Google warehouse has a number of interesting models. Most of them have not been printable until now. This cat model is one we had printed in stainless steal using the Shapeways 3D-Print service.

If you look at the model rendered below you will notice small dark patches. Google renderer produced these artifacts because the model is imperfect. Normally this would mean that the model can not be 3D-Printed but not any more.

We can print almost any Google Warehouse model, thanks to our new 3D Repair Software.

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Wouldn’t it be great if, when you needed something, you could just grab a 3D model, print it out and solve all your problems?

Can’t we do this already? Well theoretically we can. There are however a number of problems such as the limited range of materials and the price of 3D-Printing. Things are improving in these areas and in time they will become less and less of a problem.

The main hurdle for most people is something less apparent. A 3D file has to be close to perfect in order to be printed. A triangle, for example, can not be printed because it does not have volume. Below is a file I download from Google Warehouse. Whilst the model does look good, when you check the validity of the model it is another story. All those numbers next to the red crosses are mistakes that can prevent the model from being printed.

60,000 Problems

Most models that you will find are like this because they are not made to be 3D-Printed. At the moment we are working on a solution to this problem. At present we can fix all of these problems above and many more for objects printed in small scales.

We are also testing ways that we can thicken parts that are too fragile to be printed. In the image above the windshield, for example, is too thin so it needs to be made thicker.

Low Resolution Test Print

Our current solution is focusing on allowing any model to be printed as a piece of jewelry. Shortly I will be asking people to choose a 3D-Model that we can turn into a pendant or perhaps a pair of cufflinks. Stay tuned and as always don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

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Following on from our fingerprint sculptures in 2005 we exhibited a fingerprint ring at the 2008 ARS Electronica. This project was put on the back burner for a while, until a customer of ours dropped us a line asked if we could make her some fingerprint wedding bands. The idea being that, even when they are apart, they still hold one-another’s hand; a very romantic notion. The answer was, of course, “Of course!”. These first rings were in Silver and included a fingerprint that were oxidized to increase the contrast. The female fingerprint ring was also refined with a diamond.

Since then we have made a few different versions of the fingerprint rings. These fingerprint rings are made from white gold and are embossed with the markings of a frog from South America, which is the subject of the brides research.

Blacked silver is used in this case to contrast the inside of the fingerprint ring that is in contact with the finger. The blackened silver also contrast beautifully with the white of the wedding dress.

At Fluid Forms we really love working on wedding rings. We are all about the embodiment of emotions in physical objects and what could be more emotional than a wedding.

If you are looking to add something really special to your wedding rings, drop us a line. The fingerprint rings and all our custom jewelry is made in Austria and we ship all over the world. If it is an engagement ring or a special anniversary ring you are after, why not make it extra special with a Fluid Forms Fingerprint Ring.

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This is a really project by BlablabLAB that really show the fascination of seeing yourself or loved ones in another form. They scan in people bodies in real time and 3D-Print out the results.

The real time aspect enables people to be much more creative with there poses than with scanners to date.

Be Your Own Souvenir! from blablabLAB on Vimeo.

via: gizmodo

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If you are interested in digital manufacturing methods, generative design, generative architecture and fabbing, DHUB Barcelona is the place to go. The exhibition and surrounding program is excellently curated by Carlos Ipser and Marta Alemany (and other curators?) shows the most representative examples around Additive Manufacturing Methods, Open Source Fabbers, Mass Customization and more. Beside products and concepts of rather well known labels like FOC or n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com, astonishing (fab)bots developed during workshops at the AA and IAAC are shown. The whole program is very inspiring and provides a good clue for what will be possible in the future, using digital fabrication, generative software and co-creation.

The FabBot I liked the most by Ali Basbous and Miquel Lloveras.

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This is a short film by Neuve Ojos I found on the Ponoko site today. It is part of the Fabrication Laboratory exhibition at the DHUB in Barcelona. It really shows the romance of Fabbing and a glimpse at what the future could be. Our Cassius lamps are also part of this exhibition.

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Many people think Fluid Forms is all about online-design-tools and user co-creation. Right, but beside our standard products available in our online-shop, we do lots of special editions. I’d like to show you some extraordinary examples form topographic landscape models, which are clearly based on our “Earth bowls” and explain the background a bit.

For the Jagdmuseum Stainz (Hunting Museum Stainz) we did a landscape relief of the western part of Styria. Visitors can choose points of special interest and villages on the screen. Size is about 1,5 x 2,5 meter. The position of these places  are indicated by LEDs on the topographic model. (done by project-syntropy.de/) It’s a good example for the work we do for exhibitions and museums.

In Austria, regions with special and unique traditional foods, are marketed under the label “Genussregionen Österreichs”. A while ago the best of them got awarded for their activities. The trophy was a gold colored topographic model of Austria. The banner indicated the location of the winning regions. Concept by ipu.at Closely related to this is our Styria Pin. By this it should be clear, the basically we can make any region (even the moon) in any size and any material. It’s no problem to use region’s boundaries to make a special trophy of certain cities, states or countries. So if you have something cool and special in mind, just let us know and we’ll try our best to realize you idea.

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These are two Streets Pendants/Earrings I made from some sections displayed in an article on boston.com showing the results of the residential development bust in the form of satellite images. Some of the developments are really quite attractive from a birds eye perspective.

Below are some examples. You can see more here.

TIP: You can create Earrings of Pendants of these or other locations by entering the coordinates (separated by a comma) of a location into the search field on the Streets Interface. This will take you straight to that location. E.g. 26.42335,-81.779802

You can see that only two houses were build here before things went pair shaped.

If you find other cool location please let us know by email or by posting on our Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/fluidforms

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:: Sorry, this entry is available in German only ::

Viele der selbst gestalteten Fluid Forms werden ja als ganz individuelles Geschenk für den Geburtstag, einen Jahrestag und diverse andere Anlässe wie Hochzeitstag, Muttertag etc. bestellt. Für all jene, die auf Fluid-Forms.com nicht ganz fündig werden, bietet die deutsche Website geschenke.de eine Vielzahl unterschiedlichster Geschenkideen für jeden Anlass. Geschenke.de ist, gleich wie personalisiert.de, eine Tochterseite des sehr erfolgreichen Unternehmens personello.de, das sich auf die Personalisierung von Produkten mittels Photodruck spezialisiert hat.

Tipp: auf der Facebookseite von geschenke.de gibt es aktuell gerade Streets-Ohrringe zu gewinnen!

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I visited in Linz on the weekend for the ARS Electonica; one of the world’s foremost media art festivals. Here are a few of the highlights as far as I am concerned. A the time of writing the ARS is still running. If you get a chance you should pop along to Linz and see for yourself.

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