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Designers Janne Kyttanen and Jiri Evenhuis look forward to a time when it will be possible to provide custom-designed products to consumers on a large scale. In their quest to make this vision a reality, they have founded Freedom of Creation headquartered in Amsterdam. The goal of the company is to bridge the gap between industrial designers, manufacturers, artists and individuals, and the rapid manufacturing process itself. Essentially FOC provides a knowledge base for these individuals and organizations to experiment and to establish the rapid manufacturing function. Much of their initial work has been oriented toward textiles in one way or another. For example, they've used several RP technologies to make unique lampshade and fabric designs. The use of CAD early in the lamp design stage allows them to predict and sculpt the light patterns the lamps will cast on room surfaces, and how the shadows will react to air currents and other such disturbances. Both the shade itself and the resulting light patterns are integral parts of the work.     Lampshades made by rapid prototyping showing the illumination patterns they cast. All pictures courtesy of Freedom of Creation. All photographs by Paul Barbera. The long-term possibilities for fabrics take advantage of several of the unique aspects of additive fabrication. It may be obvious that accessory items such as zippers, grommets and belts can be fabricated right along with a garment to either lower costs and/or provide unique designs. But it's less obvious that it may also be possible to fabricate the garment in the folded state - and its addressed shipping package at same time, as well. One of the most interesting possibilities is to create textiles and garment designs that are so intricate and unique it will be impossible to "knock them off." Copying is a major problem for designer labels and this level of exclusivity could add considerable value to a brand's cachet. RP may be the way to make many types of designer goods impossible or difficult to counterfeit.       Garment created by selective laser sintering and a closeup of the "cloth."   As RP materials and technology develop further, the prospect is for great design freedom in the creation of intricately-detailed products which can be manufactured at relatively low cost. The size of many such markets is large enough to possibly even stimulate the development of the technology itself.   For more info Contact: Janne Kyttanen janne@freedomofcreation.com Freedom Of Creation Cruquiuskade 85-87 1018 AM Amsterdam Netherlands Tel./Fax: +31(0)20 675 84 15 www.freedomofcreation.com