Blog What comes after 3D Printing?..........4D Printing!
As techs we like to stay up on the latest and greatest things. Like all technology, as soon as then next big thing gets to the market it is already being replaced by something bigger and better. 3D printing has been the hot buzz around many medias as of late, including here at CATI. We are seeing printer technology change very rapidly and many companies are finding great uses to reduce prototyping time and cost to get products out faster.
I came across a very interesting article the other day. The military is investing in the next big technology in 3D printing. Or should I say 4D printing.
What is 4D printing? This is the ablility for 3D print objects to change their shape or appearance ocver time (the forth dimension), or in response to a condition.
Could this be the next big medical break thru? Can we engineer self healing materials? What else would this now allow us to do?
This technology may be a ways off, but think of the possibilities this offers? May be you could come up with a great us of this technology.
Bryan Pawlak, CSWE