Our physical and digital worlds are on a collision course to form what we at HP call Blended Reality – a world in which 3D printing and immersive computing platforms will easily take things from the physical world into digital and back again.
I recently had the chance to share our vision on how Blended Reality is driving the next industrial revolution at hub conference. By removing the limits of previous 3D-printing technologies and creating an open platform, we have the potential to fundamentally change decades-old manufacturing processes and business models. We will make 3D printing more inexpensive, faster, open-source and manageable on the level of an individual voxel.
In HP Labs, we’re also working on 4D printing. With 4D printing, we will have smart materials with active properties that are able to change over time. Imagine self-assembling furniture that can be activated by heat, chemical reaction or water – that is the future of printing.
