A 3D printed bust made last night at our local maker-space, AssentWorks.

I stand by my prediction that the wide-scale piracy of physical objects is just around the corner. Especially considering that Fuji Film is already capable of printing near-flawless reproductions of Van Gogh’s paintings.

Related: Digital Grotesque, a 3D printed room designed by programming algorithms. “A fully immersive, solid, human-scale, enclosed structure that is entirely 3D printed out of sand.”

Update: A reply from Kerry Stevenson, the man who actually printed this head, addressing my piracy comment.

@stungeye I disagree with your premise, although I made that very head. Might want to read my post here: http://t.co/wBqUzcXglT

— Kerry Stevenson (@krst) October 4, 2013

For complex objects, I agree with Kerry that 3D piracy still has a long way to go. However, a search on Thingiverse (a repository of 3D printable designs) shows that boardgames like Settlers of Catan have already been cloned. (Side note for Catan / Game of Thrones Fans: Settlers of the Iron Throne.)

I witnessed the growth of media piracy from tape-swapping to mp3s to HD BlueRay rips. Seventeen years ago I found my first mp3 online. It took me an hour to download. Napster appeared a few years later to simplify the process, followed by high-speed internet to speed up the downloads. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m off to print-up a copy of Pandora’s box. ;)

p.s. If you’re fascinated by this technology, drop by AssentWorks on a Tuesday open-house night. I’d also recommend dropping by the 5th floor of the Artspace Building (corner of Arthur & Bannatyne) on the evening of the first Friday of any month. There you can see how jeweller Bryan Johnson has been using CNC milling and 3D printing in his artistic workflow.