Yahoo Japan Corp. has developed a voice-activated
Internet search that links to a 3D printer, letting users look online for
blueprints to deliver solid objects in a few minutes, the company said.
The search engine scours the Internet for information
that it can use to print palm-sized renderings of items as diverse as
hippopotamuses or fighter jets.
Heralded as a technology that is potentially as
game-changing as the steam engine was in its day, 3D printers have become a more
commonplace reality over the last few years.
The devices use slices of information about a
three-dimensional object and gradually deposits fine layers of material -- such
as plastic, carbon or metal -- to build a copy.
Design information for a working handgun was posted
online earlier this year, sparking warnings that the technology needed to be
tamed amid fears of a wave of home-built weaponry.
Yahoo Japan, which is part-owned by Japanese mobile
carrier Softbank and US Internet giant Yahoo! Inc. has no firm plans on commercialising
the technology.
As part of the project, Yahoo Japan has introduced the
3D search engine to a school for blind and visually impaired students in Tokyo
on a temporary basis, it said, adding they can use it for free until mid-October.
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