3D print technology in hybrid meetings

The 3D print technology:
Over the last few years, 3D printing as a more refined technology has caught the public eye a lot. Some of the uses have drawn wide attention in the media and the public, from the ability to produce gun parts at home to the amazing creation of foods.

How exactly does 3D printing work:
No matter 2D or 3D printer, the principal of “printing” an object is not far from us: spraying or transferring a substance in multiple layers onto a building surface.
First, people should create a 3D image of the item you want to print on the computer by using software(for example CAD). This software will slice that virtual object into hundreds or thousands of horizontal layers. Then 3D printer is going to implement those layers one over another till the completed object emerges.

Applications:
Industrial 3D printers have appeared since the 1980s and have been used extensively for rapid prototyping and research purposes. This is because 3D printing enabled rapid manufacturing in an inexpensive way. The production of small numbers of parts is much easier than ever. Besides, there are not so much limitations on the materials: plastic, resin, even the food could be “printed”.


3D Printing of Humans:
Some fans are crazing in trying to print everything. How about print a human? Some biotechnological firms and academic institutes have already produced human organs by layers of living cells. Those organs will bear a real human or a robot? Here’s what “3D Human Printing” would be applied. Let’s say I can’t attend a meeting tomorrow because that’s in India, 8000 miles away. But I really want to go. So, I send data of my body to that far away office and they create another me through 3D printer. I take my virtual reality suit at home and that printed me wear a same one, then we open eyes at same time. On the video screen I see what those eyes see. I move my arms and that one moves its arms. I talk that one talks with my voice. My entire awareness feels like it’s in the room in India.

Of course, video conferencing can never replace face to face meetings. But this high technology might help to give you an immersed sense, and so do the others. People in that conference room are thinking you are right there with them. After talking or debating, the meeting completed. By saving money and time, is it a better way to communicate?

Look at these printed “human” in another way. It can touch the regions where you are absent. Those regions could be foreign countries, attractions or the universe. In terms of the disable people, they can feel the world through this receiver. This experience may delight their life and be remembered for a long time. Would this be a new market for the hospitality firms?

Keywords: 3D print, human, hybrid conference

Reference:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/01/23/f-3d-printing.html
http://blog.ponoko.com/2012/04/19/3d-printing-as-an-art-form/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printing
http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2013/02/10-great-ideas-someone-should-invent/


By Chen LIU and Milena BILLAUD