Yearly, among the main eyewear producers that use 3D printing, together with among the most modern eyewear startups begin their new season in Milan, on the MIDO 2024 Eyewear present, presenting the most recent fashions. VoxelMatters was there to deliver you the most recent.
Setting the stage a the MIDO Eyewear present
Milan’s worldwide eyewear commerce present, which occupied 7 pavilions of the exhibition space and counted greater than 1,200 exhibitors, recorded round 40 thousand guests within the 3 days of the present, marking a +11% improve in comparison with final yr. The rise was distributed equally between Italians and foreigners, with guests arriving from 160 nations all over the world, together with Asia, the US and all of Europe.
MIDO serves as a hub for international business gamers, facilitating essential enterprise offers and networking alternatives. Past commerce, the present fosters cultural trade and dialogue in regards to the sector’s future. Notably, the CSE program promotes sustainable eyewear, whereas the Empowering Optical Ladies Management Program emphasizes inclusivity. Moreover, discussions on medical subjects like myopia and presbyopia spotlight business developments. As well as, the MIDO AWARDS acknowledge excellent contributions to the eyewear area, reinforcing a dedication to excellence. Right here we began to see some 3D printing, with Austrian firm ROLF receiving one of many CSE AWARD – Licensed Sustainable Eyewear, assigned by a global jury to these merchandise that greatest leverage recycling supplies, cut back consumption within the manufacturing and distribution processes, improve the provision chain, eradicate waste, and use renewable power sources.
Making the eyewear
First issues first, a have a look at the printers. For the primary time, however we count on this may improve sooner or later, two corporations have been on the present presenting 3D printers that can be utilized to make eyewear merchandise. One was Sisma, an Italian producer of laser {hardware} for the jewellery business and producer of the laser powder mattress fusion MySint 3D printers. As an Italian firm Sisma participated in earlier editions of the present as properly.
The MySint 100, which has a cylindrical printing quantity of 10 cm in diameter by 10 cm in peak, is right for producing single designer frames (and prototypes). These are very high-end, jewelry-like merchandise however the potentialities of direct metallic printing are countless. To display them, Sisma introduced a pair of titanium frames which can be empty inside. This makes them so gentle that they float in water (first image on the left within the gallery above).
One other firm was GENERA, a maker of high-speed, extremely automated 3D printers (which obtained funding from Stratasys and Siemens). Genera labored with materials firm Henkel to develop the “Mission Eyewear” LOCTITE materials particularly for the serial manufacturing of eyewear frames. This materials can be utilized with the bigger GENERA F1 3D printer mannequin to provide a number of eyewear frames in a single run. As well as, because the GENERA programs are extremely automated with inner curing and washing programs, the frames come out nearly “pret-a-porter”.
However earlier than we get into how frames may be additively manufactured (SLS by EOS and different smaller corporations or MJF by HP are additionally legitimate choices, though the businesses weren’t current on the present), let’s check out the instruments that can be utilized to create frames that may absolutely exploit AM’s capabilities for personalisation.
Essentially the most superior choice accessible at this time, as seen on the MIDO 2024 Eywear present, comes from AM service supplier Materialise. By integrating Materialise’s Eyewear Becoming Suite into their providing, eyewear retailers can now ship a brand new dimension of personalised service. The in-store platform scans the shopper’s face and creates an anatomically actual 3D mannequin. We bought to check the app on the sales space that Materialise shared with Arkema (which provides the biosourced PA11 supplies for the 3D printed frames).
After you get your head 3D scanned in only a few seconds, you simply choose a body design from the digital catalog and may see on the display how they, match from all instructions. You possibly can choose the precise dimension and order the mannequin you need, to be produced on-demand. It was an ultra-smooth, very a lot market-ready expertise that ought to quickly scale globally.
Exploring new potentialities
Now that we bought the mass manufacturing potentialities out of the best way, let’s check out among the extra inventive and trendy design alternatives that 3D printing creates. Whereas the most important majority of the eyewear market – we’re speaking about a whole lot of tens of millions of pairs produced yearly – continues to be firmly within the palms of Luxottica and some different smaller corporations dominating the market, what 3D printing does is provide designers a solution to attain area of interest customers who’re in search of methods to face out. Right this moment it’s attainable to purchase distinctive, inventive eyewear designs at costs that rival high-end and even mid-level mass-produced frames.
Most of those distinctive body designs have been displayed on the MIDO 2024 Eyewear present within the massive Begin-up and Academy areas. With its actually distinctive model, Parisite Design is considered one of these corporations. The model was created in 2002 by Designer Hugo Martin who wished to begin a revolution in eyewear. From sun shades (2003), RX frames (2004), designer’s model Noego (2006), and Mono fashions (2008), to Astero ski goggles (2010), Parasite made its merchandise evolve from conceptual design to mass market merchandise. Right this moment the model is current globally with each 3D printed and non-3D printed designs. Nevertheless, the 3D printed ones carry on pushing boundaries.
One other designer who has been pushing the bounds of eyewear design for years is Hoet. Bieke Hoet was the primary to introduce business 3D printed eyewear frames and is to today the one one that provides metallic 3D printed designs. These titanium frames are extraordinarily gentle and current shapes that can not be created in another means. The enterprise continued to develop nonetheless its scale continues to be restricted by value. In her seek for different AM manufacturing strategies, Bieke additionally went so far as contemplating metallic binder jetting (she revealed that the primary instance of metallic binder jetted frames was introduced at MIDO by a Chinese language firm) however the expertise appears to be nonetheless a bit too immature for actually high-end merchandise.
Collaborating for the primary time, Rolf, which received considered one of MIDO’s 2024 CSE Awards, is an eyewear model that leverages bio-sourced supplies to create modern, unconventional, and emotional eyewear frames. Rolf eyewear is designed, developed and handcrafted in Weißenbach, Austria, and shipped to chose opticians in additional than 50 nations all over the world. Not all of its frames are 3D printed. The choice consists of wood glasses, stone glasses, “bean” glasses (these are the 3D printed ones, made utilizing PA11 castor bean and SLS expertise), making them sustainable by nature.
V & M L’Atelier, however, targets and particularly promotes its 3D printing capabilities, describing its merchandise as “3D Haute-Couture Glasses”. But it surely wasn’t at all times so. The studio was created by Vanessa & Mehdi (V & M) again in 2003 and had the chance to collaborate with designers equivalent to Alain Mikli, Philippe Starck and Jean-Paul Gaultier, to current their first optical assortment which obtained 2 Silmo d’Or in 2007.
Right this moment V & M L’Atelier differentiates itself much more than for easy 3D printing by incorporating a novel and patented insert system: the LINOTEC insert holder. This methodology provides the potential of optimally tailor-made morphological adaptation and superior nasal consolation.
Based mostly in Luxemburg and dealing with Materialise as an AM manufacturing companion, IMPRESSIO pushes the technical limits and questions volumes by means of its collections. The model based by Emmanuel Andrivet and Guillaume Boisson revisits volumes and codes because of a 3D printing expertise in an effort to “clear the pre-established”. In its designs, curves and reliefs replicate each naturalistic and artwork nouveau inspirations and fashionable structure: eyewear turns into a playground that mixes new applied sciences and timeless know-how.
These designs are sometimes realized utilizing mathematical algorithms, representing a Flowery Vortex sort profile that wraps across the lens, forming an nearly flowery infinity signal. By way of their motion, these fashions signify the complexity of the infinitely easy. The face is manufactured from polyamide polished and tinted to offer a {smooth}, close-to-leather look.
One firm that mixes bigger batch manufacturing capabilities and distinctive designs is Tech Print Industries (TPI). The Dutch-based firm informed us final yr that they’re utilizing modified HP MJF full-color expertise for his or her merchandise. This expertise has since been discontinued (or placed on maintain) by HP nonetheless TPI conitnues to develop. The sales space this yr was a lot bigger than in earlier years, with many extra fashions together with particular designer merchandise from Josep Munoz Villar and Riccardo Cervo.
TPI’s superior 3D printing expertise provides designers flexibility, pace, and sustainability. With full-color printing capabilities, new eyewear fashions can come to life in vibrant hues and complicated textures, enabling designers to remain forward of quickly altering developments. TPI’s ‘design on demand’ strategy permits for speedy manufacturing, eliminating extra stock and waste whereas guaranteeing well timed adaptation to market calls for.
By bypassing conventional manufacturing instruments and minimal order portions, TPI reduces environmental impression, making sustainable eyewear collections a actuality. Their proprietary software program allows the creation of intricate designs with excessive precision, whether or not for a single customized piece or a number of types in a single print run. By leveraging 3D printing in a aggressive market, TPI provides limitless design potentialities and unmatched pace of manufacturing.