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Traveling light with 3d printing
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Travel light with 3D printed luggage
If you are guilty of spending the night before going off on your travels, sitting, squashing and stamping on your suitcase just so you have enough room for that obviously essential pair of shoes - then 3D printing might just be the solution.
According to 3D Systems, leading provider of 3D printed design solutions, it is quite possible to simply select file, print and go with your all important luggage. 3D Systems, Creative Director, Janne Kyttanen has been experimenting with putting objects into code and earlier this year presented a selection of printed items in a self-titled exhibition.
The creations have been on display at Galerie VIVID in Rotterdam to explore how the digitisation of items would change our relationship with physical objects. The idea is that products are reduced to a code format ready to be produced at any given location. Great if you’re on your way to the airport and realise you’ve left your favourite sunhat on the kitchen table.
Kyttanen has designed an entire outfit that has the potential to eliminate the hassle that comes with carrying luggage like heavy suitcases and baggage fees – all of those holiday delights. The Lost Luggage collection features a 3D printed bag containing a whole range of designer items including a handbag, sunglasses, 4 in 1 dress, shoes, cuff and other accessories.
Whilst this idea may currently seem little more than a novelty, it does offer some very real practicalities. Travellers who have forgotten medical devices or perhaps been injured whilst away would have the ability to print their own supplies. Passengers would literally be able to upload their essentials to the Internet, send the file in an email and print out the contents upon reaching their destination.
Though the technology itself is already a reality, perhaps it will be some time before the idea could be feasible on a universal scale. The potential with 3D printing on demand has the ability to not only change our relationship with the objects around us but also the way we travel altogether. Could there be 3D printers placed in airport arrivals or one in every hotel in the not so distant future? It's not that hard to imagine.
