CSAIL researchers have developed a new technique to recreate paintings from a single photograph, reports John Biggs for TechCrunch. “The project uses machine learning to recreate the exact colors of each painting and then prints it using a high-end 3D printer that can output thousands of colors using half-toning,” Biggs explains.
Forbes contributed Jennifer Kite-Powell writes about a system, called RePaint, developed by MIT researchers that uses AI and 3-D printing to replicate paintings. "We can picture RePaint being applied to restoration practice and education in museums so that greater numbers of people could be exposed to famous pieces of art beyond just the specific museums that house them," explains CSAIL mechanical engineer Mike Foshey.
Fast Company reporter Jesus Diaz writes that CSAIL researchers have developed a new technique to replicate works of art. Diaz explains that the system “uses a combination of 10 different transparent inks, placed by a 3D printer and governed by a complex AI system that decides how to layer and mix those inks to match a painting’s original colors.”
This Quartz video highlights how MIT researchers are developing a self-driving boat system that can navigate waterways and can transform into different structures to move cargo, trash or build a temporary bridge. “The boats find the best path between preprogrammed locations, while using GPS, laser sensors, and cameras to avoid hitting anything,” explains Michael Tabb.
Forbes reporter Amy Feldman highlights Desktop Metal, a company started by MIT graduate Ric Fulop and a number of MIT researchers, that has developed 3-D metal printers that are intended to “print fast enough and at a low enough cost to replace casting and CNC machining for numerous metal parts.”
CSAIL researchers have developed a technique that makes it possible to create 3-D motion sculptures from 2-D video, reports Jennifer Kite-Powell for Forbes. The new technique could “open up the possibility to study social disorders, interpersonal interactions and team dynamics,” Kite-Powell explains.
BBC Click reports on a system developed by CSAIL researchers that creates 3-D motion sculptures based off of 2-D video. The technique, say the researchers, “could help dancers and athletes learn more about how they move.”
In an article for Popular Mechanics, Tiana Cline spotlights SoFi, an autonomous, soft, robotic fish that can swim alongside real fish. “SoFi has the potential to be a new type of tool for ocean exploration and to open up new avenues for uncovering the mysteries of marine life,” Cline notes.
NBC Mach reporter Tom Metcalfe writes that MIT researchers have developed a technique to 3-D print soft objects that change shape in response to magnetic fields. “You can imagine this technology being used in minimally invasive surgeries,” explains Prof. Xuanhe Zhao. “A self-steering catheter inside a blood vessel, for example — now you can use external magnetic fields to accurately steer the catheter.”
MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab collaborated with Swiss designer Christoph Guberan on a collection of 4D-printed “functional inflatable lamps, vases, and vessels,” which are now for sale at a New York gallery. “Rather than setting out to create a preconceived set of products, the resulting works were organically formed as an extension of the research process itself,” writes Aileen Kwun for Fast Company.
Tasker Smith, a technical instructor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, writes for Make Magazine about his work developing 3-D printed tools to create a custom leather press. “By marrying the versatility of digital design and fabrication with luxurious materials like leather,” writes Smith, “we can supercharge our process and generate customized artifacts worthy of handing down from generation to generation.”
MIT researchers have developed a new technique to 3-D print magnetic robots that could one day be used as biomedical devices, reports Erik Olsen for Quartz. “The engineers have enabled the bots to roll, crawl, jump, and even snap together like a Venus flytrap to grasp a pill and then roll away with it,” explains Olsen.
MIT researchers have created a new fabrication technique to create intricate, 3-D printed magnetic options that react to magnetic fields hitting them at different angles, reports Mark Wilson for Co.Design. In the future the structures, “could be placed in the human body, manipulated via wireless, harmless magnetism, and carry out intricate tasks like on-site drug delivery.”
Prof. Xuanhe Zhao and his colleagues have designed a 3D printer that can create shape-shifting soft materials. The group purposefully created the “materials and the method to be user friendly to enable a wide range of applications,” reports Fiona McMillan for Forbes.
Prof. Xuanhe Zhao speaks with WBUR about how he and his colleagues have developed a new technique to create soft, pliable structures that could carry out medical procedures within the human body. “Since the human body is soft, it's beneficial to develop a device that has a similar rigidity as soft tissues in the human body,” explains Zhao.