Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve yet to preserve our likenesses in holograms, but a German studio called Twinkind has the next best thing: a highly detailed 3D printed figurine of yourself. Imagine playing a tabletop RPG as yourself! With your dog as your sidekick!

Twinkind uses a multi-camera scanner that takes lots of images from all angles. Apparently this process only takes a split-second. Then they process the images from the scanner and turn it into a 3D model, which will then be used to print figurines in full color. After 2 to 5 weeks, you’ll get the Mini-Me to your Dr. Evil. Twinkind will keep a digital file of your shot so you can order more figurines in the future.

Unfortunately, Twinkind isn’t for everyone. First of all, it’s very expensive: the smallest figurine is about 6″ tall and costs about $290 (USD), while the most expensive one is about $1,680 and is about 14″tall. Second, before you become a collectible that only your family will want to collect, you have to visit Twinkind’s shop in Hamburg, Germany to be scanned. Do you love yourself that much?

[via Laughing Squid]

What once was just a simple website for hosting online auctions is now a company that does so much more. eBay just launched a new service called Exact, which is essentially an online store dedicated entirely to 3D-printed products that shoppers can choose from and even customize, including phone cases, accessories, and jewelry.

The service comes in mobile app form only available on iOS at this point, and the experience will remind you a lot of Etsy, the online store where you can buy handcrafted products. eBay Exact does the same thing, except its for 3D-printed products only, and there are items from a handful of companies so far, including MakerBot.

Prices on items vary greatly. You can get a custom iPhone case for as low as $25, but products that are a bit more complex will cost more, including a 3D-printed ring that can cost as much as $350. Buying items through the app is very similar to paying for an item after winning an eBay auction. All payments are done through PayPal and orders are usually sent out 7-14 business days after payment was made.

Some products also have more customization options than others. A figurine may only have two options to choose from, but other items, like an iPhone case, may have an assortment of colors that you can pick from, choosing your favorite one.

While the 3D-printing craze has been around for awhile now, eBay’s entrance into the industry is still an early move for them, seeing as how 3D printing is fully mainstream yet. Plus, the company has plans to expand Exact with more items and more companies to offer their 3D-printed products. We reckon this is only the beginning for eBay’s adventure into 3D printing.

eBay Exact arrives for customizable, 3D-printed products is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

In the latest of 3D-printed hardware, NASA has completed a series of test firings of the agency’s first rocket engine part made entirely from 3D printing. The component in question is the rocket engine’s injector, and it went through several hot-fire tests using a mix of liquid-oxygen and gaseous hydrogen.

However, NASA didn’t use ABS plastic that most 3D-printers use. Instead, the agency used custom 3D printers to spray layers of metallic powder using lasers. The lasers spray the powder in a specific pattern in order to come up with the desired shape for an object. In this case: a rocket engine injector.

The testing was done at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and the project is in partnership with Aerojet Rocketdyne. The company designed the injector and used 3D printing to make the component a reality. If they were to make the injector using traditional manufacturing processes, it would take over a year to make.

With 3D printing now an option, NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne are able to make the same component in just a matter of four months or less. Costs are a huge factor too, and the 3D-printed reduces costsby up to 70% compared to traditional methods and materials. This could lead to more efficient and cost-effective manufacturing of rocket engines.

NASA didn’t say what was next for the 3D-printed injector as far as testing goes, nor do they have a timeline for when they expect to officially implement the new technology in future rocket engines. We can only expect them to implement it sooner rather than later, but it could take several more years until it can be fully operational and on its way into space.

SOURCE: NASA

NASA 3D-printed rocket injector undergoes first test firing is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft has shown off the handiwork of its 3D prototyping for the Xbox One, revealing the stack of rapid-prototyping samples the company went through as it refined the next-gen console’s design. Showing off the 3D prints at the Worldwide Partner Conference 2013 this week, Microsoft discussed its more than 200 mock-ups of the Xbox One controller and “dozens and dozens” of core hardware ideas, as it turned to the latest in prototyping to streamline the process.

“We found that, when people put these [controller designs] in their hands, [they] could tell the difference between a 10th of a millimeter in size” Xbox creative director Carl Ledbetter told Polygon. The team of roughly thirty people started by sketching out possibilities then sent them to the in-house model shop next door, where physical versions of the designs could be created.

The models, Ledbetter says, were then deployed into real-world settings, to see how well they worked. Meanwhile, the engineers tested for exactly how practical they would be, and whether they would accommodate the internal hardware for the Xbox One required.

Some of the designs are more outlandish than others. Although the angular shapes that made it through to the production Xbox One are clear in many of the prototypes, Microsoft’s team also flirted with curves, Stealth Bomber-style planes, and even a suspended “X” design.

The main goal, though, was to get something that worked under the TV and wasn’t too distracting. “How do we make the font look high quality,” Ledbetter said of one of the challenges, “just like the high definition televisions in people’s living rooms?”

Some of the production processes Microsoft settled on are surprisingly advanced. For instance, the colored buttons on the Xbox One controller are injection-inserted to keep them vivid, while two different types of motor are used for rumble effects and completely new springing has been introduced for the sticks compared to the Xbox 360 pad.

Xbox One prototypes show Microsoft’s outlandish 3D printing journey is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

People so rarely use light string accompaniment as the soundtracks for their 3D printing projects these days, but I think this video deserves it. It depicts a new, syringe-based metal printing system made by researchers at NC State. It uses gallium and indium which oxidizes in air, thereby sealing the droplets together. While you won’t be building any 3D guns with this process – it’s far too slow and the dots are microscopic – you can create self-healing wires and stretchable circuits.

“We’ve found that a liquid metal alloy of gallium and indium reacts to the oxygen in the air at room temperature to form a ‘skin’ that allows the liquid metal structures to retain their shapes,” wrote Dr. Michael Dickey.

They have also created a system to inject liquid metal into a mold and then dissolve the mold away, leaving only the metal. Because the droplets bind and not “heap,” the system allows you to build 3D objects without resulting in a little pool of metal.

You could also feasibly use this process alongside standard plastic 3D printing systems to create leads that would snake their way through the inside of an object. It’s non-toxic – so presumably you can eat a lot of it – but it’s still quite expensive so don’t expect to build any stainless steel rats any time soon.

via New Scientist