3D Printing

Google Is Getting Women into Coding with 3D Printable Parametric Bracelets

The Google Made with Code announcements at IO last week got tons of attention from the media for the company’s intention to pour 50 million dollars into initiatives aimed at getting women to become passionate about programming and specifically about parametric programming.

What went somewhat unnoticed is that – out of all the possible projects and activities users can access on the Made with Code platform – the first one and the only one really focused on “making” something, is a parametric environment made to use a graphic parametric programming interface to design and modify a 3D printable personalized bracelet.

3D printed google made with codeIt is not the most advanced and functional 3D printing parametric modelling software out there but it shows that even Google is paying attention to the parametric direction modelling software has been taking, to become more accessible. And that is it directing a lot of funds toward it.

Self designed, 3D printable jewellery (and, I have often argued, shoes) are going to be a 3D printing app that draws women in, showing this is a technology that is sex agnostic. Just last week Michael reported on Jewliebots, another similar system that aims to introduce software education to teenage girls through the possibility of coding different features into personalized jewellery items.

made with code jewelry

Autodesk created Project Shapeshifter as a similarly structured parametric software platform to design and personalize vases and other household items, and Rhino has been introducing tons of different parametric plug-ins that offer designers an unprecedented range of possibilities.

What is most interesting about this project is not so much the project itself, as the importance that Google is now attributing to 3D printing as a widely appealing technology. The real victory for Google – and all such educational modelling software projects – will be when those young women (and men) who become familiar with coding by using Made with Code go on to make the code that makes Made with Code help others make things.