From dinosaurs to biotech, Alastair Jennings takes a look at where 3D printing has been and what the future holds.

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; The Fifth Element and Small Soldiers 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.

L ook at today’s most popular 3D print technology, fused filament fabrication (FFF), and we see the likes of the LulzBot TAZ SideKick 747, Anycubic Kobra, Creality Ender and Prusa i3 MKS – all fantastic 3D printers with heaps of potential for the home user.

The issue with these printers is that, compared to the one in Jurassic Park 3, the technology hasn’t leapt forward in any obvious way, other than you can now have them in your home for a few hundred pounds rather than needing a team of archaeologists and an eccentric philanthropist with an island full of dinosaurs.

The market may be dominated by single-filament printers but there are far more options. You have advanced models such as the CEL-UK RoboxDual, Ultimaker and Raise3D printers, all capable of printing two different filaments to create more complex models in structure and material use. But two filaments aren’t the limit, and more FFF machines are appearing with the ability to print four, five or more filaments. The Mosaic device that sorts out the filament handling for you is a great retrofit that massively boosts the function and use of a single-filament printer.