TED演讲之身体语言 4D打印机的诞生(5)
So I know you’re probably thinking, okay, that’s cool,
我知道大家现在大概会想，好吧，看着挺酷的，
but how do we use any of this stuff for the built environment?
但是我们怎么把它应用到生产环境里？
So I’ve started a lab at MIT, and it’s called the Self-Assembly Lab.
我在MIT（美国麻省理工学院）开展了一个实验室，它叫做“自我组装实验室”。
We’re dedicated to trying to develop programmable materials for the built environment.
我们致力于为实际生产环境开发可程序化的材料。
And we think there’s a few key sectors that have fairly near-term applications.
我们认为有几个关键部分它们可以在相当短期内得到应用。
One of those is in extreme environments.
其中之一就是在极限环境下。
These are scenarios where it’s difficult to build, our current construction techniques don’t work,
有些情况是建造起来非常困难，我们现有的建造技术行不通的，
it’s too large, it’s too dangerous, it’s expensive, too many parts.
它太大，太危险，太昂贵，太庞杂。
And space is a great example of that.
太空就是一个非常好的例子。
We’re trying to design new scenarios for space that have fully reconfigurable
我们正在为太空环境设计新的可以完全重置和自我组装的结构，
and self-assembly structures that can go from highly functional systems from one to another.
它们可以自我转化成各种功能强大的系统。
Let’s go back to infrastructure. In infrastructure, we’re working with a company out of Boston called Geosyntec.
我们再回到基础设施建设。在这个领域，我们正和波士顿一家叫Geosyntec的公司合作。
And we’re developing a new paradigm for piping.
正在开发一种新的管道模板。
Imagine if water pipes could expand or contract to change capacity or change flow rate,
想象一下如果水管可以膨胀或者收缩来改变容积、改变流量、
or maybe even undulate like peristaltics to move the water themselves.
它甚至可以自己起伏蠕动来传输水。
So this isn’t expensive pumps or valves. This is a completely programmable and adaptive pipe on its own.
这就不需要昂贵的水泵或者水阀了。这是一个完全可程序化和自我调节的管道。
So I want to remind you today of the harsh realities of assembly in our world.
我今天想要提醒大家的是——当今残酷的组装现实。
These are complex things built with complex parts that come together in complex ways.
这些庞杂的集合体是用复杂的零件以繁复的方式组装起来的。
So I would like to invite you from whatever industry you’re from to join us in reinventing and reimagining the world,
所以，我真诚的邀请大家，不管你们来自哪个领域，和我们一起重塑和重新想象这个世界，
how things come together from the nanoscale to the human scale,
怎样将微观纳米世界和宏观人类生活的事物结合在一起，
so that we can go from a world like this to a world that’s more like this.
从而，我们可以从这样一个世界过渡到一个更类似于这样的世界。
Thank you.
谢谢大家。
演讲简介：
自上世纪七十年代以来，三维打印已经得到了长足的发展，而Skylar Tibbits正致力于塑造未来的发展方向——四维打印, 所谓的第四维就是时间. 这种新兴技术将会让我们打印出可以自我重塑或者自我组装的物体。想象一下吧：一个打印出来的立方体在你眼前完成自我折叠，或者一条打印出来的管道可以根据需要自我膨胀或者收缩。