NEW YORK: Just a few years after 3D printing made the leap into popular consciousness, the newest iteration of the do-it-yourself technology has emerged: glass 3D printing.
A video, posted to video sharing website Vimeo on August 20, shows a special 3D printer designed by MIT University’s Mediated Media Group and Glass Lab creating ornate glass structures.
“G3DP [glass 3D printing] is an additive manufacturing platform designed to print optically transparent glass,” the video caption reads.
“The project synthesizes modern technologies, with age-old established glass tools and technologies producing novel glass structures.”
The video shows a 3D printer laying down molten glass into delicate preprogrammed forms.
The process bears an uncanny resemblance to a cake decorator piping icing with a pastry bag.
MIT researchers are confident their new technology will have many potential applications going forward.
