookbookism]

The limited raw materials are essentially unlimited (in effect) when you actually consider how cheap labor is for 3d printing relative to traditional manufacturing.

[@musicbox193]

If you think about this technology really isn't new, it's been used for decades to make copies of toys, cars, clothing furniture etc. This is just a newer version where the process is done more instantly and all at once.

[@felderup]

don't forget to toss the old one into the grinder, so you can print out another new one later. maybe just print out a backup car to keep in the garage.

[@josenavarro1973]

Several people, families or groups could collaborate on projects with each party producing a different part or parts of the whole. The cost for the printers are $1400+ -- the price of a good used car -- well within the reach of millions of average people. The plastic filament costs $48 - $90 per kilo(2.2 lbs).

[@TheLostSorcerer]

For the plastic or metal 3d printing: yes it may be bad if there isn't a way to recycle. But in theory, you could melt down what you build and add it back into the process(shown briefly in this video but not commented on). For food and cell printing it won't be an issue as what is made is consumed or used shortly after creation. In short there would have to be a system put in place for such recycling but it is a possible part of the creation process.

[@felderup]

i'd say it's returning to the old days. think of a blacksmiths, bakers, carpenters, there were guilds, apprentices, journeymen. each village had people that lived locally that could spit out metal parts, furniture, cloth, everything that was needed to keep a town running, the materials were often shipped from far away. with 3d printers, it'll mostly go local again, there will still be some need of suppliers, the ability to recycle and build anything locally will be a good thing i say.

[@roidroid]

All sorts of things. I recall them mentioning concrete in the video. But typically things are made from various types of plastics, titanium, rubber, ceramics, or whatever you want. NASA is developing a type of 3D printing that uses a kindof MIG welding gun that can even be used in the vacuum of space (3D print robots/spacecraft IN SPACE!), it extrudes from a spool of metal wire and melts it with an electron beam, it uses no shielding gas - only metal wire and electricity. It's quite exciting!

[@Civsuccess2]

I know some company charged 600 for a plastic part of their proprietary machine . Now, I print the plastic part and replace it myself.

[@razorknight92]

Remember in Star Ocean 3 where the main character was on an underdeveloped planet, so he had to get the ship to generate a sword for him? I'm thinking that 3D printed swords would be pretty sweet. Not very strong, probably, but still!

[@chickenspy1854]

That's kind of like asking what makes a personal computer different from a super computer. The cheaper this stuff gets, the more common it will be in the household. You'll no longer need to buy certain things at retail (with all of the transportation costs and manufacturing costs and etc etc) but instead can print it yourself much cheaper.

[@TrueRaijin]

Organs and bones, too. I'm surprised they left out the large scale house production printer guys. Functionally a solid marble building.

[@jacobman849]

3d printers will change the world, the price will continue to get cheaper and the quality will continue to go up. Soon everybody will have a 3d printer and right now we are kind of "just before the storm" but I can guarantee you this will change manufacturing as we know it in the coming years.

[@xiempie]

In 10 years I expect to see a lot of 3D models on The Pirate Bay to easily print yourself at home

[@plopfish]

Once again PBSoffbook finds an interesting topic and makes a superb and informative video on it. Great job guys.

[@KMBdesign]

3d Printers have been around over a decade, but they were rather primitive and expensive in the beginning. Most could only print to low to medium resolution and were usually made of thing like a starch mixture. Buildup took place buy extruding the binder into layers of the starch getting them to stick together. Thus when you took it out you could just shake out the model and it would be left behind, a "cookie." In the last few years they can print in ABS plastic,wax,metal,cells all in hi-res

[@Chee42]

I agree that there will still be a large number of things you'll want to go to a store to get printed with a better 3D printer but there's a whole slew of purely functional things that would be eliminated from stores.

[@FlutterSwag]

Right now only a few materials can be used like plastic soft metals and Rock like substances but in the next 10-20 years we could see like they said living tissue metal alloys almost anything be used. This is revolutionizing the world I suggest u get one before they all bloom in price

[@TimmmmCam]

Actually, Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) is able to produce strong metal parts directly. Obviously the surfaces are not as smooth as machined surfaces, so you'd still have to bore the cylinders and so on. But that is pretty cool nonetheless. Of course, DMLS is way way beyond the crappy FDM machines shown in this video.

[@deiversoncruz2492]

I'm actually surprised to see that the comments are actually years old

[@ageee090]

I feel as time goes on, a 3d printer will be built in every house. That way, instead of wasting presidiums material by mass production, you make what you need when you need it. If only they can figure out other materials besides plastic and skin you would have endless opportunities.

[@roidroid]

6:20 woa, the 3Doodler only became public about a week and a half before this PBS video was released, it's kickstarter hasn't even finished yet!

[@mundotaku_org]

You wouldn't, but an automaker with billions of dollars ready to invest on this technology certainly will be capable of such thing. Imagine a dealership where your car is made from scratch. Parts would be made by 3D printers and assembly would be made by robotic arms. Basically buying a car would be like buying one of those penny plate souvenirs on theme parks and zoos, just with less cranking.

[@Poeskino]

welcome to the new age period. as an artist, I see everything ive ever drawn come to 3D life! its f'n incredible

[@Exarian]

resources will still be a factor. These things still need the people to gather the resources to feed into the printers that make the printers, people still need to deliver the printers, and thus need the materials to upkeep the infrastructure with which to do so, and they will also need to maintain the infrastructures with which to power the devices and share the information and raise the new generations and maintain shelter. So basically, the social contract will still be a thing.

[@roidroid]

Depends on what your definition of durable is, and what material you are printing in. You can print in many materials including rubber, silicone, titanium, silver, concrete, sandstone, various plastics, wax, chocolate, etc. 3d printers that laser-sinter titanium, print parts that are used on aircraft, and afaik there is experiments underway to print full sized military battle tanks as a single piece, an armour shell - slowly rising outof the gigantic print bed. So yes, it's plenty durable.

[@Mordaedil]

To think, just a few decades ago, we were stuck with ink cartridges for printing ink on paper. Then we got laser. Then we're getting this. And then more later. Just imagine how outdated our current conventions are going to be in just a few decades. We will move past this too.

[@FightLikeTelevision]

I give you my word in around 8-10 years you will be able to buy a 3d printer and put it into your own home. Just like the computer it started out as something very large and expensive and not very good and as time passed it became more complex and advanced and cheaper,now you see a computer in almost everyones home...this 3d printer will wreck the market economy mark my words

[@strangecore4]

You sure can, Chris. Look up "Rep Rap". The whole movement is based on open-source printers that can replicate themselves for very little money.

[@felderup]

a liver is one of the few organs that, if you cut out a chunk, it'll grow back, one can probably be grown in a bag and implanted parallel to the original with little trouble. two livers, every so often cut a chunk out of the old one... if you can find a doctor willing to try it... it might be easier than most people think.

[@roidroid]

Yes. Projects such as the "REPRAP" aim for this, and most 3D DIY printers can already print out many of their own parts. Motors and electronics are still a challenge to print though, and thus most self-replicating 3D printers still require a lot of what they call "vitamin parts" such as motors and electronics, and are thus not fully self-replicating designs yet.

[@TheLostSorcerer]

Patents just register you as the original creator for the records. If patents prevented others from creating or improving then we would not have modern lights, homes, cars, computers or anything. Intellectual Property refers to the ideas put behind creative art items, stories, movies, etc. An example would be if I wrote a story it is my property, if a company wants to make a movie out of it I could decline the offer. The book that gets created uses someones patent for the books creation process

[@7o7Dsy]

I love the ideal of everybody being creative but you do understand that the 3-D printer does every-thing people want, they will no longer take care of the things they have since they'll always be thinking, "I can just build me another one in three minutes." If we just take care of the things we have and only rebuild when necessary the world wouldn't always need a new band aid for old wounds.

[@rogersoares106]

Impressive, unimaginable, unbelievable!

[@derangius]

You win the internet for that question.

[@revyaraksha9372]

I thought in the 90's that greeting cards would be totally replaced thanks to ink jet printers but that hasn't been the case. It could be that like with cards, people will think 3D printing is too much bother even if it would be more sensible. People who throw out a garment when a button pops off are probably not going to print a new button on their printer in the future and instead still just toss it out and go the store for a new one. So maybe you are right, but strangely enough maybe not.

[@ThankYouESM]

saw a video that shows where you can get all those parts, but you still need the electronic components.

[@96thatcrazygamer]

itll be cool to finally see a 3d printed gun finally being fully created and usable and not just for a few shots

[@ageee090]

Also, if too many people are making weapons or blocks, the 3d printer's software could have "blocks" where it won't let you build that

[@lloyfirvind3274]

That's so interesting. What if in 50 years, people can just print out whatever tools they need and hardware stores are obsolete?

[@manthony6594]

The only problem with that principle when applied to printers is that they have to have a material to print. Even if 3d printers themselves are incredibly high tech, it is going to be very expensive to print anything other than plastic

[@DontFuckWitDreDay]

Printing out the Flesh Light is an excellent idea!

[@SoleFix4Addicts]

the best ones on the market today are up to 350,000. The technology still has a long way, it'll get to the point where it'll be cheap and more capable, kinda like how computers are.

[@77chonyc]

At the speed technology is moving today, I think we will be seeing smaller home versions of 3D printers in just a few more years. Companies will have to adapt to this new technology selling you the 3D printable file online, which you can then download and print this new item you purchased. Similar to the way I Tunes sells you music instead of you buying the CD. WoW, I also think this is going to be an amazing technology once mastered in maybe 15 years and lets you print all types of materials.

[@dasalsakid]

this is a real concern - of course the hardest part is getting the materials - but thats no that far away

[@arajuiojuo]

The most environmentalist invention EVER. If you don't get a prize within 2013 it means that big companies control those nobel prize and similar stuff events

[@bookbookism]

Use food as the printer's "ink"! Remember, the term ink here is merely a label and so is the verb "print".

[@JackHeathWriter]

Once every household has a sufficiently advanced 3D printer, no-one will ever need to buy anything except 3D printer ink. I hope you're all happy to work in the ink mines, because no-one else will be hiring. (Disclaimer - I'm a novelist, not an economist!)

[@VictoriousSecret1000]

That's a given. Technology was created, in the very beginning, to make our lives easier. And apparently, the easier life gets, the lazier we get, and the more we want to make life even easier. I don't think a 3D printer will ever be able to replace business, but it definitely is going to hurt the economy. Still, to what degree will we allow our lives to be run by machines?

[@RebeLady999]

My minds has been blown. I want a 3d printer!

[@MysticSteph]

Makes me even more glad to actually be studying 3D in college lol

[@anotherfluffyninja6903]

*Pop* Noice

[@JCMaldonado13]

They need to do one about photography!

[@doomshepard]

When this advances a little more, this may just collapse the economy. With the economy collapsed you won't need a job. Our monetary system depends on scarcity, without scarcity money is useless. This technology wipes out scarcity and planned obsolescence. this is a step in the right direction...

[@dvarblo]

Anyone that watches star trek knows this has been a long time coming. The very first replicator.

[@TheLostSorcerer]

Easily done with a couple web cams, a printer, and some time. Can't remember where, but some one on KZbin has done this(Thinking Technut but not sure)

[@ryndanriley5348]

on the side bar there are videos that talk about some of that. like the one about printing metal objects...

[@LynneSkysong]

Depends on the type of stuff you're printing. There's going to be different polymers with different specs: strength, flexibility, impact resistance, hardness, etc. Oh and there's the bio stuff. As a base, The Cube 3D printer uses $50 cartridges that you can get 15 "average sized" print out of. I'm not sure how big "average" is but the biggest thing you can make with The Cube is 5.5" tall. I got this from DNews at /watch?v=hPNxm5sWJIk

[@bananishmeal]

That is the 3Doodler . It's on KickStarter

[@thyrampantpigeon]

Question.. I'm not trying to bad mouth this or anything, I absolutely love this kind of innovation, but they say they can eliminate the limitation that makes things more expensive, but how do they make unlimited products with only limited raw materials?

[@allluckyseven]

Actually, you can! There are a few parts (if memory serves) that you can't yet (mainly the electronics, i assume), but you could print every other one.

[@xxwzaebd]

It is already available from Chinese makers at lower costs such as $800. However, it cannot compete with very large production runs capable of maintaining quality standards at low cost. Being very slow is another problem. It can be used to sinter aircraft parts but aircraft industry is NOT mass production.

[@xxwzaebd]

3D manufacturing will make Europe's small/family company, handwork and implicit skill based industry obsolete but is ineffective in mass manufacturing in large scale facilities. Everyone who has taken basic courses in corporate management knows this fact.

[@Fuel-3d]

3D printing people! Without damaging our reputation as 'spammers', we've developed a perfect complement for 3D printers: The Fuel3D is an affordable (one tenth the price of its closest competitor), high-resolution, 3D scanner that saves it's scans in .STL, .OBJ & .PLY file formats for on-screen rendering and 3D printing. If you're interested, check out our Kickstarter campaign: you can search for Fuel3D. You can also reply to this comment with any comments or questions you might have

[@nicknack125]

You're a tad behind. You can buy desktop 3D printers at the moment, from starter, simple ones at approx. $300-500 and more advanced, precise ones at approx. $1000+.

[@MrKAHutch]

This technology is simply mind blowing!

[@adrian9545S]

Post scarcity economies!!!!! gonna be fun!

[@xangie8204]

WHY AM I JUST LEARNING ABOUT THIS? THIS IS FREAKING INSANE

[@DocHephaestus]

You culture live cells in a substrate and then print what sort of food you want using them.

[@philliple123]

Customization and advantages on your hands. Hell, this technology can also end world hunger!

[@sparky16261]

Of course there are going to be people like me. What is going to happen to the tax base? What is going to happen to employment? What is going to happen to the social base? What will happen to hospitals? What will happen to all the careers that are outdated? Where does the base material come from that is used to make these things? Plastic, metal, cement, tissue etc.?

[@Rowow]

20-30 US dollers, but depends on the type of printer, and it is for 1 Kilogram of abc plastic

[@bdk316]

i believe they already do! Saw it somewhere cant remember but the machines will build others (outside of circuitry etc)

[@VictoriousSecret1000]

Well, since Star Trek never copyrighted the concept of the machine, and since they never put the machine into production (I'm not sure how a movie would put a machine into production anyhow), no one technically stole anything.

[@zehntori]

The girl in the video said you download a design on the internet, 3D print it and sell it anywhere in the world. Wait a minute lady, why should we pay for something we can download and 3D print ourselves?!!!

[@Bobbiethejean]

As an artist, I am so, so excited by this. I only wish the tech would hurry up.

[@BaudaDeeptube]

Interesting, but I was hoping to see some more questions answered; like is it able to 'print' metal objects? A computer, for example, is made of many different kinds of metals and chemical components, and these are complex stuff, manufactured in chemical labs. How exactly is a 3D printed assemble all that? Will I simply purchase dusted Silicon, dusted Iron, dusted Carbon and feed it to my printer?

[@CongressBeta]

Your a few years behind and no one is doubting you. You can buy a 3d printer right now for $1,300 at staples and put it in your home. In a matter of 5 years it might be commonplace in homes.

[@ClassicFIHD]

"undetectable firearms act" was back in 1988, long before thet had any idea of this machine.

[@bitcointhailand]

- Yes we do! We have the technology to replace every failing institution out there...including, the money!! Keep preaching and so will I.

[@BDpartnercoJM]

I know. He made an argument based on logic, and I was simply giving him an example where government doesn't care about the logic. I don't think 3D Printers will be banned; the technology is just too useful. I believe that the good far out-weighs the bad. But yeah, I wasn't implying that 3D Printers will be banned.

[@coreclan02]

Once you get a 3d printer you have lived!

[@JHNBHN]

u cant do that since ink cartridge has a little metal plate that indicates if it can be used or not, its like serial codings

[@xxwzaebd]

There is a limitation on everything. Compare the time 3D printing takes vs. mass manufacturing in factories. Besides, Chinese factories are no more low labor cost-they have world standard quality control/equipment. Mass manufactured products have quality assurance and are mechanically robust and to tight tolerances(1/1000 mm at production runs of several 100 millions). So 3D printing will remain in niche areas like lost wax mold making etc.

[@touchsmart0]

a 3D printers roll is $16 per KG of ABS plastic... (1KG=2.2 Pounds)