Supporting Broader Participation with Emergent Digital Fabrication Technologies Online

Abstract

The emergence of affordable digital fabrication technologies like 3D printing may drastically change how physical goods and created and consumed, shifting the focus of fabrication from distribution of physical goods towards the distribution of digital designs. However, many researchers have shown that there are various technical barriers and challenges that newcomers to these technologies face when designing 3D geometries and operating fabrication machinery. Still, few studies have investigated how people gain motivation and understanding of what can be printed separate from this practice of designing and operating machinery. This distinction is important, as while not every digital fabrication workflow requires users to be the sole designers and machine-operators, every workflow requires that users to specify what they want to fabricate.

This required specification of what to print manifests through collaborations and negotiations between humans and machines who ascertain how to print. These interactions may serve as catalyst for those learning to 3D print as a practice (i.e. process) or for a desired function (i.e. product). The research presented in this dissertation identifies barriers and challenges to initiating this specification-determining collaboration, and investigates how online computational tools and formalized printing processes may help overcome these impediments. We investigate how printing processes similar to services can serve as a proxy for understanding how newcomers learn to specify printing ideas, and demonstrate how printing processes similar to printing services can generate user-interest and -ability to fabricate in both formal and online settings.

The research presented in this dissertation investigates how printing collaborations are successfully initiated, determining the barriers and challenges newcomers face towards becoming someone who can co-participate in both proximal and online printing processes. Online participation is crucial for diversifying printing populations, as many locations (e.g. rural schools) may have printing machinery but a scarcity of experienced printing mentors. For communities distal to experienced practitioners, the ability to constructively communicate with online practitioners can foster initial interest and serve as a gateway towards the adoption of 3D printing in more diverse practices.