Citi just came out with a list of disruptive innovations that are going to change the world. The top thing on their list is '4-D printing.' Obviously '3-D printing' gets tons of hype, but we had never heard of the 4-D version until then.
Citi credits the concept to MIT's Skylar Tibbits who is in the architecture department.
4-D printing takes "smart" materials from a 3-D printer that can assemble themselves.
So instead of just printing out a chunk of shaped plastic, you can actually create shapes that a fixed 3-D printing nozzle couldn't accomplish. The potential uses for this range from extreme condition architecture to adaptive infrastructure, like pipes that expand and contract depending on water volume. There's also potential in medicine: various implants could be inserted in a packed form, then take their true shape once they reach their destination.
Tibbits has a bunch of amazing videos on Vimeo showing how 4-D printing works in the lab.
We GIF'd them for maximum mind blowing.
The first two feature special materials that, when put under water, assemble into something else:
This one features specially cut material that, when shaken extremely rapidly, assemble into miniature balls.
This one's called Self-Folding Sheet.
Finally, a long strand that folds in water.
Here are the videos for the first two:
4D Printing: Truncated Octahedron from Skylar Tibbits on Vimeo.
4D Printing: Self-Folding Surface Cube from Skylar Tibbits on Vimeo.
SEE ALSO: Citi lists 10 huge innovations that are going to change the world