Dressed in 3D.

• Author: Mangu-Ward, Katherine
• Position: Briefly Noted - Brief article

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The ability to design and immediately fabricate a custom ensemble is the dream of every well-dressed science fiction nerd. We're not quite there yet, but Freedom of Creation (freedomofcreation. corn), a to-year-old 3D printing company, has garnered some buzz for its printed fabric offerings. The garments and accessories--some designed directly by the customers, but most generated in house--are modeled on a computer. Then specialized printers pile up layers of material, bonding them together to form a three dimensional object.

Right now, the printers are too expensive for even the most...