|
Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
|
|
3D Printer Vending Machine Dispenses Dreams
UC Berkeley’s new Dreambox is a vending machine that downloads your design from the cloud - and then instantiates it for you.
(Dreambox 3D printer vending machine)
By connecting to a cloud-based computing system hosted within the machine, customers can upload their designs and set them in the cue for printing.
The renderings are processed, printed, and then (like any other vending machine) popped into a drawer for the customer to collect. Should the customer not be present, they can rest easy, knowing that their printed design is safe, as the storage drawers are locked until needed. Each customer is then given an unlock code, which frees their newly printed masterpiece.
I think that William Gibson gets partial credit for this one, since the Nanofax from his 1999 novel All Tomorrow's Parties is a kind of vending machine that can pull down any product and print it out for customers.
"Nanofax AG offers a technology that digitally reproduces objects, physically, at a distance. Within certain rather large limitations, of course. A child's doll, placed in a Lucky Dragon Nanofax unit in London, will be reproduced in the Lucky Dragon Nanofax unit in New York-"
From Inhabitat.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 10/19/2014)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.
| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories -
("
Manufacturing
")
Varda Space Industries Orbital Factories
'... work summers in their orbital factory complex.' - Jerry Pournelle, 1976.
Boring Company Bricks Predicted In 1929
'... used to make building blocks for these invaders.' - Frank Phillips, 1929.
Is It Possible To GROW Planes And Vehicles?
'These are your rudimentary seed packages...' - Greg Bear, 2015.
Scaly-Foot Snail Works With Iron
'Micro-Scale suit tiles fabricated by genetically engineered metal affinity bacteria...'
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
|
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
California Fireman Arrested For Starting Fires
'Fire is bright and fire is clean.'
Robots Need A Better Sense Of Touch
'First, it rubbed my arms...'
MouthPad Supports Head And Tongue Tracking
'The operation that had transformed half his body... had located the control switchboard in his teeth.'
REALLY Remote Control Excavators
'It takes over a second for the signal to get to the Moon...'
Disney Helping Robots Dance
Dance, Robots, Dance.
Kolors Virtual-Try-On Predicted, And TRIED, By Harry Harrison
'Bill blinked at his own face under the plumed helmet...'
Detecting Drones In Ukraine With Candy (Sukork)
'...a robot detector circuit closed, activating a bell."
Nevada Will Use AI To Decide Worker Benefits
'They had screwed up and been blacklisted by Manna.'
Tether Cryptocurrency Flow Rate US$190Bn Per Day
'Alex did not find it surprising that people... were electronically minting their own cash.'
First Trips To Mars Announced By Elon Musk
'I had determined that my first attempt should be a visit to Mars.'
WaPOCHI Micro-Mobility Robot Follows Like A Pet With Your Bags
To follow the user like a pet while carrying their cargo!
Ultra-Realistic Robotic Arowana Robo-Fish
'Deveet unhooked his catch and laid it on the bank beside him. It was a metal fish.'
GITAI R1 Lunar Rover Like NASA Robonaut Centaur
'...waldoes in the screen followed in exact, simultaneous parallelism.'
Meshworm Soft Robot, With Peristaltic Crawling, Is Getting Better
'Seen close it was not completely flexible, but made instead of pivoted and smoothly finished segments.'
Mushroom 'Robot' Is Just A Start
'Some unknown race ... decided to help them out.'
Tesla Electric 'Giga Train' Operational In Germany
'...the cars are wedge-shaped at both ends.'
More SF in the News Stories
More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories
|
|