Seeing a 3D printer in action is slightly hypnotic; the process of seeing a physical object emerge, layer by layer, out of seemingly nothing is amazing. Even in the early days, the potential was obvious. An early rapid prototype appeared in the 2001 film Jurassic Park 3. The large-scale rapid prototyper, as used by Billy Brennan, was busy printing a raptor resonating chamber. It was incredible technology, but so was the dino cloning biotech on which Michael Crichton based his books. In 2001, the scan and print were just part of a raptor’s skull, but what about today, more than 20 years later – is it possible to 3D print living tissue?
The 3D printer in Jurassic Park 3 was similar to the technology we use today in our printers at home. Its use in the film showed how visionary the filmmakers were. The tech has since evolved well beyond what was featured in the film, but what was particularly interesting was the use of 3D print terminology in those few lines from Billy Brennan. Terms such as scan, slicer and layers are familiar to 3D printer users today, but would have been alien to the audience then. In the context of the film, however, they were easy to understand.
Jurassic Park 3 isn’t the only film to have featured 3D printing or even the first; and both did, before the dinosaurs. 3D printing might have been a futuristic proposition in the ’90s and early 2000s, but the tech is now mainstream and has incredible promise going forward.
