While innovations are still occurring with 3D printing, creating new possibilities and uses for the technology and decreasing the cost of 3D printing units, some companies are already looking to the future. This step beyond has been dubbed "4D Printing." The 4th Dimension implicated in the name is time and refers to the change over time that the object undergoes.
MIT professor Skylar Tibbits recently spoke at a TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) event about this venture. For those that do not know, TEDTalks are conference events that bring together entrepreneurs and visionaries to discuss research and innovations in their fields of study. Skylar's 8 minute presentation introduced attendees to the concept of 4D printing, which improves upon 3D printing by embedding programming into the printed objects which allow them to construct themselves.
These objects would be able to use passive energy sources, such as heat or water, to change from their printed form into the form indicated in the embedded programming, thus eliminating the need for hours of frustration at confusing assembly instructions. While technology of the scale able to produce larger results such as this is not yet available, researchers have already succeeded in producing self-assembly on a smaller scale.
DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is also working on technology of a similar nature. Seeking to prevent enemies from obtaining and using or reverse-engineering discarded or lost electronics equipment, DARPA has begun researching creating equipment which could degrade into the environment at a signal and render them useless. 4D printing and program embedding innovation could prove immensely beneficial to DARPA's goals.
The possibilities for 4D printing are mind-boggling and nearly unlimited, but what negative implications could it hold? People will always find a way to warp and exploit new technologies to unintended or even harmful uses. So while this breakthrough is a step forward, we must be wary where these "steps" may lead.
Watch Skylar's presentation here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0gMCZFHv9v8
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