Soon, a 3-D printer that can let you create objects

Source: ANI

Last updated on: August 26, 2009 16:32 IST

Tired of hopping from store to store to make relevant purchases? Well, a new three-dimensional printer would soon allow shoppers to customise their purchases in store.

The printer, displayed at Science Museum in London, can create objects including a pen, a light and an orange squeezer from pieces of metal and plastic.

It works by using a powerful laser to melt powdered plastic to bond together and build up into a desired three-dimensional shape.

While it takes two hours per inch of plastic, several objects can be printed at a time.

Dr Siavash Mahdavi of Digital Forming, the firm behind the exhibit, insisted the 3D

div_1">

printer will be commonplace in the future.

"There are an incredible number of uses for this," The Telegraph quoted him as saying.

"For instance, we believe shops could install these systems and let users create their own jewellery and even clothes or shoes.

"You can effectively customise the design in terms of shape, colour and texture, then print out your purchase," he added.
Mahdavi insists that the technology can really change design forever.

"We believe that while designers will still do 90 per cent of the work, consumers could add their 10 per cent to make the object their own," he added.

Source: ANI