Forget 3D Printing, Here’s 4D Printing!

We’ve published quite a few posts in the past getting excited about 3D printing, a new-fangled technology that allows users to produce 3D models of just about anything, from models of their favourite Star Wars characters to fully-functioning artificial limbs. Although 3D printing isn’t a new technology, it’s only over the past couple of years that we’ve begun to realise its potential.

Well, you can forget all of that now because there’s an even newer-fangled printing technology on the way; 4D printing. Unveiled at TED 2013 by computer scientist Skylar Tibbits, scientists at the world famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology have been hard at work adding a fourth dimension to the three dimensional printing process - time.

Sounds mind-boggling, doesn’t it? Fortunately, it’s a relatively easy concept to grasp. 4D printing essentially introduces self-assembly to the 3D printing process; rather than printing out a finished object, people will be able to print out a material that self-assembles or changes shape and size when introduced to a certain substance, such as water. It’s the 3D printing equivalent of flatpack furniture or one of those toy aliens that ‘grows’ when you add water.

This opens up a whole world of possibilities when it comes to 3D printed objects. Say, for example, you wanted to 3D print a sofa at a shop but couldn’t fit the finished product in the car to get home. Rather than desperately trying to fit the sofa into your boot by jamming it in at different angles and fiddling about with the car seats, you could have a flat sheet of material printed, take it home, place it in your living room and add water (yes, really). Over time, the flat sheet would self-assemble into a sofa.

The technology will also make adapting 3D objects without having to reprint them a possibility. If an installed water pipe was suddenly faced with an increased demand, that water pipe adapt and expand, rather than having to be dug up and reprinted.

Which all sounds very impressive - imagine if you could alter a mistake on a 2D printed document AFTER you've printed it without wasting valuable printer ink. Not only would you save yourself some embarrassment, you’d save yourself some money too. Maybe they should get working on implementing this technology to inkjet and laser printers too!

Don’t get too excited just yet, though; 4D printing is some way off. While we can probably expect to have 3D printers in our homes within the next decade or so, research into 4D printing technology has only just started to scratch the surface of what is possible. It also seems unlikely that the technology will be available in homes for the foreseeable future either, with the cost of tech and printing supplies more suited to commercial and industrial businesses.

You also won’t be able to print out a crisp page of perfect text with a 4D printer either, meaning that there’s still a place for your inkjet or laser printer. To keep it well supplied for less, pay a visit to your local Cartridge World store or take a look at our selection of cartridges online.