Farah Bandookwala is a student at the Edinburgh College of Art. Farah uses 3D printing and haptic devices to create jewelry. You can see her work from the 12th to the 20th of June at the Edinburgh college of Art Degree Show and also at New Designers 2010 in London.

Farah is, "creating jewelery that will be made up of a series of unique units that fit together in different ways, allowing the wearer to create a constantly evolving piece of jewelery to express their changing sense of self over time. Using haptics has allowed me to create forms that are organic, unpredictable and unique. The forms drawn digitally while working with Anarkik 3D, use the haptic interface Cloud 9 to create objects for rapid manufacturing."  

Anarkik 3D is a research project that is creating software where by you can use a haptic device to 3D model. Haptics are devices that give you tactile "feedback" via vibrations. The Dual Shock Playstation 3 controller is an example of a haptic device. With Anarkik 3D for example a penlike device that you can hold lets you not only manipulate your 3D model but also "feel" where it begins and ends. You can see a short intro video on their site here. Cloud 9 is Anarkik's modelling tool. I've used Anarkik's haptics & Cloud 9 and they're an easy & fun way to model.

Clearly the example set by Farah's work is where we all want to go. Allowing more people to design & making production cheaper is what will create unique things that are fit for us. The increase in functionality as things become designed for us rather than us and a million other people is the path we're on. Farah's project illustrates one possible waypoint in the journey to truly personalized production. This waypoint is the powerful combination between 3D printing and haptics. 

We're very happy to have helped Farah by sponsoring her inspiring degree work. Thank you so much to Derek Elley of Ponoko for getting Farah in touch with us.