2024-11-05T16:13:57-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/80141432/mit-accelerates-multi-material-3d-printing-software Amelia Taylor-Hochberg 2013-08-23T17:40:00-04:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/6l/6lj93h4zg75odbgf.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>The breakthrough not only allows an object made up of many different materials to be printed, but also lets the user change the look and feel of a single material used to print an object. It's possible to print an object with hard and compressible sections out of a single material, even if the raw material isn't flexible in itself.</p></em><br /><br /><p> Now you can 3D print a single object with multiple materials and varying densities, thanks to MIT's <a href="http://www.csail.mit.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL)</a>. Through an adapted software called Spec2Fab, the designer can specify precisely which materials are to be used in each part of the printed object.</p> <p> As if MIT isn't impressive enough, check out their work with&nbsp;<a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/79607750/if-you-think-3d-printing-is-disruptive-wait-for-4d" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">4D printing</a>.</p>