Programmable matter

Submitted by crua9 t3_10aww7p in Futurology

I seen a recent post where the person was thinking 3D printers are going to be in every home. This isn't realistic, and one thing people who don't own one seem to not know this isn't as simple as a paper printer. Jamming happens, getting the thing to stick to the plate can be a nightmare, changing hotends is a thing and currently no way plug and play, and so on. This is just FDM printing. And then resin printing you are dealing with harsh chemicals.

Plus the waste you can't do anything with and it builds up fast.

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What is more realistic is programmable matter. This is a good video on what is likely to happen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN7BUKb0OIA

This gets into claytronics but there is other types of programmable matter. But I think this is the highest likely.

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It should be noted we already have this stuff tested and working. Not to a degree to be used in homes, and the holdup is actually nanobots. The tech isn't good enough YET.

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What will happen?

You will have something. This something might be some liquid, solid block, or maybe dust.

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You will tell some interface you want a chair, table, etc. Or a number of things. Maybe you have people coming over and need a bigger table, more plates, and so on. You tell the interface what you want.

Then after they leave, you tell the interface you don't need the stuff anymore, and it turns back into the previous state.

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It might even be smart enough where you can tell it you want the chair or whatever here, and it moves to/from there when it makes it or goes back.

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Depending on the stuff used, it might even be possible to tell the interface you want to go to bed. It makes the bed in front of you including the bedsheets.

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Now there is limits to the technology. You can't be like I want a car, and a car is made. Like if it has enough energy technically it could make a car and take you where you want. But it isn't a true car. At least at first. The material it brings would have to be right. Like it is likely the material used will be basic stuff that will be able to change hardness to a point and color (changing the structure of something in RL can change the color. There has been experiments in RL where if you shoot lasers at something to change the structure which changes color of things and make paint simply not needed.)

But it is likely at some point you could have different materials which makes more complex things like a battery, a computer, a car, etc. Maybe even have it where the matter could have raw carbon and other things next to it to use as needed. But at this stage it's an unknown since there is likely more understanding in the quantum field which might help with this.

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Any case, basic items like a chair, cup, and so on should be possible. It could even be possible to make a moving art thing on hand rails.

Depending on things, it could even be possible to make a 3D TV like thing. The video shows things coming out of a TV. But at this stage if it can make mostly any shape and color. As long as you have a speaker somewhere, it can sync up and on one of the walls or maybe middle of the floor you cand see a full movie as if you were there. Like you can walk around the characters and even touch them depending on the safety. Keep in mind it can control the hardness. So even if it hits you, it can make it so soft it's like a blanket falling on you.

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It would also be possible to have a robot helper around the house with this. Remember, this stuff moves on its own and can make any shape. Meaning it technically should be possible to get it to do basic cleaning and even make you a virtual romantic partner.

And with mods like it grabbing a small speaker some AI somewhere controls. It might be able to talk and look like it's moving it's mouth when doing so.

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MrGate t1_j477a95 wrote

I highly doubt we will have real programable matter in our lifetimes.

is it possible, yeah. are we close to it. no.

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SoylentRox t1_j49mwr7 wrote

See the singularity hypothesis.

See the research that suggests our cells can actually heal their aging damage with a simple command (3 yamaka factors) . Why don't they self heal? Because we live long enough that there's apparently not sufficient benefit for nature to develop the mechanism to emit the command, too many of us died to the environmental causes and this wouldn't heal some types of damage like scars or missing fingers, etc.

So it's possible. But sure, even if programmable matter were real, like, a drone bringing you a chair and taking away your unwanted stool or whatever might be a better and cheaper way to handle this. There are a lot of drawbacks to programmable matter. It won't be as strong or light as something custom made out of the materials needed. Or as cheap.

Drone based delivery - basically what we already have except instead of a human unloading the amazon van it's a robot - and robotic based recycling (being prototyped) might give you all the benefits of programmable matter in a much simpler way.

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MrGate t1_j49vlxa wrote

I dont think you can really compare human cells and programmable matter tbh.

but id disagreee to the being as strong or light, as their is various factors of the property of a material based on how its arranged at the atomic scale.

it all would really depend on the programmer who will write the program to make said object.

and in theory their could be hundreds of programmable matters. each with unique traits that can connect together etc.

like say a part of an object you need, needs to be flexible, but the shell around it needs to be hard and conductive.

so a rubber/plastic programmable matter and a copper or steel like programmable matter would connect together to create said object

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SoylentRox t1_j49wqxg wrote

Maybe. It's still made of little robots latching themselves together. Not really the sci Fi concept of programmable matter, just a smaller version of those robots various labs show swarming together.

The guts of each robot is not contributing to the properties you want. So the item might have to be thicker, heavier, or harder than it could be.

I think I gave a pretty clear and simpler way to accomplish the same thing. Programmable matter will be used but only when it's a good way to accomplish a task.

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SentientHotdogWater t1_j47njs5 wrote

>I seen a recent post where the person was thinking 3D printers are going to be in every home. This isn't realistic, and one thing people who don't own one seem to not know this isn't as simple as a paper printer.

This reminds me of the "there is no reason for anyone to have a computer in their home" quote from the mid-20th century.

You have no idea how 3D printing technology is going to advance and develop in the future.

There was a time when computers used Vacuum tubes for logic circuitry and computers were the size of a small building. Now look at where we are.

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SoylentRox t1_j49nwcq wrote

Yes but why. People don't have a steel forge in their home or a 6 axis CNC mill.

What benefit do people get? If they want a 3d printed part, they can just order shapeways or another company to print it for them. It only is cheaper to own your own printer if you do this a lot.

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SentientHotdogWater t1_j4auuh1 wrote

>What benefit do people get? If they want a 3d printed part, they can just order shapeways or another company to print it for them.

"What benefit do people get from having a computer in the home? If they want to run a program they can just mail the punch cards to IBM and receive their answer back in a few weeks."

  • Some expert in the 1970s
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swervethemtea t1_j47chgf wrote

Neal Stephenson explores some of these ideas in really fun ways in "The Diamond Age". Also, the "Ronin" graphic novel has another cool option for the future where everything (for example, buildings) is grown biologically.

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mcarterphoto t1_j47o0ua wrote

>This isn't realistic

Same thing people said about "computers will be in every home" in the 70's.

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Evipicc t1_j482sxf wrote

I've had more waste and maintenance from a singular paper printer than I have from owning 3 3d printers.

I'm sorry but you're wrong, 3d printing is pretty fantastic and is likely to be a huge part of the technological home through the coming century.

Will other interesting tech come out? Sure, I'm looking forward to it; but your view that 3d printing is bad is simply misinformed.

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xzelldx t1_j47pt9x wrote

I think an intermediate step in this will be things we already have that can be reprogrammed/repaired instead of replaced.

Like furniture will start with fabric that can change color/texture, then can self repair, then we’ll get to the entire thing being made/unmade as needed.

Plate ware that self cleans and changes shape for storage is a big one I can see happening before all that.

Same for appliances and whatever else we like to customize- the changes would start everywhere it makes economic sense and work its way from there, like plastic.

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SoylentRox t1_j49nzw9 wrote

Why not just have robots at the factory make the item the way you want it, using methods that already exist. And if you don't want the item, have better recycling/a refund system so you can swap out for the one you do want.

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Upset-Let-4648 t1_j4awjh4 wrote

Bruh… 3d printing just hit the market not too long ago and it’s already this great! I think you aren’t understanding how pitiful printing used to be when the printing press first came out and how much progress was made along the way.

We’re not even at the infant stage of nanobot swarms that can self-assemble. 3D printing is going to be super polished before we’re anywhere near programmable matter.

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NoisyBadKid t1_j46oo24 wrote

Tomorrow no. Gen-z or alpha. Probably be the new t.v. dinners.

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Vorpishly t1_j46rs3e wrote

Discovery is a good show. I wish they would have kept it “Star Trek” and not a season long movie though.

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kyoko9 t1_j477wki wrote

is amazing

			I'm not sure if "amazing" is the right word...I'd say "terrifying" is more accurate.
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zenwarrior01 t1_j47mwwu wrote

>one thing people who don't own one seem to not know this isn't as simple as a paper printer. Jamming happens, getting the thing to stick to the plate can be a nightmare, changing hotends is a thing and currently no way plug and play, and so on

Sooo... all the same sorta shit when normal printers were introduced? The process will be simplified. Quality will improve. Everything will get easier in time.

Programmable matter... interesting, but you will most certainly have far more friction points getting that workable and simple to use, without the sorta issues you raise. 3D printing just seems far more viable to me and can already create all sorts of end products, especially at industrial scale with metals and all. Even talking about building say a computer, I see 3D printing + robotics being the better path. No way programmable matter is gonna be doing that within the next 100+ years, while I believe it's not far away at all with 3D printing and robotics. Hell, 3D printing already does circuit boards and such.

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Ebonicus t1_j48aob9 wrote

Awesome that this is actually in development already.

I think we will have both eventually. 3d printers can be improved in major ways and will come first.

When proper nanites are developed, and our understanding of matter manipulation improves, programmable matter for sure. Definitely way further out than a food replicator or furniture printer.

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AndromedaAnimated t1_j48qv99 wrote

Resin is not as toxic as most people think. The main danger of it is allergy that you can develop over time unnoticed, irritation of skin and eyes and waste product problems for the environment (only if uncured!). The ingestion of uncured resin is a very silly type of risk - tide pods are toxic too, toilet cleaner is deadly when ingested etc.

The safety inventions (ventilation solutions, leading fumes outside the home directly, pre-filled resin pods etc.) are yet to come, it’s still new territory. Non-toxic cleaning agents and UV-resins are being developed right now, too.

And there might be other materials we could use, paper or other safe organic materials like wood pulp for example one day.

I am all for nanites, but let’s not write off the printers yet.

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professor_mc t1_j48ticg wrote

I think you are correct that 3D printers will not be in every home. I used to own a regular paper printer but I don't now. I'd rather go to the FedEx store and print stuff on the occasions I need to print documents. I wouldn't need to 3D print stuff all the time and couldn't afford to keep up with printer supplies and the latest printer tech. Id rather take my file to a 3D print shop (or send it online) and have the store maintain the printer.

Another example is that I have a photography hobby. I don't own a photo printer either. I do all my edits at home and then go online and select from a huge variety of physical mediums to print onto and have it delivered to my house in a couple of days.

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imnotsoho t1_j4afg11 wrote

One of the branches of my city library has 3d printers. Software and classes to go with.

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Italiancrazybread1 t1_j4bkyj0 wrote

One thing's for sure, they're going to microtransaction the hell out of programmable matter when it comes to market.

I think programmable matter will come inside a box in liquid form. You will type in what you want it to form on the outside of the box (or choose from a list) and it will form what you want one time. If you want 10 chairs, you have to buy 10 boxes of them. If you want it to be reprogrammable and turn into additional items, then you have to pay for the subscription. And you gotta pay extra for all the bells and whistles.

*Heated seats and remote start come extra

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WimbleWimble t1_j4d7d2z wrote

Star trek discovery may be a pile of utter woke crap where the insides of the turbolifts are 100s of times bigger than the rest of the ship "somehow", but programmable matter was a pathetic and badly-done idea.

and it looks like OP took the poorly thought out concept and ran with it.

still at least STD has one fan....

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DeviledDuckEgg t1_j4ecjjn wrote

Wish I was smart enough to engage in the convo but super cool post nonetheless!

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OptimisticSkeleton t1_j48s6ky wrote

Fuck yes. This becoming common is central to a scifi book I’m working on.

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Elmore420 t1_j48fuw4 wrote

All matter is programmed into existence out of Dark Matter by the quantum field we call "the quantum singularity." It is powered by a microbiome of Life living in the Multiverse. Every living thing in it has its own quantum field, including us, we can measure the Dark Energy flowing out of us with an EEG, our mind exists as a quantum field that encompasses our body, we just don’t understand it because we haven’t managed to complete our evolutionary transition from animal to creator, because in the 10,000 years since the formation of the Human Superego, an embryonic singularity, we have never accepted the instruction that came with independent thought, “Be kind and take care of each other.” We should have completed the transition 7,000 years ago, but no religion, revolution, or even science, have gotten us to give up our economy based in war and slavery so we could finally evolve up to Quantum Self Awareness.

The funny thing is, if we just start the economy that provides plenty for all humanity without having to exploit human suffering for profit, we’d have ‘replicators’ and the ability to teleport instantly anywhere in the universe as a quantum entanglement where our information passes directly through the Prime Singularity, bypassing space and time purely as our quantum field; inside a year. The issue that has always blocked our evolution though is psychopathic narcissism. We’re just plain mean and selfish, and on to of that we’re scared and stupid. We just choose not to accept what nature made us and why. We fear losing independent thought, we fear that in uniting into a resonant quantum field, we will lose our individual thoughts. We fear this so much, it has become one of humanity’s best known boogie men, The Borg.

This is an unnecessary fear, but the fear itself prevents the human superego from attaining resonance and it’s amplified form, and brings us quantum self awareness. Without the existence of this energy level state, we cannot survive, and we are not producing as nature requires. Psychopathic narcissism is a mental cancer, and as a reproductive embryo of the Multiverse itself, we will go extinct at the end of our growth cycle. We’re about there, and everything we create we still choose to ignore the war and slavery base to our economy, even though we know it’s wrong.

Psychopathic narcissism is an addiction, like every addiction it brings us self destructive pleasures, and can only be cured when the afflicted accepts it and chooses of their own free will to not indulge in those pleasures. That is the birth defect in the human superego that is our last evolutionary challenge, all others were passed 7,000 years ago, and we are taking college level Creator engineering courses, but we are still stuck in quantum kindergarten because we have not yet learned to choose to play nice, and it is a single point of failure requirement to pass. There’s no way to lie or cheat ourselves through, because it’s all a matter of thermodynamics as applied in quantum physics. It’s all about energy levels that we as a species produce, and without 3 billion resonant minds, we cannot achieve our amplified state. This is a marsupial like reproductive process where we either make it to the nipple on our own, or we fail on our own. There is no force in the Multiverse either created or quantum field that can get us through this except our own choice as to what we individually want for the future of humanity, evolution or extinction. For 10,000 years now, every generation after another has chosen to tiling to the choices of their ancestors to remain animals exploiting nature in a Game of Most under Survival of the Fittest rules which do not meet Creator criteria. If we do not choose to simply accept that “Be kind and take care of each other" is a requirement, not a platitude, we will be extinct shortly as an evolutionary failure.

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