3D Printing: The Next Big Thing

Photo+courtesy+of+mrdavisdc+%28creative+commons%29+on+Flickr

Photo courtesy of mrdavisdc (creative commons) on Flickr

Get ready for 3D printing to be everywhere.

In what seems to be technology straight out of The Jetsons cartoon, innovators believe that eventually anything can be printed. And the progress they’ve made so far is almost unbelievable.

Just one of the many strange things that have been printed is an actual, drivable car. The car was conceptualized by Local Motors, a company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. It’s called the Strati and Local Motors is already taking reservations for people to own one. So if you want to be the first of your friends to drive one, read more about it at https://localmotors.com/3d-printed-car/. Just imagine pulling up to school in one of these.

Or how about some 3D printed instruments? In September 2014, students at Lund University in Sweden became the first band ever to play a live concert with 3D printed instruments. The guitars, keyboard, and drums were designed and printed by a professor at the university and you will be amazed at the sound quality of the instruments.

Aside from all of the flashy items that can be produced from these printers, they have proven to be very promising for the engineering and especially medical fields. Doctors and researchers have been working on furthering developments in 3D printing in areas such as prosthetics, body parts, and even dental work.

3D printing has also found its way into the culinary arts and chemistry field. Different prototypes are beginning to emerge taking the concept of the original 3D printer and adjusting it to suit a specific project.

The technological world has clearly already seen many innovative advancements with the printing, but you can be sure that these 3D printers haven’t even scratched the surface yet.

To check out more amazing things that were made from 3D printers, visit http://www.businessinsider.com/things-you-can-make-with-a-3d-printer-2014-8.