I recently gave an Autodesk Gallery tour to a maker named Richard Esterle. Richard was attending a math conference in the Bay Area and stopped by the gallery. At the conference Richard made math tangible for students by sharing some of the shapes he 3D printed. Richard even has some of his objects available as toys on Shapeways.
Richard told me he was originally inspired by shapes created by Bathsheba Grossman.
These shapes demonstrate how "complexity is free" when it comes to 3D printing. Unlike an artisan working with a hand tool, a 3D printer does not care how intricate the shape is. 3D printing also does not require a mold. This opens the door to personal manufacturing since in such a situation, each object is different. Using traditional manufacturing techniques to create molds for one-off object creation would not be cost effective. For example, imagine tailor-made shoes just for you at the same price you pay today.
We may hook up Richard with 123D Make and have him create an exhibit for the gallery! The gallery at One Market in San Francisco is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us. If you would like to know more about Richard "Dick" Esterle, you can check out this TRIBlive article. This way people won't be able to say you don't know Dick.
Shapes are alive in the lab.