Here at 3D Rapid Print, one of the fastest growing 3D Printing companies in the Thames Valley, we like to keep abreast of the latest innovations in 3D printing.
On January 26th 2022, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced that a group of its researchers had developed a way to 3D print objects that change their appearance when viewed from different angles, proclaiming that this had never been done before. They also developed a free editing tool to enable the masses to design and build their own similar objects. The editing tool uses the relevant 3D model and images the designer wants to change between to calculate what the lens placement and colour pattern across the object’s surface should be. The designer can subsequently preview the resulting object before having a 3D printer print the object, colour patterns and lenses.
The object’s changing images work via many very small 3D printed lenticular lenses across the object’s surface, such that 6 of the lenses the MIT team made could fit across the surface of a dime. The team created 4 examples of objects with lenticular images, intent on demonstrating the ability to create objects with different geometries and image complexities, as well as varying numbers of changing images. Each 3D printed with thousands of lenses; these included:
- A kettlebell that shows if the user is holding it properly. If it is too low or too high, an arrow pointing up or down appears; a check mark shows the correct position.
- A bedside lamp shade that shows the words “Good Day” or “Good Night” depending on if someone is sitting up or lying down in bed.
- An earbud case that flickers between several coloured stripes depending on how the user handles it.
- A shoe printed with a motivational message only the user can see, such that it would be invisible to a passerby.
MIT graduate student Yunyi Zhu argued that the project’s main challenge was finding the lens size that would balance resolution with fabrication quality. (The smaller the lens, the better the resolution, but the worse the fabrication quality.) Ultimately, Zhu and colleagues found that a lens measuring 3mm in diameter worked the best. The team also tested other variables, including the lens’s orientation and various post-processing techniques, concluding that lenses facing upwards and treated with painting varnish worked the best. The team’s research was presented in October 2021 at the Association for Computing Machinery’s Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology.
3D printing is an amazing tool. It can grow your small business or start a mini revolution in an industry. Explore what it can do for you when you contact us today.
Disclaimer: Featured image of “1580 – anamorphosis – mary, queen of scots” is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1927.
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