Indian scentist creates 3D printer of the future

It's hard not to be amazed by the advancements that have come to the niche 3D printing market in the last year or so, but one scientist has invented a technology that is mind-boggling to say the least. Current 3D printers require users to download special software, sometimes requiring sophisticated design skills to create the object in question. But Balaji Tammabattula has something different in mind – what if you could just take a picture of something and watch as that thing was suddenly replicated as a 3D model before your very eyes?

That's exactly what Tammabattula has created. The only catch is that the picture needs to come from a 3D camera. "All 3D printers require the item to be made from an intricate and complicated digital wireframe file. Naturally, you need a great deal of technical knowledge in order to produce these. My invention does away with this, instead printing directly from a photograph, by means of a 3D camera," he said in a press release.

His creation has not yet been deployed in a commercial product, but he is already working on making it accessible to operations within the Indian government. He admits the idea seems crazy, and goes beyond what almost anyone else in this industry has tried to achieve, but he says, "It just goes to show what can be done when you take an existing technology and add a contribution that takes it to the next level."