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OLO, World's First Portable 3D Printer Prints On Top Of Smartphones (hothardware.com)
MojoKid quotes a report from HotHardware: The OLO 3D Printer was first announced in October at the World Maker Faire in New York, where it earned itself an Editor's Choice award and accolades. The developers behind OLO call it a "smartphone 3D printer" as it requires a smartphone to operate. Designs can either be downloaded from the internet from the device, or copied over from a computer once it's created. When placed on a desk, the OLO looks like an inconspicuous little box, but inside, it can craft items up to 400 cm3 in volume. Its developers call the OLO "portable," and it has the specs to match at 1.7 lbs with a physical size of only 6.8" x 4.5" x 5.8." OLO is a unique printer not only because of its small form factor and low price point ($99), but because of its operation. Once the 3D model is loaded, the bottom section of OLO can be placed on top of your phone, and then the resin of your choice is poured inside that structure. You then place the top half of OLO on top and wait a few hours for it to do its thing. The resin hardens by using the light emitted from the smartphone it sits on top of, generated from the OLO app.
Exactly. For 3-6 hours while this this is being used, my phone is unusable for anything else, even if there is an emergency call or text.
Also, what's the point, other than a novelty value? I can get a 3D printer with a larger printing volume. It may not be as cool looking, but it likely will have a heated tray and almost assuredly, better precision than this model. Plus, using filament is a lot easier to deal with than guesstimating how much liquid I squirt on the phone's surface.
The only real use I can see with this is having a dedicated smartphone or iPod Touch, and using it in the field, due to the portability.
There are a LOT of things that dont make sense to me. smartphones dont put out a lot of light and it varies based on phone, it's not like 1000 lumen projectors used for real photometric 3d printers. so a print would take insane amounts of time..... so what happens when I get a call during a print?
they really dont give any good details for someone to make a good decision on.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.