Smári McCarthy, one of the pioneers of the personal fabrication movement, has given us an update on the state of the project.

Here it is:

“The idea is to make almost everything. In the short term that means taking existing technology for personal fabrication and rapid prototyping and deploying it as far and wide as we can, focusing to some degree on the developing world but definitely not losing sight of goals in the western world.

In the long term this means making a technology wherein people can download turkey sandwiches off the internet and print them out, ready for consumption. This goal is presumed to be around 20-30 years away. A lot can happen in 20 years.

For an idea of what we’re currently doing and what the future holds, check this out:

– I am working on a digital fabrication primer

– CNN’s Principal Voices did a show about Fab Labs. Here’s a very cool ad for that.

Indian Innovators – Ads on the Discovery Channel for Anil Gupta’s Honey Bee project at the Indian Fab Lab

– 4×8 Design Competition, held in Chicago last August. Here’s a video from the Institude for Advanced Architecture in Catalonia:

Here are some introduction videos from some Fab Labs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_COTYjjGVPE – IAAC, Barcelona

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fOzK3DNibM – Lyngen, Norway

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3rWAE1ObG4 – Loraine County Community
College, Ohio

In the coming month I will be launching a e-zine / digital design warehouse by the name of Tangible Bit, that will focus on the digital fabrication community. It’ll be a little bit like Make Magazine I suppose, but I don’t consider them competition as such – rather potential partners. Their market is a much broader one. The key feature will be the digital design warehouse, where anybody can upload their chairs, tables, robots or turkey sandwiches for everybody else to download and share. I am looking for contributers, if anybody is interested.”