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3D printing technology has given impetus to the development of various industries, and not least among them is 3D printed jewelry. To be honest, makers like to come up with unusual designs, and manufacturers like to offer their beloved clients unique, one-of-a-kind gizmos that can be considered works of art. Usually, the future decoration is designed in a special program, and then it is manufactured using stereolithography, layer-by-layer fusion and other methods of additive manufacturing. However, human imagination knows no bounds: Autodesk Research specialists in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University propose to print jewelry directly on the skin.
With a new 3D printing technology called Exoskin, 3D designs can be grown directly onto the skin to ensure the best possible fit. It is clear that Exoskin has a great future not only in jewelry. This technology can be useful in the manufacture of sports bracelets, smart glasses, and even medical products such as braces and molded prostheses.
The product manufacturing process is divided into two stages. First, a sketch is drawn on the body. Of course, you don't have to paint yourself with a marker or pen. To do this, there is the Tactum system, which captures your drawing movements using Microsoft Kinect and a depth camera and projects the design on your skin, creating a digital trajectory for the next stage.
The Tactum system is also able to recognize what the research team calls "free input" and transform it into geometric shapes. For example, if you decide to draw an even circle or an equilateral triangle, the Tactum system will help you achieve the perfect result. When your sketch is ready, it's time to grab the ExoSkin tool and apply a safe clay material to your skin that dries in minutes.
The Exoskin hybrid technology is still under development. At the moment, this is a manual extrusion system, the effectiveness of which depends entirely on the user's actions. In the future, the research team plans to improve it, make it automatic and multi-axis. It also plans to expand its range of skin-friendly materials. We'll tell you a secret that among them there will even be edible ones!
