Would you want to print your own cloths at home?

16

October

2017

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“The Future of Fashion is 3D Printing Clothes at Home” is the title of the article that James Tarmy wrote in 2016 for Bloomberg. Currently, 3D printed clothes are only displayed at specific exhibitions like the Met Costume Institute’s Spring exhibition in New York and worn by models in exclusive fashion shows (Tarmy, 2016). 3D printed cloths are still hard to wear as 3D printed materials have not come close to fabric yet and in addition they are expensive. However, as 3D technology is already recognized as a disruptive technology in many industries, the fashion industry is no exception. The question that arises is whether we could print our own cloths at home in the future.

3D printing is widely seen as one of the emerging technologies of the current era. The technology for 3D printing has existed since the 1980s, but has not been capable and cost effective yet for high volume production. It is expected that this will change within the upcoming years as technology is improving. The 3D printing technique works as follows: solids parts are built by printing one layer at a time. One of the advantages of the 3D printing technique is the speed of production (Redwood, 2015). Specific parts can be produced in just a few hours, compared to several days to weeks in normal manufacturing Another advantage is the accuracy of production, since components are created one layer at the time. These advantages are very useful in the manufacturing industry as new designs are often developed. However, the above-mentioned advantages are not as significant in the fashion industry.

But on the other hand, there would be other advantages of 3D printing that are more relevant to the fashion industry. Wouldn’t it be ideal if you could print your own clothes that have your exact measurements? In today’s world, clothing that perfectly fits your body is often expensive and difficult to obtain. With the use of a 3D printer this could become a possibility. Additionally, the use of a 3D printer would be environmental friendly as there’s no waste of textile. Though, it is important to address that 3D printing within the fashion industry is still in its early stages. Companies have printed some clothing; however, these clothes were extremely stiff and hard to wear. Slowly the design has become more flexible, but it’s still far away from regular clothing, since the combination of 3D printing with fabric has not experienced a lot of growth. As a result, current use of 3D printing within the fashion industry is more focused on hardware like jewelry and footwear.

So, even if you would like to print your own cloths at home, you would still have to wait several years before this could become reality.

References:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-15/3d-printing-is-poised-to-bring-haute-couture-into-the-home

https://www.3dhubs.com/knowledge-base/advantages-3d-printing

https://www.mbtmag.com/article/2016/01/how-3d-printing-will-impact-manufacturing-industry

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Technology of the Week – Information Goods in the Video Industry – Group 32

29

September

2017

5/5 (3)

We are living in an era where information goods surround us in our everyday life. We wake up in the morning and scroll through news apps with our phones, we listen to music throughout the day, we read books on e-readers, and we watch tv shows on tablets. Information goods are goods that are valued for the information they contain rather than the material of which they are made(McGee, 2017). In our video we analyzed how the internet has changed information goods within the video industry.

One of the main characteristics of information goods is that they have high production and low reproduction cost. With the advent of the internet and more specifically streaming those cost became even lower. Additionally, it has become easier to make content globally available because of the growth of the internet and the role of cloud. With the increased global reach also comes higher differentiation. The Long Tail concept, which explains how low demand products can collectively make up a significant market share is clearly visible within the video industry. Furthermore, the information transparency has increased over the years. Social Media and recommendation algorithms help you with recommendations for movies and videos to watch. Lastly, information goods are non-excludable, meaning that non-paying users can access it illegally. With downloading and streaming this phenomenon has increased over the years.

Using Porter’s 5 forces model, we analyzed how new internet technologies have disrupted the video industry (Porter, 2008). Looking from the perspective of a content provider, the supplier power has decreased due to the fact that providers can be their own suppliers by creating their own content (Masters, 2016). Moreover, bargaining power of buyers is high, as the cost of switching to another provider is close to zero. Additionally, the number of substitutes increased as many information goods are easily accessible online. Competition and threat of new entrants are high, however established players possess a competitive advantage as huge investments are necessary to gain an edge.

Within the video industry, we see new interesting business models that have developed over time, such as those used by Netflix and YouTube. Netflix uses a monthly subscription model to generate revenue for their streaming service. Their costs are incurred by video licensing and own content production. YouTube, on the other hand, uses an advertisement based business model in which they use their immense user base to their advantage.

Lastly, we challenged ourselves to predict what the movie industry will look like in the future. Virtual Reality technology is already well-developed and in the upcoming 10 years it will probably become widely used for movies, allowing people to watch movies from their home, while still maintaining the cinema experience. This also applies as a warning for the cinema industry that has to act before their position and existence will be threatened by this disruptive technology. Lastly, the extinction of traditional cable TV seems inevitable. With the rise of streaming, their business model appears to be no longer sustainable.

 

References:

Masters, K. (2016). The Netflix Backlash: Why Hollywood Fears a Content Monopoly. The Hollywood Reporter, retrieved from: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/netflix-backlash-why-hollywood-fears-928428 [Accessed: 28.09.2017]

McGee, M. (2017). What Is Information Good? WiseGeek, retrieved from: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-information-good.htm [Accessed:28.09.2017]

Porter, M. E. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard Business Review, 86(1), 25-40.

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The Boring Company – Fiction or Future?

27

September

2017

5/5 (3)

Worldwide the number of passenger cars and commercial cars has been increasing over the past years(Statista). This resulted in increasing traffic congestion within and between cities all around the world. Many possible solutions to stop or decrease this problem have been proposed, found, and tried, but few have succeeded. Now, Elon Musk seems to have the solution: a 3D network of tunnels. To realise this idea, Musk started his next company in December 2016: The Boring Company.

The idea behind the Boring Company is relatively simple: to solve the problem of traffic congestion, roads must go 3D. As mentioned on their website, there are two ways to make this happen, either go up, or go down. The benefits of going down include: having no limit for the number of layers of tunnels, being weatherproof, tunnel construction being silent and invisible, and having no division of communities. (Company Website) Once those tunnels are constructed, cars will go through it with a speed of 200 km/hour, according to Musk. The tunnels will use electric platforms, called skates, to transport the cars (See video). To prove and test this technology, Musk has already dug a tunnel below his SpaceX factory.

Could you imagine being transported with 200 km/hour? You could travel from the north of the Netherlands all the way south in only 1,5 hours. Not only can you travel fast, you also avoid all traffic. This technology would certainly change many people’s life. However, currently there are several challenges that face the Boring Company. First, tunnels are expensive to dig. A solution to decrease the cost of digging is to reduce the size of the tunnel and increase the speed of the boring machine. This is the major goal of the Boring Company. Nevertheless, this does not seem the only problem faced by the company. At present, the company does not own permits to dig under city property. Another challenge would be the entrances of the tunnels and the capacity they have. To realize the idea of a 3D network, the Boring Company has to overcome these and many more challenges.

One thing’s for sure, a 3D network of tunnels would change the way transportation operates today dramatically. However, the question remains whether this idea is feasible and viable in the future.

Sources:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/281134/number-of-vehicles-in-use-worldwide/

https://www.boringcompany.com/

http://www.popsci.com/elon-musk-boring-company-traffic-trouble

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