If you’re a technology buff, then you probably know about the movement toward 3D printing. In short, it’s a revolutionary technology that allows intricate designs to be crafted on a software program and printed in 3D form. Teague Labs have introduced its 13:30 printed headphones, because its print time is 13 hours and 30 minutes.
With 3D printers becoming more accessible we decided to have a think around the concept “life in beta” as a future scenario. What if printed prototypes could become actual products? Meaning, once off the print bed an object could be assembled without any tools and be made functional by readily attainable components. I decided to stress test the premise with the challenge of making electronically simple yet functionally complex headphones.
Details include the flexible yet durable strap and semi-articulating cans: although ABS can be finicky at times, the designers at Teague have managed to compensate for the brittleness of the material.
According to Core777, details include the flexible yet durable strap and semi-articulating cans: although ABS can be finicky at times, the designers at Teague have managed to compensate for the brittleness of the material.
Senior Designer John Mabry explains the evolution on Teague Labs’ blog: “With that in mind, I started to adapt the 13:30 design to the Maker Bot Replicator last week. The main challenge: How to build to a similar level of quality without soluble support. With a bit of experimentation, I’m pretty sure it can be done so look for some updates on that very soon! In the meantime, I posted the current model(s), component list, and instructions on Thingiverse for you to make your own working headphones right now.”
With headphones now a reality in the 3D printing world, could a 3D printed DJ mixer be next? Let’s hope so.