This article was taken from The WIRED World in 2015. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Knitting was once the preserve of grannies. Then it got adopted by hipsters, who made it cool for a while. Now it's gone high-tech and will become the next big thing in the maker world.
3D knitting, as the tech version is called, was inspired by the 3D-printing revolution and aspires to a similar goal: to be the one piece of manufacturing technology in everyone's home. It doesn't make objects, it makes clothes -- and for this reason it has a big advantage over 3D printing because it has a much more obvious use. Everyone wears clothes -- and we are constantly replacing and updating them because they wear out or become unfashionable. Another advantage over 3D printing is reusability. For the coarser knits at least, garments can be "unknitted" should you not like the way they make you look, or if you just get bored with them, leaving you with yarn to turn into something else.
Three-dimensional knitting machines are already available and growth is on the up. OpenKnit is one open-source example -- it can be built from a kit and is part of a manufacturing ecosystem that includes a software interface and a digital hub to share designs. OpenKnit already has a large global community, developing the platform and iterating both the hardware and software. As with all successful open-source projects, this will grow and spawn new and unexpected versions in 2015.
Commercial 3D-knitting machines have been in operation for more than 20 years, but they are designed for established mass production. In contrast, the open-source knitting community will change the way clothes are designed and made, and create new forms of clothing -- in particular by integrating different types of fibres into the knit, such as electrically conducting threads. By doing so, the technology is kick-starting an open-source approach to wearable technology -- with embedded sensors and increased functionality -- something that, commercially, has been slow to take off.
To understand the potential of home 3D-knitting machines, it's worth considering how the sewing machine, which was introduced in the 19th century, completely changed the way that clothes were designed, made and repaired. Once it became sufficiently cheap it spawned a huge number of home businesses. These drastically cut the price of clothing and created innovations in fashion and garment making. Eventually, small businesses such as these gave way to the mass-produced-clothes manufacturers that dominate today's markets. Now the 3D-knitting machine promises another wave of disruption.
Every one of us is a different shape and size, and 3D knitting offers something the commercial clothes manufacturers cannot: inexpensive bespoke garments designed to fit you and you alone. This is achieved with the aid of digital scanning technologies and design software that can resize clothing designs to fit individual bodies. And because these garments can be made in the home, you can immediately try them on, and if they don't feel right or don't suit you they can be unmade there, too. Add to that the power of social media, which allows patterns and designs to be shared much more easily and readily, and the potential of 3D knitting technology becomes clear.
If I had to bet which machine, a 3D printer or a 3D knitter, would end up as staple technology in every home in ten years' time, I would go for the knitting machine. Humans have been making clothes at home for thousands of years -- this just happens to be the latest way to do it.
Mark Miodownik is professor of materials and society at University College, London, and director of the UCL Institute of Making.
Read more from The WIRED World in 2015 here.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
