3D Printing: A Video Primer

As follow-up to the previous post on challenges in 3D-4D printing, here is a video overview showing some how-to basics on 3D printing and an overview of the 3D printing space. 

While some of the more practical applications might still be out of reach for Citizen X, the current design and art applications are present and accounted for. 

If videos do not show on mobile devices, please view on desktop or laptop. 

Here, the Creators Project provides a succinct overview of 3D printing basics.

Check out more on the Creators Project Youtube Page. 

(Video source: PBS Off Book.)

Some great examples of design excellence were shown at recent 3D Print Show London 2012. 






(Video source: ExplaningtheFuture Youtube)

4D Printing and shape shifting. Three dimensions be damned!

(Video source: seyfullah51.)

At a recent TED event, Anthony Atela expanded on the amazing uses of working with bio-synthetic materials. He identifies three past challenges with bio materials. The first challenge was the design of the materials that could be readily integrated into the body properly. The second challenge was cells and not having enough cells grown outside the body. He notes that still certain cells cannot be grown such as liver and pancreatic cells. The third challenge was vascularity - the supply of blood to help regenerate organs. Enter 3D bio-genetic and bio-synthetic printing.  

(Video source: TedDirectorTalks)

Here, Lee Cronin expands on the chemistry set of the future: 3D printed organic chemistry. The question: Can the chemistry set of the future be 3D printed? The result is reactionware. Software would allow us to eventually print our own medicine. This will be complicated. Print drugs. Download new diagnostics. On-the-fly molecular assembly. Why not use your own stem cells and print personally tailored medicine? This software will likely be purchased on a subscription basis, with constant updates as new viruses, illnesses, and disease develop and are found. The more complicated the meds - the higher the subscription price. The FDA will be concerned.
  



Click here for my YouTube channel where I have archived a growing list of 3D printing videos.

Transhumanism on Show: Viral Videos, Orson Wells, & The Future

There is a growing amount of transhumanism viral videos appearing in inter-web-spaces. The ideas presented in the video below are not new, yet remain largely unknown to wider audiences. That is changing. Viral videos are an interesting part of the larger social dialogue about transhumanism - quick and dirty. The melpy CGI-Max Headroomesque Circa 2050 Head here got me thinking and writing.

Say What?!

The rawness of this narrative approach is exactly the kind of delivery to induce future shock in audiences who have no experience with the Singularity. Read the video comments. Beware the Luddites. Beware the Singulatarians who perceive no traps. 

"Conventional people are roused to fury by departure from convention, largely because they regard such departure as a criticism of themselves." -- Bertrand Russell


Let's hear what 1972 Orson Wells thinks about all this: 

That said, we might need this viral-shock approach alongside more traditional communications of the Singularity. In small fashion, it is like Laurence Fishburne's call to sanity/action in Spike Lee’s School Daze. “Wake Up” exclaims the town crier, the universe is afoot.

There will be a cacophony of voices from heterogeneous vessels. 

We will need a range of tone and pitch: factual, emotional, shock, practical, critical, and balanced. I think we can count on the cytoskeletal Anonymous entity and its acolyte messengers for the shock and emotion bit, plus cyber ass-kicking.

Be They Gods?

Take note of the religious overtones expressed in some transhumanism articulations: "we are the gods." Fingers crossed that some aspect of the Singularity allows us a small opportunity to transcend the trap of the god myth. It smacks of the Cave: That place we huddle to find protection from the enormity of that which do not know or cannot comprehend. Also, due to rain and bad weather because it is warmer in there, and eating wet food in the rain is simply no fun at all. Exchanging the Old Gods of Terra for New Gods of Time-Space. No thanks on both accounts. The fragility of human ego will complicate our move into post-Singularity existences. The enormity of the multi-verse(s) is good enough for me, no titles needed.

Disclaimer: I will not be held responsible for any math in this song written in 1983.

The Man.

To be sure, there will be some serious social unrest. The Leftist critique that plutocratic Elites will control/access/use these technologies to extend their hegemonic power on this earth (and solar system) is not without merit or minor attention.

Enter the "democratization of future-tech" call. Yes…we need to democratize the transhuman dialogue and its attendant technological inventions/interventions….but how? This is the real question. How to make that idea concrete and actionable?

Side note – We can look to the American Labor movement of the 19^th and 20^th centuries to examine ways to galvanize working-class people from diverse communities. The words of Bertrand Russell are still so very relevant.

"The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper."

   

Some Tangible Solutions

• Continue to fund, propagate, and protect open access publicly funded research.
• Open community DIY techno-workshops where people freely (in terms of both cost and surveillance) interact with future tech and engage in public dialogue (use Google Hangouts, connecting these workshops around the globe, archiving footage, materials, uploading schematics, and providing guidelines for 3D home-printing and fabrication).
• Open community 3D printing (and 4D!) and fabrication workshops
• University research labs open their doors to the public on community days to demonstrate future-technologies and talk about its implications.
• Comprehensive funding for research on future-technologies across government apparatus (NIH, DHH, CDC...the lot), all publicly accessed, downloaded, copied, and disseminated.
• Transhuman politicians and civic leaders who run for public office and engage in public service to lead the civic and legal charge. Serious, legal. The legal questions/implications/battles are Legion. Bad pun intended.
• Public symposiums, conferences, music festivals, tech festivals, and social creative mayhem

Repo Men.

Yes, we will achieve. It might be that I live long enough to be denied life extension treatments due to the costs and lack of coverage by my insurance provider. Robotic eye replacement surgeries and nano-bio-tech immune system cell regulators might be considered elective, non-essential surgeries. Why not Zoidberg?

It is likely we will see the development of medical/insurance/producer foundations that provide medical coverage to human early-adopters who wish to engage in human-techno-robotic interfaces. The cost of admission might be prohibitive to all but the elite. We might see legions of poor who volunteer for risky integrations. We will see accessible tech/low cost integrations in athletes, older populations, children, and soliders first. We will absolutely see black market cyborg technology. And that shit is going to be nuts.

Want a trail run of this? Play Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Get really good. Fret.

One of the critical challenges we face is to figure out how to fund (at present) costly R&D, develop practical applications, engage in rigorous testing, and then make those applications accessible to the wider public at reasonable costs with minimal side effects, be these side effects biological or sociological.

We will need a range of voices and approaches in order to make ready for the promise of the Singularity: cultural, legal, moral, ethical, and practical.

Let’s continue to make concrete plans regarding the challenges that come with future-technologies, alongside the fire and brimstone narrative of the Artilect transcendence and The 100 Year War. While fun and familiar, the post-apocalyptic techno-robot narrative is a well-worn chorus with a bridge and refrain that we know all too well.

Take cue from Asimov, who found the Frankenstein narrative in artificial intelligence literature both tedious and predictable:

“... one of the stock plots of science fiction was ... robots were created and destroyed by their creator. Knowledge has its dangers, yes, but is the response to be a retreat from knowledge? Or is knowledge to be used as itself a barrier to the dangers it brings? With all this in mind I began, in 1940, to write robot stories of my own – but robot stories of a new variety. Never, never, was one of my robots to turn stupidly on his creator for no purpose but to demonstrate, for one more weary time, the crime and punishment of Faust.”

There is no retreat from the future. 

Asimov, Isaac (1964). "Introduction". The Rest of the Robots. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-09041-2.

Music Break

Here are a few bands for your listening and viewing pleasure. I have pulled these videos from the video link on the site, as the video link will no longer be a part of site navigation. Rather than delete these videos into the youtube soup, I have reposted the videos here. Look for more music video posts each Sunday to help you mentally prepare for the week ahead.

Each group below offers fresh ideas in the modern music scene. I have provided background information and links to each. Dig in.

Department of Eagles: "No One Does it Like You" - This track is perfection. Reminiscent of old 1920s ballads while remaining rooted in indie traditions. 



Band Home Page: http://www.departmentofeagles.com/

Bio: "Department of Eagles began in 2000, when New York University assigned freshmen Fred Nicolaus and Daniel Rossen to share a room. To pass the time during an uneventful spring semester, the two began making music together, collecting samples and turning them into songs using pirated software and a microphone borrowed from their neighbor Chris Taylor (who, years later, would become Daniel's bandmate in Grizzly Bear and DoE's producer/engineer). Somewhat accidentally the group was discovered by a California label and the material recorded in this period was combined with later studio sessions to form Department of Eagles' 2003 debut, The Cold Nose. It gained a small but enthusiastic audience and was praised by critics from the San Francisco Bay Guardian to the London Times."

Grizzly Bear: "Ready, Able" : This etherial track hits many interesting themes. Reminiscent of Jens Leckman, Daniel Rossens' open vocal style reverberates through the open chords of the guitar. At once melancholy and hopeful.

Band Home Page: http://grizzly-bear.net/about/

Bio: "Grizzly Bear began as a moniker for songwriter Ed Droste's music in the early 2000s.In 2004, Droste released Grizzly Bear's debut album, Horn of Plenty. Predominately a solo album the album featured contributions from future drummer Christopher Bear. Rolling Stone magazine wrote of the first album that "The pure atmospheric power of the songs is more than enough to hypnotize." Droste and Bear were subsequently joined by bass guitarist and producer Chris Taylor, and performed four shows together as a three-piece."

OK GO: "This Too Will Pass": Great pop song, an anthemic call to take it all in stride. This song stands out for the one-take Rube Goldberg machine that syncs in-time with the musical cues. This video is like pop music meets MythBusters crossed with PBS's 1980s cult science show 3-2-1 Contact.

Version 2

Band Home Page: http://okgo.net/

Wiki Bio: "An American alternative rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, but now residing in Los Angeles, California. The band is composed of Damian Kulash (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Nordwind (bass guitar and vocals), Dan Konopka (drums and percussion) and Andy Ross (guitar, keyboards and vocals), who joined them in 2005, replacing Andy Duncan. They are perhaps best known for their often elaborate and quirky music videos."

"The original members formed as OK Go in 1998 and released two studio albums before Duncan's departure. The band's video for "Here It Goes Again" won a Grammy Award for "Best Short-Form Music Video" in 2007."

Timber Timbre: "Bad Ritual": This band artfully recalls the blues madness of Screamin' Jay Hawkins... a creepy cacophony of folk, roots, ballads, indie, and horror music.

Band Home Page: http://www.timbertimbre.com/

Wiki Bio: "A Canadian folk music project, featuring Taylor Kirk, Simon Trottier and Mika Posen. The moniker refers to an early series of recordings made in a timber-framed cabin set in the wooded outskirts of Bobcaygeon, Ontario."

"Timber Timbre released two albums independently before releasing a self-titled album on Out of This Spark in January 2009. They were subsequently signed to Arts & Crafts, who re-released the album on June 30 in Canada and July 28 internationally.[1] The album was named as a longlist nominee for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize on June 15, 2009,[2] and was deemed album of the year by Eye Weekly."

"The band's song "Magic Arrow" was featured in the television show Breaking Bad, in the episode "Caballo Sin Nombre", as well as in the TV series The Good Wife, in the episode "Bitcoin for Dummies". "Black Water" features on the soundtrack for the 2012 comedy, For a Good Time, Call... "

"On June 16, 2011, the band's fourth album Creep On Creepin' On was named as a longlisted nominee for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize. On July 6, the album was named as a short listed (one of ten) nominee for the 2011 award."

Vadoinmessico: "Pond": Thick rhythms lay at the heart of Vadoimessico's sound (loosely translates to "I go to Mexico"). Great blend of soca, ska, indie, Spanish folk, and shoe-gaze. This band remains under the radar in the US, but demand a deeper listen.

Band Home Page: https://soundcloud.com/vadoinmessico

SoundCloud Bio: "Vadoinmessico are a 5 piece band from several corners of the Earth residing in London and playing beautiful, nostalgic psychedelic freak-folk. Giorgio (from Italy), Salvador (from Mexico) started the band and were soon joined by banjo player Stefan (from Austria) and Alessandro (also Italian), and their English drummer Joe."