A primer on 3D printing
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0:00 - 0:03It is actually a reality today
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0:03 - 0:07that you can download products from the Web --
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0:07 - 0:10product data, I should say, from the Web --
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0:10 - 0:13perhaps tweak it and personalize it
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0:13 - 0:15to your own preference or your own taste,
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0:15 - 0:18and have that information sent
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0:18 - 0:21to a desktop machine
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0:21 - 0:23that will fabricate it for you on the spot.
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0:23 - 0:25We can actually build for you,
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0:25 - 0:27very rapidly,
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0:27 - 0:30a physical object.
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0:30 - 0:32And the reason we can do this
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0:32 - 0:34is through an emerging technology
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0:34 - 0:36called additive manufacturing,
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0:36 - 0:39or 3D printing.
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0:39 - 0:41This is a 3D printer.
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0:41 - 0:43They have been around
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0:43 - 0:45for almost 30 years now,
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0:45 - 0:47which is quite amazing to think of,
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0:47 - 0:49but they're only just starting
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0:49 - 0:51to filter into the public arena.
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0:51 - 0:54And typically, you would take data,
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0:54 - 0:57like the data of a pen here,
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0:57 - 1:00which would be a geometric representation of that product in 3D,
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1:00 - 1:02and we would pass that data with material
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1:02 - 1:04into a machine.
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1:04 - 1:06And a process that would happen in the machine
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1:06 - 1:08would mean layer by layer that product would be built.
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1:08 - 1:11And we can take out the physical product,
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1:11 - 1:13and ready to use,
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1:13 - 1:16or to, perhaps, assemble into something else.
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1:16 - 1:19But if these machines have been around for almost 30 years,
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1:19 - 1:21why don't we know about them?
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1:21 - 1:24Because typically they've been too inefficient,
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1:24 - 1:27inaccessible,
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1:27 - 1:29they've not been fast enough,
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1:29 - 1:31they've been quite expensive.
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1:31 - 1:33But today,
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1:33 - 1:35it is becoming a reality
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1:35 - 1:37that they are now becoming successful.
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1:37 - 1:39Many barriers are breaking down.
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1:39 - 1:41That means that you guys
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1:41 - 1:43will soon be able to access one of these machines,
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1:43 - 1:46if not this minute.
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1:46 - 1:48And it will change and disrupt
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1:48 - 1:50the landscape of manufacturing,
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1:50 - 1:53and most certainly our lives, our businesses
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1:53 - 1:55and the lives of our children.
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1:55 - 1:58So how does it work?
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1:58 - 2:00It typically reads CAD data,
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2:00 - 2:02which is a product design data
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2:02 - 2:04created on professional product design programs.
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2:04 - 2:06And here you can see an engineer --
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2:06 - 2:09it could be an architect or it could be a professional product designer --
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2:09 - 2:12create a product in 3D.
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2:12 - 2:14And this data gets sent to a machine
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2:14 - 2:17that slices the data
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2:17 - 2:19into two-dimensional representations of that product
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2:19 - 2:21all the way through --
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2:21 - 2:24almost like slicing it like salami.
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2:24 - 2:27And that data, layer by layer, gets passed through the machine,
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2:27 - 2:29starting at the base of the product
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2:29 - 2:32and depositing material, layer upon layer,
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2:32 - 2:36infusing the new layer of materials to the old layer
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2:36 - 2:38in an additive process.
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2:38 - 2:41And this material that's deposited
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2:41 - 2:43either starts as a liquid form
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2:43 - 2:46or a material powder form.
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2:46 - 2:48And the bonding process can happen
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2:48 - 2:51by either melting and depositing or depositing then melting.
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2:51 - 2:54In this case, we can see a laser sintering machine developed by EOS.
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2:54 - 2:56It's actually using a laser
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2:56 - 2:59to fuse the new layer of material to the old layer.
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2:59 - 3:01And over time --
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3:01 - 3:03quite rapidly actually, in a number of hours --
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3:03 - 3:05we can build a physical product,
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3:05 - 3:07ready to take out of the machine and use.
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3:07 - 3:11And this is quite an extraordinary idea,
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3:11 - 3:14but it is reality today.
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3:14 - 3:17So all these products that you can see on the screen
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3:17 - 3:19were made in the same way.
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3:19 - 3:21They were all 3D printed.
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3:21 - 3:23And you can see,
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3:23 - 3:25they're ranging from shoes,
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3:25 - 3:28rings that were made out of stainless steal,
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3:28 - 3:30phone covers out of plastic,
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3:30 - 3:33all the way through to spinal implants, for example,
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3:33 - 3:35that were created out of medical-grade titanium,
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3:35 - 3:37and engine parts.
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3:37 - 3:39But what you'll notice about all of these products
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3:39 - 3:41is they're very, very intricate.
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3:41 - 3:44The design is quite extraordinary.
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3:44 - 3:47Because we're taking this data in 3D form,
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3:47 - 3:50slicing it up before it gets past the machine,
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3:50 - 3:52we can actually create structures
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3:52 - 3:54that are more intricate
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3:54 - 3:57than any other manufacturing technology --
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3:57 - 4:01or, in fact, are impossible to build in any other way.
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4:01 - 4:04And you can create parts with moving components,
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4:04 - 4:06hinges, parts within parts.
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4:06 - 4:09So in some cases, we can abolish totally
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4:09 - 4:11the need for manual labor.
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4:11 - 4:13It sounds great.
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4:13 - 4:15It is great.
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4:15 - 4:17We can have 3D printers today
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4:17 - 4:19that build structures like these.
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4:19 - 4:22This is almost three meters high.
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4:22 - 4:24And this was built
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4:24 - 4:27by depositing artificial sandstone layer upon layer
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4:27 - 4:31in layers of about five millimeters to 10 mm in thickness --
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4:31 - 4:33slowly growing this structure.
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4:33 - 4:36This was created by an architectural firm called Shiro.
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4:36 - 4:38And you can actually walk into it.
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4:38 - 4:40And on the other end of the spectrum,
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4:40 - 4:42this is a microstructure.
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4:42 - 4:44It's created depositing layers
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4:44 - 4:47of about four microns.
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4:47 - 4:50So really the resolution is quite incredible.
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4:50 - 4:52The detail that you can get today
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4:52 - 4:55is quite amazing.
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4:55 - 4:57So who's using it?
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4:57 - 5:00Typically, because we can create products very rapidly,
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5:00 - 5:03it's been used by product designers,
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5:03 - 5:06or anyone who wanted to prototype a product
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5:06 - 5:09and very quickly create or reiterate a design.
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5:09 - 5:13And actually what's quite amazing about this technology as well
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5:13 - 5:16is that you can create bespoke products en masse.
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5:16 - 5:19There's very little economies of scale.
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5:19 - 5:22So you can now create one-offs very easily.
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5:22 - 5:24Architects, for example,
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5:24 - 5:26they want to create prototypes of buildings.
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5:26 - 5:28Again you can see,
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5:28 - 5:31this is a building of the Free University in Berlin
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5:31 - 5:33and it was designed by Foster and Partners.
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5:33 - 5:36Again, not buildable in any other way.
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5:36 - 5:39And very hard to even create this by hand.
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5:41 - 5:44Now this is an engine component.
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5:44 - 5:47It was developed by a company called Within Technologies
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5:47 - 5:50and 3T RPD.
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5:50 - 5:52It's very, very, very detailed
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5:52 - 5:54inside with the design.
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5:54 - 5:56Now 3D printing
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5:56 - 5:58can break away barriers in design
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5:58 - 6:00which challenge the constraints
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6:00 - 6:02of mass production.
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6:02 - 6:05If we slice into this product which is actually sitting here,
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6:05 - 6:09you can see that it has a number of cooling channels pass through it,
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6:09 - 6:12which means it's a more efficient product.
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6:12 - 6:15You can't create this with standard manufacturing techniques
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6:15 - 6:17even if you tried to do it manually.
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6:17 - 6:19It's more efficient
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6:19 - 6:22because we can now create all these cavities within the object
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6:22 - 6:24that cool fluid.
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6:24 - 6:26And it's used by aerospace
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6:26 - 6:29and automotive.
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6:29 - 6:32It's a lighter part
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6:32 - 6:34and it uses less material waste.
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6:34 - 6:37So it's overall performance and efficiency
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6:37 - 6:40just exceeds standard mass produced products.
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6:40 - 6:42And then taking this idea
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6:42 - 6:44of creating a very detailed structure,
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6:44 - 6:46we can apply it to honeycomb structures
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6:46 - 6:49and use them within implants.
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6:49 - 6:51Typically an implant
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6:51 - 6:53is more effective within the body
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6:53 - 6:55if it's more porous,
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6:55 - 6:57because our body tissue will grow into it.
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6:57 - 7:00There's a lower chance of rejection.
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7:00 - 7:03But it's very hard to create that in standard ways.
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7:03 - 7:05With 3D printing,
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7:05 - 7:07we're seeing today
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7:07 - 7:09that we can create much better implants.
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7:09 - 7:11And in fact, because we can create
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7:11 - 7:14bespoke products en masse, one-offs,
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7:14 - 7:16we can create implants
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7:16 - 7:18that are specific to individuals.
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7:18 - 7:20So as you can see,
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7:20 - 7:24this technology and the quality of what comes out of the machines is fantastic.
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7:24 - 7:26And we're starting to see it being used
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7:26 - 7:28for final end products.
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7:28 - 7:30And in fact, as the detail is improving,
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7:30 - 7:32the quality is improving,
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7:32 - 7:35the price of the machines are falling
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7:35 - 7:37and they're becoming quicker.
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7:37 - 7:39They're also now small enough
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7:39 - 7:41to sit on a desktop.
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7:41 - 7:43You can buy a machine today for about $300
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7:43 - 7:45that you can create yourself,
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7:45 - 7:47which is quite incredible.
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7:47 - 7:49But then it begs the question,
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7:49 - 7:52why don't we all have one in our home?
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7:52 - 7:54Because, simply, most of us here today
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7:54 - 7:56don't know how to create the data
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7:56 - 7:58that a 3D printer reads.
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7:58 - 8:00If I gave you a 3D printer,
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8:00 - 8:02you wouldn't know how to direct it
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8:02 - 8:04to make what you want it to.
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8:04 - 8:06But there are more and more
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8:06 - 8:08technologies, software and processes today
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8:08 - 8:10that are breaking down those barriers.
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8:10 - 8:12I believe we're at a tipping point
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8:12 - 8:15where this is now something
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8:15 - 8:17that we can't avoid.
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8:17 - 8:19This technology
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8:19 - 8:21is really going to disrupt
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8:21 - 8:23the landscape of manufacturing
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8:23 - 8:25and, I believe, cause a revolution
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8:25 - 8:27in manufacturing.
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8:27 - 8:29So today,
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8:29 - 8:31you can download products from the Web --
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8:31 - 8:33anything you would have on your desktop,
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8:33 - 8:36like pens, whistles, lemon squeezers.
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8:36 - 8:39You can use software like Google SketchUp
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8:39 - 8:41to create products from scratch
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8:41 - 8:44very easily.
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8:44 - 8:463D printing can be also used
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8:46 - 8:49to download spare parts from the Web.
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8:49 - 8:51So imagine you have, say,
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8:51 - 8:53a Hoover in your home
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8:53 - 8:56and it has broken down. You need a spare part,
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8:56 - 8:59but you realize that Hoover's been discontinued.
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8:59 - 9:01Can you imagine going online --
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9:01 - 9:03this is a reality --
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9:03 - 9:05and finding that spare part
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9:05 - 9:07from a database of geometries
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9:07 - 9:09of that discontinued product
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9:09 - 9:12and downloading that information, that data,
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9:12 - 9:14and having the product made for you at home,
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9:14 - 9:17ready to use, on your demand?
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9:17 - 9:19And in fact, because we can create spare parts
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9:19 - 9:21with things the machines
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9:21 - 9:23are quite literally making themselves.
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9:23 - 9:26You're having machines fabricate themselves.
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9:26 - 9:28These are parts of a RepRap machine,
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9:28 - 9:31which is a kind of desktop printer.
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9:31 - 9:34But what interests my company the most
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9:34 - 9:36is the fact that you can create
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9:36 - 9:39individual unique products en masse.
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9:39 - 9:41There's no need to do a run
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9:41 - 9:43of thousands of millions
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9:43 - 9:46or send that product to be injection molded in China.
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9:46 - 9:50You can just make it physically on the spot.
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9:50 - 9:52Which means
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9:52 - 9:54that we can now present to the public
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9:54 - 9:57the next generation of customization.
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9:57 - 9:59This is something that is now possible today,
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9:59 - 10:01that you can direct personally
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10:01 - 10:04how you want your products to look.
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10:04 - 10:06We're all familiar with the idea
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10:06 - 10:08of customization or personalization.
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10:08 - 10:10Brands like Nike are doing it.
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10:10 - 10:12It's all over the Web.
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10:12 - 10:14In fact, every major household name
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10:14 - 10:16is allowing you
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10:16 - 10:18to interact with their products
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10:18 - 10:20on a daily basis --
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10:20 - 10:22all the way from Smart Cars
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10:22 - 10:24to Prada
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10:24 - 10:26to Ray Ban, for example.
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10:26 - 10:28But this is not really mass customization;
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10:28 - 10:30it's known as variant production,
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10:30 - 10:33variations of the same product.
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10:33 - 10:36What you could do is really influence your product now
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10:36 - 10:39and shape-manipulate your product.
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10:39 - 10:41I'm not sure about you guys,
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10:41 - 10:43but I've had experiences
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10:43 - 10:45when I've walked into a store and I've know exactly what I've wanted
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10:45 - 10:48and I've searched everywhere for that perfect lamp
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10:48 - 10:50that I know where I want to sit in my house
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10:50 - 10:52and I just can't find the right thing,
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10:52 - 10:55or that perfect piece of jewelry
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10:55 - 10:57as a gift or for myself.
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10:57 - 10:59Imagine that you can now
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10:59 - 11:02engage with a brand
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11:02 - 11:04and interact,
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11:04 - 11:07so that you can pass your personal attributes
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11:07 - 11:11to the products that you're about to buy.
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11:11 - 11:13You can today
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11:13 - 11:15download a product with software like this,
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11:15 - 11:17view the product in 3D.
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11:17 - 11:19This is the sort of 3D data
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11:19 - 11:21that a machine will read.
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11:21 - 11:23This is a lamp.
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11:23 - 11:25And you can start iterating the design.
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11:25 - 11:27You can direct what color that product will be,
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11:27 - 11:29perhaps what material.
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11:29 - 11:32And also, you can engage in shape manipulation of that product,
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11:32 - 11:34but within boundaries that are safe.
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11:34 - 11:37Because obviously the public are not professional product designers.
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11:37 - 11:40The piece of software will keep an individual
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11:40 - 11:44within the bounds of the possible.
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11:44 - 11:46And when somebody is ready to purchase the product
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11:46 - 11:48in their personalized design,
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11:48 - 11:51they click "Enter" and this data gets converted
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11:51 - 11:55into the data that a 3D printer reads
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11:55 - 12:00and gets passed to a 3D printer,
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12:00 - 12:03perhaps on someone's desktop.
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12:03 - 12:05But I don't think that that's immediate.
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12:05 - 12:07I don't think that will happen soon.
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12:07 - 12:09What's more likely, and we're seeing it today,
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12:09 - 12:11is that data gets sent
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12:11 - 12:13to a local manufacturing center.
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12:13 - 12:16This means lower carbon footprint.
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12:16 - 12:19We're now, instead of shipping a product across the world,
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12:19 - 12:21we're sending data across the Internet.
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12:21 - 12:24Here's the product being built.
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12:24 - 12:26You can see, this came out of the machine in one piece
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12:26 - 12:28and the electronics were inserted later.
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12:28 - 12:30It's this lamp, as you can see here.
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12:30 - 12:32So as long as you have the data,
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12:32 - 12:34you can create the part on demand.
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12:34 - 12:36And you don't necessarily need to use this
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12:36 - 12:38for just aesthetic customization,
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12:38 - 12:40you can use it for functional customization,
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12:40 - 12:42scanning parts of the body
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12:42 - 12:44and creating things that are made to fit.
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12:44 - 12:47So we can run this through to something like prosthetics,
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12:47 - 12:50which is highly specialized to an individual's handicap.
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12:50 - 12:54Or we can create very specific prosthetics
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12:54 - 12:56for that individual.
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12:56 - 12:58Scanning teeth today,
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12:58 - 13:00you can have your teeth scanned
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13:00 - 13:02and dental coatings made in this way to fit you.
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13:02 - 13:04While you wait at the dentist,
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13:04 - 13:07a machine will quietly be creating this for you
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13:07 - 13:09ready to insert in the teeth.
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13:09 - 13:13And the idea of now creating implants,
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13:13 - 13:16scanning data, an MRI scan of somebody
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13:16 - 13:18can now be converted into 3D data
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13:18 - 13:22and we can create very specific implants for them.
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13:22 - 13:24And applying this
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13:24 - 13:26to the idea of building up what's in our bodies.
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13:26 - 13:29You know, this is pair of lungs and the bronchial tree.
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13:29 - 13:31It's very intricate.
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13:31 - 13:33You couldn't really create this or simulate it in any other way.
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13:33 - 13:35But with MRI data,
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13:35 - 13:37we can just build the product,
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13:37 - 13:39as you can see, very intricately.
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13:41 - 13:43Using this process,
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13:43 - 13:46pioneers in the industry are layering up cells today.
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13:46 - 13:49So one of the pioneers, for example, is Dr. Anthony Atala,
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13:49 - 13:51and he has been working
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13:51 - 13:53on layering cells to create body parts --
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13:53 - 13:57bladders, valves, kidneys.
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13:57 - 13:59Now this is not something that's ready for the public,
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13:59 - 14:02but it is in working progress.
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14:02 - 14:04So just to finalize, we're all individual.
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14:04 - 14:07We all have different preferences, different needs.
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14:07 - 14:09We like different things.
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14:09 - 14:11We're all different sizes and our companies the same.
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14:11 - 14:13Businesses want different things.
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14:13 - 14:15Without a doubt in my mind,
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14:15 - 14:17I believe that this technology
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14:17 - 14:19is going to cause a manufacturing revolution
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14:19 - 14:22and will change the landscape of manufacturing as we know it.
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14:22 - 14:24Thank you.
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14:24 - 14:28(Applause)
- Title:
- A primer on 3D printing
- Speaker:
- Lisa Harouni
- Description:
-
2012 may be the year of 3D printing, when this three-decade-old technology finally becomes accessible and even commonplace. Lisa Harouni gives a useful introduction to this fascinating way of making things -- including intricate objects once impossible to create.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 14:29
TED edited English subtitles for A primer on 3D printing | ||
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