The holy grail of 3D printing to someday print out whatever you want, assembled molecule by molecule. You want a banana, a table, a new pair of pants? Just pop in the specs and print it. Theoretically, it’s certainly possible, and I would be surprised if we don’t see it within a few decades. But what about today? Is someone about to surprise us all, already on the verge of unveiling a molecular printer?
NatNet says they are about to unveil just such a printer technology. Watch this:
Haven’t heard of NatNet? Neither have we. And apparently they’ve kept such a low-profile that they only have 151 friends on their Facebook page. But maybe they’ve been purposely holed up in a super secret lab in their Italian offices, making sure no word leaks out too early.
So, when will they formally announce this printer? Their Facebook site says today (Italy’s today). at the Frontiers of Interaction Conference at the MiCo building in Milan, Italy.
Michael Molitch-Tou, as he explained in an article at 3DPrintingIndustry.com, contacted the company and received a reply that explains the process:
We use a new technology able to print objects combining pure chemical elements. Our system of recipes allow us to generate a list with all the elements needed to print the desired object.
In this way, everything becomes a digital file entirely open-source.
Our system grants you the possibility to manage molecules to reassemble them during the printing process, to obtain the shapes and the features desired. Organic or inorganic, it’s up to you.
By this time tomorrow we should know what this is all about. The 3D printing world has seen it’s share of hype and overpromises, so let’s just say I’ll hold my excitement back until tomorrow.
What are your thoughts?
h/t: 3DPrintingIndustry.com
