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Smartphone-Enabled Replicators Are 3-5 Years Away, Caltech Professor Says
merbs writes: In just a few years, we could see the mass proliferation of DIY, smartphone-enabled replicators. At least, Caltech electrical engineering professor Ali Hajimiri and his team of researchers thinks so. They've developed a very tiny, very powerful 3D imager that can easily fit in a mobile device, successfully tested its prowess, and published the high-res results (PDF) in the journal Optics. Hajimiri claims the imager may soon allow consumers to snap a photo of just about anything, and then, with a good enough 3D printer, use it to create a real-life replica "accurate to within microns of the original object."
And you thought dick pics were a problem...
Says random PhD student. I wonder which one of us will be right in the end.
I'm thinking it will be me.
Bad headline: "Smartphone-Enabled Replicators Are 3-5 Years Away, Caltech Professor Says"
Good headline: "Smartphone-Enabled 3-D Scanners Are 3-5 Years Away, Caltech Professor Says"
I want to download a car!
Is a replicator sensor on a phone really that useful? A camera is nice to have around all the time and even that often isn't used much by many phone owners. Yes, this thing is small but space is at a premium on phones. How often do you look at something and say "I wish I could create a mediocre quality 3D printed version of this"?
I don't see it as a mainstream feature. Maybe an option. Maybe useful for measuring things.
that the "accurate within microns" part is only applicable if you feed it some scaling information.
Otherwise, it's going to only be as accurate as the person guessing the size of the original.
I like you, Stuart. You're not like everyone else, here, at Slashdot.
I *can* imagine the possibility that within 5 years, we'd have portable enough 3d imagers and powerful enough phones to both stick the hardware in a phone-sized device and have a phone-sized device run the required software. I have no real understanding of how the physics of that would really work, granted, but it doesn't seem totally outside the bounds of possibility.
But that's just the input. I *can't* really imagine the possibility that within 5 years, we'd have powerful enough *printers* to take the output of such a precise scanner, and recreate it anywhere near so precise, even if you're only talking about an object made entirely out of one or two kinds of plastic, which is unlikely to be the sort of object people would really want to "replicate". "Just about anything"? Yeah right.
Wake me up when we can replicate food, say, and have it taste the same as the original. Will we see that in my lifetime? Maybe, if I'm lucky. Will we see that in 3-5 years? I'd bet quite a lot of money on "no", and I'm not a betting sort of person.
Might be time for a remake of Weird Science.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
i done took a pitcher of hit.
Since when are those a problem?!
Great, you can scan something and then print it in crappy plastic. Big whoop.
Seriously, 3D printing has been around for a while now, and I am still waiting to see anything beyond the Gee-Whiz level of cool or useful. You can only make so many money clips, pencil holders, and miniature busts before it becomes clear it is just a toy. Industrial ones that can print in metal are a different story, but the crappy plastic extruders are never going to take over the world or replace China's factories.
This story still needs drones and twitter. I am disappointed.
Earl Grey, hot."
Methods are improving and materials are improving. As costs continue to drop and more materials become available, look around your home and ask: What objects could be replaced with replicas made of metal, ceramics, even advanced composites of wood or stone. A composite maplewood desk. A custom designed set of steel silverware. Porcelain plates. Ceramic bowls. Iron composite free weights. I have a painting I purchased at an art museum. It would be neat to be able to snap a photo, get home and have a replica suit of armor. Surely this won't cover everything, but certain kinds of objects will simply be available now, whether or not you purchased them directly (simply by having the materials necessary). It will be interesting to see how the market reacts, but in terms of the products that get replaced, to the innovations that build on top of this.
Today, anyone with some determination and a few photographs can replicate keys. How soon will it be till the average criminal has access to an instant key duplicator? A high quality scanner could mark the end of even the top rated physical keys.
I think I just cashed out all my cool points.
We heard you like phones, so we made a phone in your phone so you can phone while you phone
I'll file this next to my "breakthrough battery tech that's just around the corner" file...
Before we get too far with this thing, what has this guy predicted 5 years ago? How did that turn out? Without some calibration there is no reason to pay attention to his predictions more than the predictions of Satguru Somereallylongnameanandaswami.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Either you could 3D print a statue of your hot naked girlfriend, or you could take micron-level measurements of her body parts.
.... It's not a kickstarter project.... yet....
Timothy posted the exact same reference to the CalTech project on April 5th... I guess Soulskill has been away on Easter holidays:
http://www.slashdot.org/story/15/04/05/1610206/tiny-lidar-chip-could-add-cheap-3d-sensing-to-cellphones-and-tablets
Being able to 3D scan something from your phone would be neat, if a bit niche, but the printer will not be mobile, and just like the current desktop scanners, your highly precise model will only be of the visible OUTSIDE of the object. That might be fine if you just want a cheap plastic replica of that sculpture, but pretty much useless if you wanted a replacement for anything but the crudest of mechanical parts.
Good idea: Star Trek-style replicators that can produce food or whatever gizmo we need to save the ship.
Bad idea: Stargate SG-1 replicators that want to wipe out humanity.
"Hey, I know what we're gonna do today." -- Phineas Flynn
the bloody sucking lawyers and campaign seeking politicians will keep it tied up in ip legislation for at least the next century.
https://xkcd.com/678/
Ah!
I will just just switch to another calendar (Islamic) and you prophecy just hit went poof.
Frak your future credits pal!
Just means that the malicious actors will be able to surveil you in 3D now.