Skylar Tibbits, a researcher in MIT’s architecture department, in collaboration with Stratasys Ltd. and Autodesk Inc. has created the concept of 4-D printing using “smart” materials.
These materials come from a 3-D printer, yet are capable of assembling themselves into different shapes versus the fixed shape of a 3-D printing nozzle.
Applications for 4-D printing include anything where structures would not take on their full shape until they reach their final destination such as medicine, architecture, and adaptive infrastructure.
For now, we won’t worry about the applications… Check out these insane videos featuring the possibilities of 4-D printing.
4D Printing: Truncated Octahedron from Skylar Tibbits on Vimeo.
4D Printing: Surface to Sine Wave from Skylar Tibbits on Vimeo.
