At the beginning it was the Gütenberg printing press, over than five centuries ago. During the twentieth century the printing had its golden age, until it nearly became considered “dead” at the very start of the next century with digital printing. Then 3D printing came: born in 1986, it evolved and differentiated with new printing techniques and new materials, until it became “handy”. How? Now you have the possibility to make 3D prints directly from your own smartphone. Let’s find out how.
What is 3D printing, and how is it evolving?
3D printing is a typology of printing aimed at generating three-dimensional objects starting from the base of a transversal model created in a software and a liquid which alters its physical state and becomes solid. 3D printing appliances are visible in many fields: from manufacturing to house buildings, from medical to food and home appliances. 3D printing could bring many economic advantages, especially to final users. According to The Economist, 3D printing could be a silent revolution, just like transistors in 1950 or printing machine in 1450: “it is impossible to forecast the long-term impact of 3D printing. Technology is coming, though, and it’s probable that it revolutionizes every field it touches”.
What can we use 3D printing for?
3D printing is used in engineering and in architecture to visualize modeling and prototyping. It is also used in paleontology for fossils reconstruction and in archeology for antique objects reproduction. 3D printing also has important applications in the medical field: in legal medicine, with the reconstruction of damages bones and organs, to tissue engineering. Beyond the “professional” fields, 3D printing spread in the home and artistic field, until it came to our smartphones.
From Olo to Ono: 3D printing comes to smartphone
Born from the idea of two Italians, Filippo Moroni and Pietro Gabriele, Olo went to Kickstarter on March 31st, 2016. Olo is a smartphone 3D printing: it was available in the famous crowdfunding platform for only $99. What was the result? 16.180 backers and more and $2,3 mln collected. A really impressive result, if you think about the first goal: only $80.000.
This object is supposed to become revolutionary because of its very low price: $99 is just a fraction compared to the prices of other 3D printers on the market. 3D smartphone printer Olo only weighs 780 grams and is very tiny. It is ideal to be easily transported and to use it with comfortability.
To print an object, the usual time goes from a few minutes to four and a half hours: it depends on the dimension of the chosen object. Starting from a model to choose in your smartphone app, it is enough to insert resins into the printer and close the cover located above the smartphone. Thanks to smartphone LED lights, resins get solid and assume the chosen shape.
Resins are different, not only for their color but also for the hardness of the material they are to create. This is why they suit to different purposes, not only professional ones but also ludic ones. This is why everyone will use 3D printing on their smartphone. The application examples go from the engineer to the doctor and the art creator.
With Olo 3D printing could really become ‘handy’: it will only take an economic printer, a smartphone and a lot of creativity.
The Kickstarter campaign was so successful that printers are to be delivered this winter, with a light delay. This delay was also due to the logo change and product rebranding, which was necessary to avoid a legal action from a company claiming to have the same name. This is how Olo became Ono. The logo changes, but the project soul remains.
