Drawings that Jump from the Page

You don’t have to be a great artist for your drawing to jump from the page. Thanks to a 3D pen created by a former MIT researcher, you may not even need a page.

According to its website, the 3Doodler is the world’s first and only 3D printing pen. In lieu of ink, the pen's metal tip heats a thermoplastic to 518 °F. When released from the pen, the plastic instantly cools and solidifies into a hard structure. Drawings can be free-form in the air or on flat surfaces, which can be peeled and combined to make larger designs.

The 3Doodler is a creation of WobbleWorks, a toy and robotics company co-founded by Peter Dilworth, a former research associate in the Media Lab and CSAIL’s Leg Lab. During his time at MIT, Dilworth helped create a four-foot walking dinosaur robot and a transforming motorcycle named Uno.

The pen is roughly seven inches by one inch, weighs less than an apple, and is charged via a universal power supply. The video below show some examples. Jump to the 1:20 mark for a 3Doodle-created Eiffel Tower.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQWyhezIze4&w=375&h=211]

From the3doodler.com:

"The 3Doodler uses cutting-edge, patent-pending technology to heat and cool plastic as it passes through the body of the pen. Just like a 3D printer, the plastic cools around rapidly and becomes hard. The possibilities are endless, including 3D models, jewelry, arts, magnets, or a scale mode of the Eiffel Tower."

3Doodler's Kickstarter campaign, which runs through March 25, set an initial goal of $30,000 but raised more than $1.1 million within the first week.