3D Printing Experimental Cafe: a Paradise for Argentine Technology enthusiasts

Buenos Aires (CNFIN.COM / XINHUA08.COM)-there is a special cafe in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires, Argentina, where people come here not only for coffee, but also for a common hobby-3D printing.

Rodrigo Perez Weiss, an electronic engineer, has opened the themed cafe for less than a year, but it is already famous. Many young Argentines who are curious about the new technology come here, some to see 3D printing, some to design it themselves, and more like the atmosphere in which people get together and play 3D printing over coffee.

"the original intention of creating this coffee shop is to open up a space where people can get close to each other and communicate openly, and they can come here to understand and experience what 3D printing is, and we have several 3D printers that use different technologies. We also sell machines, customize print models for our customers, or teach them how to print," Rodrigo told Xinhua.

The display cabinets in the cafe are filled with works by regulars, including part models of college students majoring in industrial design, avatars of sculpture lovers, new concept furniture designed by furniture designers, and unknown monsters designed by parents for their children. "the charm of 3D printing is WYSIWYG, and people's imagination is brought into full play here," Rodrigo said.

Recently, Rodrigo came up with a new idea in his communication with technology enthusiasts, who want to use 3D printing technology to create medical prosthetics for people with disabled hands and feet, because the technology is much cheaper than traditional industrial prosthetics. Recently, they set up a technology company called Darwin Research for this purpose.

Argentine girl Gabriela Gugoriandoro unfortunately suffered a fire when she was 4 years old, with 80% of her whole body burned and her right finger amputated. On the 9th, she came to the 3D printing themed coffee shop in the company of her mother, because Rodrigo promised to provide her with a fake hand that uses 3D printing technology.

Monica, Gugoriandoro's mother, said that Gugoriandoro's hands were so deformed that they had been to a special orthopedic hospital to install a prosthetic hand, but it did not go well.

"We are now studying the development of prosthetics using 3D printing technology, and have developed some models, mainly using mechanical principles combined with electronic devices to help some special disabled people reuse lost limb functions. In the future, we will develop more medical 3D printed prosthetics to help more disabled patients, "Rodrigo told reporters."

Rodrigo said that a high-tech artificial hand costs about $40, 000, but using 3D printing technology can not only achieve customized production according to the patient's condition, but also reduce the price to about $2, 000. the production cycle can also be shortened to no more than 72 hours.

In Argentina, where imports are strictly controlled, many Argentines are unfamiliar with 3D printing technology. The 3D printing coffee shop run by Rodrigo is quite avant-garde. He said that printers are imported from abroad at a high price, and have made complex upgrades using their knowledge of electronic engineering.