The future of 3d printing is OLO3D
3D printing is definitely one of the most visionary inventions of recent years. And we at Notorious, who love innovations, want to tell you about those who are revolutionizing this invention, making it even more advanced and at the same time suitable for the maistream.
Start by forgetting about 3d printers connected to computers, Filippo Moroni and Pietro Gabriele have made something unthinkable possible: 3d printing from your smartphone!
All you need is a small printer, a special resin, and that’s it: you can choose from the OLO 3d application your favorite three-dimensional image to get, in a few hours,a three-dimensional print, simply through your smartphone, whatever it is. The revolution lies, then, in making 3d printing 2.0, since thanks to the application you will be able to share your 3d creations, download open source models and offer your design skills to the community.
Let’s try to understand why OLO 3d is the first “social” and “social” printer at the same time.
How did the idea for OLO 3D come about?
OLO 3D was born out of our desire to make the magnificent magic that is 3D printing accessible to everyone. We thought of a tool to unleash the creative imagination of people, especially young people. We believe that technology should improve people’s lives, make them more free, aware, creative, happy. So we thought of a printer that would be easy to use, inexpensive, within everyone’s reach. OLO is an example of how the creativity and quality of Italian digital manufacturing can win the challenge of the global market, thanks to design, recombinant innovation, and the ability to win the hearts and minds of the world public.
What is the real novelty of your project?
OLO can extend the functionality of more than 2 billion smartphones scattered in every corner of the planet by turning them into a 3D printer. Printing with OLO is easy, everything you need is already in the technology in your phones: just add our OLO, which is cloud-managed, controlled by an app and consists of seven pieces in all. And it works with our magic resins. It will be a revolution!
Is OLO 3d really accessible to everyone or do you need specific skills?
OLO has a cost of $99, works very simply, just download the ‘app and pour the resin into the machine. OLO is safe: the phone is protected and the resins are certified.
You invented the first social 3d printer: what is your business model?
For us, sharing is a business model: we believe in sharing creativity and technologies.
We expect a lot of participation and creativity from our OLO community, we are extending our community with others, with whom we can exchange and share ideas, experiences, projects.
We believe that building this community is a new social business model.
You have taken your project to the Kickstarter platform. Do you think crowdfunding still remains the best opportunity for digital start-ups?
Yes, crowdfunding is a wonderful tool if you are looking for a direct relationship with people, especially if you have innovative ideas and want to engage with the market and people’s hearts. On Kickstarter more than 12 thousand people are sharing our dream, they are giving us confidence, they are asking us timely and interesting questions, which stimulate us to improve, like the ones in this interview.
You often say in your speeches that there is a need for a new culture. In what ways do you think you can convey it?
We are Fonderie Digitali: a network of companies that unites the most courageous and innovative realities of the Italian and European digital manufacturing scene. United in Fonderie Digitali are a passion for change and ideas that break the mould and build the future. Our winning weapons are cooperation, the ability to work together, the sharing of knowledge and the ability to illuminate new perspectives and new solutions. We are entrepreneurs who believe that passion for change and digital technologies can make the world a more beautiful, free and happy place. We are serial inventors and creators of start-ups, social innovators, women and men who think outside the traditional box and seek new challenges to overcome and new frontiers to explore. For us, the marketplace is the global one, full of opportunities, where the bravest, fastest, most visionary wins.
How do you think more “ordinary” people can replace industrial production in your field?
We do not know whether in the future it will be Prosumers who produce and consume and share technologies and objects. But any utopia serves not so much to be achieved, because by its very nature it is out of reach. The utopia of a circular, fully democratic, responsible economy in harmony with nature is a good horizon to walk toward.
You call yourselves a “digital factory.” What really is a digital factory?
A Digital factory is a place like Solido 3D, a company that is a creative community where the creation of “design” and industrial products, their virtual and material prototyping, public design, production and commercialization of objects, the internet of things, and home automation come together. Solido 3D with more than 15 years of experience behind it and a book of excellent works and collaborations, is the company that by operational and design capabilities is the Italian leader in the application of digital technologies to traditional manufacturing. It can be said to be the first Italian Digital factory.
What is the message of the name “Digital Foundries”?
Combine passion, values, knowledge, vision and bring forth revolutionary ideas, projects and products. Our favorite adjective is Disruptive!
Tell us some secrets: after OLO 3D, what's boiling in the pots at Digital Foundries?
We’ll just tell you the names: Orthotics, Memorabilia Digitalia, ClusterCar… The project that will occupy us as a Network will be called: Digital Foundries like our network, and it will be the first center of Digital Manufactures and Designs. The Service Center of Fonderie Digitali is an entrepreneurial ecosystem designed to enable digital artisans to produce maximum innovation; it is founded on knowledge sharing and cooperation. The S.C. is at the same time a business incubator, a coworking space for creatives, professionals and artisans 2.0, a science and technology park, in which new craft realities or manufacturing networks centered on digital fabrication technologies are born, capable of offering digital fabrication goods and services aimed at artisans and micro-enterprises and the market in general.
In the digital landscape, those who can envision the future win, and we at Notorious like those who are that far ahead. Who do you think is the most “Notorious” character in the digital landscape today?
Diego Piacentini, the Vice President of Amazon: the man who will finally bring a real jolt of innovation to this country. We look forward to him.
