3DP Applications

Get Your Moto On – Motorola Ups the Customization Stakes

Following on from MAKEwithMOTO, which Mike covered back in July, the concept is evolving further. The MAKEwithMOTO concept is a couple of months into a road trip with some hi-tech making gear, including 3D printers from 3D Systems. And we’re not just talking a couple of Cubes here, which they do have, but there’s also a 460 colour 3D printer and a ProJet. The MakeWithMoto team are making their way around the US, stopping off at colleges, hackerspaces and Maker Faires to share and encourage uptake of the personalizable new Motorola phone brand – MOTO X.

MAKEwithX is the latest custom concept added to the offering, whereby new Moto X owners can design and make personal, one-of-a-kind accessories or gifts to complement their custom phone, while getting to explore and test the capabilities afforded by the 3D printing tech on board the truck.

Nervous System Dog Tags MAKEwithMOTO

Working with 3D Systems and, notably, Nervous System, renowned 3DP designers, the truck crew have come up with a set of design generators that allow for custom-made accessories including a digital dog tag, a Tessellation Bracelet, and of course, a phone covers.

The dog tags are actually a small pendant, and according to the MAKEwithMOTO team, come 3D printed with the topography of wherever you consider home, and by using NFC tech, it can link you straight to the digital representation of your home just by touching it to your phone. It can be designed to launch navigation to any address or take you to your homepage or open an email with your address already filled in.

Tessellation triangle-based bracelet Cube 3D Printed

The bracelet is enabled by the fully touch-sensitive Nervous generator that helps users design their tessellated, triangle-based bracelet that can be printed on a Cube 3D printer in any of the Moto X accent colours. The team say it is impossible to make the same bracelet as someone else and like the dog tags comes with embedded NFC tech, which can be used to store a small amount of virtual information like a web address.

Macedonia MotoX NameplateWhen it comes to phone cases, there are choices. First, from a collaboration with Fresh Fiber 3D printed accessories the team offer a pre-made webbed Fresh Fiber case that can be customized by the user to include their own 3D design or signature on an insert — this will be 3D printed on a Cube ‘while you wait’ and can then be snapped into place. Alternatively, the Radiolaria is a Nervous-developed physics-based phone case generator inspired by cellular and crystallin forms. Users can chose a cellular, polygonal or crystalline design and then apply various forces to their structure to achieve the desired effect. The lattice-work of the 3D printed case allows the customized Moto X colour to be visible.  And finally, the Physigram is an Instagram-inspired 3D printed removable case which allows you to incorporate a picture into your case in three dimensions. Microsoft Kinect sensors are used to get visual and depth input, which can then be printed in full color. The images can be run through a number of different generators called Raindrop, Ripple, Pixel, Shard and Slice for a variety of cool effects.

3D printed case & Physigram 3D printed removable case

From now until the end of October, the truck and team will be travelling from New York to Boston and will of course include World Maker Faire in New York 21-22 September.