WTF!? 3D Printed Hair Is the Next Big Beauty Craze
3D printing is becoming more and more mainstream, and the process that lets you imagine a concept in your mind and then have a machine whip it up IRL in front of your eyes is creeping into even more wow-worthy aspects of the beauty world. Right now, techy beauty fans can 3D-print makeup and even — wait for it — skin to humanely test products on. And the latest advancement in the realm where 3D printing and beauty collides is that you can print hair. Weird? Totally. But here’s why you should be welcoming it with open arms.
The concept was inspired by those little strings that are left behind from hot glue guns as they are pulled away from an object. Research students at Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute in Pittsburgh caught on to the similarities in shape and texture and set out to replicate the feel and weight as faux hair. This idea is still in its beginning stages, so it’s not yet being used on humans — just toys right now.
The best news about this innovation is that you don’t need to use a special 3D printer for your hair creations; a standard 3D printer is capable of producing a truly innovative ‘do. Just think of the possibilities that are achievable with this concept: You can potentially alter the appearance of the thickness of your hair, how it moves and the texture, or even create hair that spans the colors of the rainbow and holds styles like real hair does. Humans just became real life unicorns. We have a couple of 3D printers at B+C HQ, so you know your minds are racing with this advancement. What to print first? Clip-in briads or sweepy side bangs?
If you could 3D print hair, what style would you make? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
(h/t Cosmopolitan)
