HP Officially Announces Its 3D Printing Technology

HP today introduced its vision for the future of computing and 3D printing by unveiling its new Blended Reality ecosystem. Designed to break down the barriers between the digital and physical worlds, the ecosystem is underpinned by two key advancements:

HP Multi Jet Fusion: A revolutionary technology engineered to resolve critical gaps in the combination of speed, quality and cost, and deliver on the potential of 3D printing.

Sprout by HP: A first-of-its-kind Immersive Computing platform that redefines the user experience and creates a foundation for future immersive technologies.

“We are on the cusp of a transformative era in computing and printing,” said Dion Weisler, executive vice president, Printing & Personal Systems (PPS), HP. “Our ability to deliver Blended Reality technologies will reduce the barriers between the digital and physical worlds, enabling us to express ourselves at the speed of thought — without filters, without limitations. This ecosystem opens up new market categories that can define the future, empowering people to create, interact and inspire like never before.”

Multi Jet Fusion At-a-Glance
Multi Jet Fusion is built on HP Thermal Inkjet technology and features a unique synchronous architecture that significantly improves the commercial viability of 3D printing and has the potential to change the way we think about manufacturing.

• 10-Times Faster: Images entire surface areas versus one point at a time to achieve break-through functional build speeds that are at least 10 times faster than the fastest technology in market today(2).
• New Levels of Quality, Strength and Durability: Proprietary multi-agent printing process utilizing HP Thermal Inkjet arrays that simultaneously apply multiple liquid agents to produce best-in-class quality that combines greater accuracy, resiliency and uniform part strength in all three axis directions.
• Accuracy and Detail: Capable of delivering fully functional parts with more accuracy, finer details and smooth surfaces, and able to manipulate part and material properties, including form, texture, friction, strength, elasticity, electrical, thermal properties and more — beyond other 3D print processes.
• Achieves Break-through Economics: Unifies and integrates various steps of the 3D print process to reduce running time, cost, energy consumption and waste(3) to significantly improve 3D printing economics .

Sprout by HP At-a-Glance

• Dual-screen Experience: A workspace designed for creative expression and human interaction with an integrated vertical HD touch screen coupled with a 20 point capacitive touch mat.
• The Sprout Illuminator: A projection system that scans and captures real-world objects in 3D, allowing the user to immediately interact and create.
• HP Workspace: A software platform built expressly for Sprout to take full advantage of the dual-screen experience to make working and creating seamless, intuitive and engaging.
• True Remote Collaboration: The way collaboration should be. An interface that advances how users work, collaborate and share, with simultaneous visual and workspace connectivity, allowing concurrent creativity and content manipulation.
• Advanced Platform: A next-generation computing platform featuring a powerful 4thgeneration Intel i7 Processor, 1TB of storage in an easy-to-use dual-screen interface, and a Windows 8.1 multi-touch experience.

(Source: HP)