People can do amazing things with specialty filaments. Take thermo-sensitive filament for instance. Thermo-what? Yes, filament that changes color when temperatures rise. 46-year-old engineer Reginald Taylor used this kind of filament to create an extraordinary thing: a birdhouse that changes color when occupied. The birdhouse has got a brown/grey-ish color, but when a bird enters the color changes to purple and then red.
With this birdhouse, you will know exactly when a bird is inside or not – I am wondering whether the bird will be aware of the change of colors as well. Anyway, Taylor – an engineer who studied and worked at Oxford but currently resides in France – just bought his first 3D printer 18 months ago, and decided to try out this experiment. His birdhouse design can be downloaded for free on My Mini Factory.
It is not the first time 3D printing technology is being used for animal purposes. Whether its about about saving animals in Africa or closer to home: the technology can do good to animals. Striking but heartwarming as well was the story of Derby the dog. This dog was born without most of his forearms, which made it hard for him to run and move in general. His owner, who works at 3D Systems, decided to 3D print prosthetics, and suddenly the dog was able to move a lot faster than he did before. In addition, he can even run for miles now.
Credits images: Reginald Taylor.