When we think about 3D printing the boundaries of what is real tend to thin out a bit. Virtual becomes physical, so objects from virtual worlds can enter the physical realm. It is happening already with video games such as Minecraft or Spore and it is happening through the thousands of ideas that become physical objects on Shapeways, Thingiverse, Cubify or iMaterialise. But what of fairy tales? If 3D printing makes virtual objects become real, can it do the same with fantasies? Apparently it can and a new children’s book titled “LEO the Maker Prince” is exploring how a fairytale about 3D printing can, in fact, make fantasy objects and characters become real.
In a way 3D printing is the “stuff of dreams”, the perfect subject for a fairytale as it gives people the ultimate power: creating what they want. The magic wand and alchemy all in one (robotic) machine. Written by Carla Diana, a “technology-focused product designer with a particular interest for 3D printing”, LEO the Maker Prince teaches children about the (real) possibilities of 3D printing by following LEO – a walking, talking 3D printing robot – and Carla around different neighborhoods in Brooklyn, NY, meeting people, who tell them about how 3D printing helped them in their lives and jobs, as well as other robots with special 3D printing abilities. While LEO can 3D print with plastic, Hi-Ho prints with metal and Sinclair has access to infinite databases of designs. Others can even 3D print food.
So in a way the book already transcends reality by placing events in a very “real” setting such as Brooklyn, a central hub of the American maker movement, and telling its readers about the very “real” possibilities of 3D printing. Through 3D printing, however, the story can venture into a new dimension by making the objects described in the book “really” real. Children can print them by visiting the LEO the Maker Prince page on Brooklyn based Makerbot’s Thingiverse network. They can also find other models mentioned in the book on Shapeways and iMaterialise and print them at home, while learning to master the tools they will use growing up.
Make Magazine founder Dale Dougherty, who is also offering LEO the Maker Prince through its makezine.com website, was particularly enthusiastic about the possibilities explored by the book and personally interviewed Carla Diana (see the full interview below). His enthusiasm is understandable: mass 3D printing adoption will fulfill its potential especially through those who today are children and will grow up considering this amazing technology to be the norm. This “creative native generation” will have the power to really change the world and this time it might not be just another fairy tale.
One of my peers at iD Tech Camps is making 3D prints of popular entertainment characters. I’m not sure how that works with copyrights and such. But it’s an amazing idea because the commercial toy market doesn’t make toys for League of Legends or Game of Thrones and such.