Electroloom: 3D printer for clothes came out on Kickstarter

Startup Electroloom offers an unusual device that can be called a 3D printer for fabrics. The ultimate goal of the project is to “print” clothes and other items from fabric materials. With the prototype device, which has been in development for a year and a half, the company two days ago came out on Kickstarter .


Electroloom view

While this is not the final product for ordinary users, but rather a prototype for enthusiasts and potential investors. In its current state, the Electroloom machine creates a fabric from a liquid mixture of polyester and cotton, applying it to the pattern with a spray. The liquid is superimposed on the template with the help of electromagnetic fields and freezes on it. The San Francisco team working on the project called this process of fabric production FGF, Field Guided Fabrication (field guided fabrication).
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Skirt


Mike

After that, the finished product is separated from the template. Microscopic fibers that form the product, give it the properties of conventional fabrics. The fabric can be folded, stretched and shaken. Products turn out seamless, and do not demand use of sewing machines, overlok and other sewing equipment.

The crowdfunding campaign has been going on for two days already, and during this time we managed to raise 20 out of 50 thousand dollars. Beckers promise various prizes, among which are Electroloom prototypes. Their cost starts at $ 4,500, delivery time - March 2016. Among other prizes - pieces of fabric obtained in the device, a sleeveless T-shirt and a skirt - the products on which the unit was tested.

The goal of the campaign is to involve as many people as possible in the development of the project, to attract more feedback, criticism and valuable suggestions. The first finished products do not look quite presentable. But this is only the beginning.


How it works

While some companies focus on the creation of new types of fabrics , the production of “smart” clothes or “ liquid tissue ” that can be applied directly to the body, Electroloom is trying to make making ordinary things easier and more accessible.

It is quite possible to imagine an atelier of the near future, in which they take a measurement from a person with a three-dimensional scanner and immediately make the necessary piece of clothing ideally sitting on a figure and having the desired coloring. And no huge halls and warehouses, fitting rooms and searches for "their size." It remains only to figure out how to get a seamstress from Vietnam and Bangladesh.