social impacts of 3d printing marcus wigan adjunct professor, faculty of ict, swinburne university...
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Social Impacts of 3D Printing
Marcus WiganAdjunct Professor, Faculty of ICT, Swinburne University of
Technology
3D Printing Showcase : University of Melbourne : 7 November 2013
3D Printing Showcase : University of Melbourne : 7 November 2013
www.mwigan.com
The Social Impacts of 3D Printing
University of Melbourne 7-11-13
3D Printing: Why is it a social issue?
• User driven takeup
• RepRap*, Maker and Object Hacking Communities
• Open Source Hardware
• Open Source Software
• Open Source Customisable Objects
All these are user driven, user supported and have thriving global social communities already
• Industry is also seeing a movement to economic short run mass customised distributed manufacturing
• Intangibles are already 80% of value of major firms...
* RepRap: 3D printers capable of printing the parts to replicate themselves
The Social Impacts of 3D Printing
University of Melbourne 7-11-13
Education is the first run killer app..
• Schools are a prime target.. Engineering manpower!
• The integration of software (Mathematica, Google Sketchup, MatLab etc ) stimulated at an early stage
• Mechatronics framed as fun
• Many similarities to the 1980 era of microcomputers
- Which were also driven by cross disciplinary social networks
• Jewellery and Food are already early adopters
• Art follows closely behind – Objects ‘impossible’ to make can be visualised and then created..
The Social Impacts of 3D Printing
University of Melbourne 7-11-13
Fashion Art ; the Impossible Realized ; or your own item scanned...
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Fashion Art
the Impossible Realized
or your own item scanned...
The Social Impacts of 3D Printing
University of Melbourne 7-11-13
Context
• Near universal computer access at all ages
• Cost effectiveness is already here at a household level
• Dematerialisation trends are still accellerating
• Global communications are now established expectation
• Disintermediation is a key disruptive aspect
- affecting retail, distribution, delivery, spares..
- and branding
The Social Impacts of 3D Printing
University of Melbourne 7-11-13
User driven Retail Trade Disruption
• The ‘Aussie Tax’ is now widely resented
• Global communications demand global simultaneity of access
• Disruption of music, software, media, differential geopricing models now well advanced on the net
• Open Source software now widely trusted and competitive – and a global, responsive community
• Open Objects are the next in line..
• Mass customisation is increasingly possible – and will be demanded
• Business models that rely on expensive and limited stock spares are already under threat
The Social Impacts of 3D Printing
University of Melbourne 7-11-13
The ThingiVerse Open Object Repository
Thingiverse is a universe of things. Download our files and build them with your laser cutter, 3D printer, or CNC.
The Social Impacts of 3D Printing
University of Melbourne 7-11-13
Business models dependent on IP constraints are the next to come under social pressure• 3D scanning now affordable for average
consumers
• 3D printers already available starting at $200-500
• Object modification not covered by current IP controls
• The questionable behaviour of the entertainment industries have severely degraded the credibility of IP
• High priced stocks of small plastic items often requiring a complete assembly to be bought- at risk
• Small current 3D printers are already showing excellent rates of return in domestic environments
B.T. Wittbrodta, A.G. Glovera, J. Lauretoa, G.C. Anzaloneb, D. Oppligerc, J.L. Irwind, J.M. Pearce (2013) Life-cycle economic analysis of distributed manufacturing with open-source 3-D printers, Mechatronics Volume 23, Issue 6, September Pages 713–726
The Social Impacts of 3D Printing
University of Melbourne 7-11-13
“What they found was a stark contrast between buying complete goods and making them at home: It would cost a consumer from $312 to $1944 to purchase the 20 items online compared to $18 to print them over the course of a weekend”
The Social Impacts of 3D Printing
University of Melbourne 7-11-13
Social Aspects
• The global communities are already developed
- Thingiverse : a key first mover for Object access
• Home use is already moving into schools
- many school kids have already built RepRaps
• The software barriers are falling fast
• A shift to making consumer items at home is co ming
The Social Impacts of 3D Printing
University of Melbourne 7-11-13
Broader Social Issues
• The logistics aspects of manufacture and distribution
- every home and business is now a travel free potential delivery point for physical objects
• Sustainability aspects of both manufacture, assembly, distribution and delivery should all place a solid momentum behind government interest in even the early stages of 3D printing takeup
• The shift to a substantial fraction of manufacturing to utilise 3D printing (50% of GEs production within 7 years) emphasises the types of jobs that will grow
• Social impacts will be increasingly felt in employment, distribution and retail.