3D printing has allowed the fantasy world to break into the reality of everyday life. By downloading or creating a model on special software and directing it to the printer, users can bring any object from virtual to tangible desktop within days.
As any fantasy may have a dark side, insurers and litigators are scrambling to wrap their heads around the implications of a technology that can, hypothetically, make any physical object appear out of thin air.
“The premise of the printer is to create something you couldn't otherwise create in your home, in a 3D form,” says William F. Knowles, member of the global insurance department at law firm Cozen O'Connor. He points out that unknowns of the technology extend to environmental and health hazards, copyright issues and the possibility of bodily harm.
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