I have always been an advocate of using 3D printing to bring video game characters and items out of the screen and into the real world. And, while many video game companies seem to be blind to the vast potential of doing just that, video game fans are not. There is no better game (IMHO) than Portal to prove it.
That is why Yvo de Haas, a 22 year old engineering graduate, used Portal as an inspiration for some of his most impressive 3D printing projects. The latest is a maniacally detailed moving turret with a targeting laser and even a camera for colour-based object-tracking.
For those who do not know it, Portal is a puzzle game, originally released in 2007 and then followed by a sequel a few years later. In it the player uses a “portal gun” to open holes in a wall, floor or ceiling to go in and come out of some other wall, floor or ceiling somewhere else. All the while, the player is facing GLaDOS, an artificial intelligence, and has to avoid fire from a turret programmed to target you automatically. It is this turret that Yvo has replicated. One of the best aspects of Portal is that it was created by a student who had the opportunity to show it to video game publishing giant Valve and then saw it turn into a (relative) commercial success, amid rave reviews.
With the advent of 3D printing the idea of individuals, which includes many students, creating successful products is becoming commonplace, but back then it was nothing short of incredible. In fact creativity has been spreading so much that there are entire websites, like Instructables.com, that have thousands of pages on such projects. That is where you can find Yvo’s Portal Turret, with instructions on how to build it yourself. And then there are entire blogs, like Hackday.com, to talk about and comment on it
This is not Yvo’s first creation involving Portal and 3D printing either. His very first project was building a replica of GLaDOS itself, and that won him an Up! 3D printer from an Instructables contest. It won’t be his last one either: in fact he is working at something pretty interesting right now… check it out on his website.
