I just listened to a fascinating talk by Neil Gershenfeld, the Director of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms. He covers a lot of ground, but focuses on what he calls the coming digital revolution in fabrication. Personal fabricators include 3D scanners and printers, along with other automated manufacturing devices.
Gershenfeld compares the state of personal fabricators to the mini-computer era. He expects that we will end up having desktop fabs the way we now have desktop computers.
It is an upbeat discussion, with interesting examples of real world uses of his current Fab Labs. It also includes discussions about molecular assemblers, open source learning, and other fascinating concepts.
Check it out.
Posted by georgegmacdonald at May 4, 2005 01:52 PM