Push the Future

It used to be that when I spoke about a future in which we’d have mini-manufacturing hubs in the home, that I’d see the audience squirm with discomfort. It just seemed too freaky, too unrelated to life as we know it.

But in this last year I’ve been able to share video clips demonstrating current technologies that “print” products, and seen people’s expressions transform from “Eeeeww!” to “Wow!!” The old saw that “seeing is believing” proves its point once again; the problem is that by the time trends and innovations can be seen, you’ve lost the advantage of anticipating them.

It’s not too late, however, to appreciate the ultimate impact of personal manufacturing hubs on the economy, with it’s potential to disrupt every link of the supply chain, from raw materials to design, production to distribution, inventory to retail and marketing. Watch the following video from Fab@Home, an open-source tool set that allows anyone to download blueprints and instructions to assemble your very own 3-D fabricator, right now. Material cost runs around $2,400.

Desktop fabricators allow users to print 3D objects