10
PRINT.IT
01732 759725
The Future of Print
Print in 2050
Today’s printing landscape is dominated by the
shift to mobile printing and the development
of 3D printing. But what will the future hold?
For its
Future of Print Report
, Altodigital asked
futurologist Dr Ian Pearson to identify key print
and document trends that could revolutionise the
way businesses operate in 2050. He identified
the following five possible scenarios – to be
taken with a pinch of smart dust.
1. Legal document signing.
“By 2050, people could
be using special digital ink
containing tiny electronic
particles that are electronically
programmed by a digital printer
as they leave the print head.
With transistor feature sizes
by then measuring just a few
nanometres, huge amounts
of data could be stored in
particles that could easily be
suspended in such digital ink.
This will allow documents to
be digitally signed in a real ink
signature, an essential part of
authentication in a world where
signatures can so easily be
scanned and replicated. The
ink itself could even contain a
full digital copy of the document
being signed, and all of this
could be heavily encrypted to
make tampering impossible”.
2. Smart dust security
problems.
“Electronic particles even
smaller than the eye can see
will form smart dust that could
become a security nightmare.
The human eye can see particles
down to about 0.1mm, but a
speck of dust that size could
hold up to a billion transistors.
A few particles of invisible
smart dust introduced via an air
conditioning vent and landing
on keyboards, or sprinkled by a
cleaner acting as a spy directly
into office equipment, such
as printers or scanners, could
intercept every piece of data
going through an office.
A cleaner walking through with
a scanner built into cleaning
equipment could collect all the
data from the smart dust as they
go through the office”.
3. Figurine market.
“Today, people often give
business cards to new
acquaintances. By 2050, it will
be commonplace to give small
figurines instead to stand out
from the pack. 3D cameras
will take a few high resolution
photos from various angles and
create a full body 3D picture.
Those full-body pictures could
then be used with 3D office
printers to make small figurines.
As it is 3D printed, the figurine
surface could be printed the
appropriate colour so that the
finished figurine looks just
like a miniature of the real
person. Of course, people won’t
just collect figurines of their
business contacts. They might
also receive miniatures of new
products as part of launch
campaigns. We’ll even see
marketing uses where on-line
clothes shops might print off tiny
mannequins of the customer
wearing replicas of the clothes.
People might even collect
tiny versions of themselves
in a wide range of outfits and
activities, creating a potentially
huge market for items specially
designed for people to indulge
their fantasies through figurines
of themselves”.
4. Video tattoos and smart
make-up.
“In 2050, we won’t be limited
to printing on flat sheets or
using 3D printers. It will be
very common to print onto
any 3D object, even the body
surface. That will make it
easy to print high precision
tattoos or elaborate make-up
and we should expect beauty
parlours to offer high precision
make-up. A facial printer would
recognise the edges of lips
and eyelids and precisely apply
the appropriate materials. The
materials printed could contain
a suspension of electronically
activated particles, too, so
that the make-up or tattoo
could electronically change
its appearance as directed
by a controller app which
could either be networked
or embedded in the product
particles and activated by
voice or even touch. This could
revolutionise fashion shows,
allowing models to rapidly
change facial appearances and
even body decoration.
A business-woman’s make-up
could change many times
during the day according to
where she is and what she is
doing and it would become
possible for companies to
implement corporate make-up
schemes without interfering
with staff choice once they
leave the office. And as make-
up becomes tech-ier, a lot of
men who wouldn’t ordinarily
consider using make-up will
start to use electronic war-
paints or tribal markings.
Electronic tattoos could even
be used as part of professional
uniforms, displaying the
symbols associated with their
role and disappearing once the
person goes off duty.”
5. Pick-and-place 3D printer
hybrids.
“3D printers won’t just print
in plastic, metal or ceramic,
but will combine with a pick-
and-place robotic assembly
approach to take factory-made
components from a container
and add them to the artefact
being 3D printed. This will
greatly extend the range of
things that can be printed to
include fully working complex
equipment and spare parts.
Unlike today’s 3D printing
which can really just fabricate
shapes, gadgets created
anywhere in the world could
be fabricated anywhere else,
revolutionising manufacturing
and personalisation. A child
could print a radio-controlled
toy car, or a robotic action hero
toy with full voice interaction
that can see and interact
with its environment, making
2050 toy soldiers like a real
miniature army under the
child’s command. Similarly, the
figurines you make of friends or
celebrities could walk around
and speak in their voices, use
their gestures and mannerisms,
even use artificial intelligence
to replicate their conversation.
You’ll never be alone again
when you have a 2050 printer”.
Printing today
The
Future of Print Report
also looks at the
state of print and document technologies today.
Altodigital asked 1,000 business leaders
across the country what print and document
technologies had the greatest potential to drive
organisational efficiencies. Mobile printing
came out on top, cited by 49% of respondents,
followed by eco and green print technologies
(25%) and biometrics (16%) e.g. fingerprint or
retina scanning. Nearly a third of respondents
(32%) view managed document services as a
‘crucially important’ part of their IT mix.
The ‘paperless office’ remains a long way off,
with just 1% of businesses having fully removed
paper from their operations. However, paper
reduction remains a priority. Most organisations
questioned had reduced paper consumption
by 25%, with more than one in 10 respondents
managing to achieve a 75% reduction.
