That was wierd. A very holey dress. Looks good on a model, not likely to get much use by real people in regular situations (ie. not a night club where see thru clothes are the norm).
Presumably that's part art, and part aspect of the current technology. When 3d printing resolution gets down to super tiny nano fibers the result will be more like fabric and not HoleyTriangleTech.
The printing process hassle is also likely just an artifact of the current tech and the fact that this was a big experiment.
What they learn from this project (model pre-folding, all the excess matrix material) will likely lead to improvements and streamlining.
Some other things to consider:
3d printing became accessible because the patents on plastic 3d printing expired and the DIY companies sprung up to bring us the technology.
The 3d metal printing patents will expire "soon" (per a seminar I went to on the topic), and that should unlock more materials to print with in the next few years
eventually, I'd expect a multi-extruder 3d printer with spools for multiple plastics (type and color), metal, paper/cotton/bio-matter and being capable of mixing and mingling materials (well, maybe not metal, it's hot).
I'm imagining printing with spider silk or synthetic cotton or wood pulp. That would unlock some different textures and materials.
This might lead to printing circuits, custom cases for our Android phone core (with the printed circuit pairing up the to brain to enable buttons, etc) Clothing, shoes, jewelry, toys, tools (need a new pliers?).
