Three-dimensional (3D) printing has a long history of applications in biomedical engineering. The development and expansion of traditional biomedical applications are being advanced and enriched by new printing technologies. New biomedical applications such as bioprinting are highly attractive and trendy. This Special Issue aims to provide readers with a glimpse of the recent profile of 3D prin...

Most 3D printing designs are inspired by existing designs. This is specially true for prosthetic designs. Designers try to improvise on previous designs. However, they often fail to credit sources, thus making it difficult to track the design changes. This problem can be solved by finding lineage patterns in the 3D printing design repositories and visualizing them. Thingiverse is an online 3D p...

We present a printer that builds functional three-dimensional structures by reversible assembly of a discrete set of components, “digital materials”. This approach uses the components rather than a control system to impose the spatial and functional constraints. Printing can be performed as a parallel rather than a linear process. The printing process is reversible for re-use of the pieces or f...

We present an interactive CG (Computer Graphics) design system based on virtual woodblock printing, with the stress on an aspect of a tool to enjoy creation in a virtual space. This system is a simulation of real woodblock printing: generating a woodblock, spreading inks on the woodblock, putting a paper sheet on the woodblock, and rubbing the paper sheet with a Japanese squeegee “BAREN” in a v...

A printing system enables the printing of multimedia received from a media source that is communicatively coupled to the printer. Based on the received multimedia data, the printing system produces a paper or other printed output as well as a related electronic output. Together, the printed and electronic outputs provide a representation of the multimedia. The printer is also capable of communi...

The invention of a new ICT, the printing press, may have been a fundamental turning point in knowledge transition. But did Gutenberg’s printing press succeed in Europe because of, or despite of, government intervention? To answer the question, this paper endeavours to make a comparative analysis of the role of governments in the invention, adoption and dissemination of the printing press in Eur...

Nearing 30 years since its introduction, 3D printing technology is set to revolutionize research and teaching laboratories. This feature encompasses the history of 3D printing, reviews various printing methods, and presents current applications. The authors offer an appraisal of the future direction and impact this technology will have on laboratory settings as 3D printers become more accessible.

The present paper studies the chromaticity gamut of multi-color printing processes. Heptatone (7color) printing – the most promising variant of multi-color printing – offers a significantly larger gamut than a conventional CMYK printing process, approaching CRT and film gamuts. The behavior of the process in the device-independent CIE-XYZ and CIE-L*u*v* colorimetric spaces is explored using the...