In
Technology
Written by TKS Las Vegas student, Caitlyn Coloma (email: caitayc@gmail.com)
Around 1800, the world was in the midst of the first industrial revolution, which transformed a largely agrarian society with small scale production to an industrialized urban populace centered around mechanization and manufacturing.
Fast forward another century or so to 1900 during the second industrial revolution, when a revitalization of scientific principles fostered the development of mass production, and in turn, mass consumerism.
Fast forward again, to the late 1960s, and we arrive at the third industrial revolution, this time a digital one, where electronics replace mechanical analog technologies. We’re still experiencing the effects of this one, but we just might be heading into another very soon—if we’re not there already…
Before we get into the possibilities of a 4th industrial revolution, let’s recognize some patterns of the first three. With each successive industrial revolution, innovations to existing technologies had ramifications economic, political, social, and environmental in nature and global in scope. What’s more is the time between each revolution decreased, indicating that technology develops at an increasingly faster rate; that is, innovation spurs innovation.
Furthermore, the technological advances of each preceding revolution was available to the masses by the next one. For example, those in 1900 reaped the benefits of industrialization, and by the 1960s, mass production pervaded society. What was revolutionary a century or even decades before became ordinary with time.
So where do we stand in these cyclical patterns of revolution? Are we in the 4th industrial revolution? What does the 4th industrial revolution even look like?
It’s 2019 and, yes, we are in the 4th industrial revolution. Most people characterize this by the increased incorporation of robotics or cyber tech into society, but something entirely different may prove responsible, though it’s just as exciting: 4D printing.
Just as the development of industry has been cyclical, so has the development of 4D printing. We owe traditional 2D, ink-on-paper printers to the technologies of the digital revolution, and indirectly to the printing press of the first industrial revolution even before that.
Then, we started printing with things other than ink.
Where manufacturing was once a tedious and complex process involving hundreds of components and steps of assembly, 3D printing provides a simplified alternative that eliminates any and all compromises on design.
In the scope of revolutions, 3D printers are relatively recently developed technologies, and they have a long way to go to reach the level of ubiquity that 2D printers have achieved. But while we are nowhere close to expending all the potential that 3D printing has to offer—from clothing to art, from the architecture that grows megacities to the organs that save lives —3D printing is not the extent of innovation in 2019.
When we subject a 3D print to respond to changes in environmental stimuli (temperature, light, moisture, etc.) and transform over time, we bring printing into the 4th dimension and we bring ourselves into the 4th industrial revolution.
Answer: Everything that makes 3D printing revolutionary, and then some.
The fact that the advent of 4D printing comes at a time when 3D printing is still in its infancy is significant for 2 reasons:
At the rate historical industrial revolutions have gone, should we be anticipating a 5th industrial revolution, a 6th? As of right now, it seems that 4D printing could not possibly become obsolete or ordinary. And in 1784, that’s probably what someone thought of the world’s first mechanical loom.
But that’s the nature of innovation. As long as time is a factor (and a dimension) innovation is not only inevitable, it’s imminent, and that is revolutionary 🔮.