Future Factories is an art/design project created by Lionel Theodore Dean of the University of Huddersfield in the UK. Lionel's impetus for the project is to challenge conventional thinking that suggests all products have to be the same. With Rapid Prototyping (allows 3-D products to be "printed") it's possible to make individualized versions.
In Future Factories, the designer creates a design template that morphs over time inside a "virtual studio"; consumers then chose to have their product made at any stage of the morphing process, making their piece a one-of a kind.
So far, Future Factories product expressions are limited to a number of different lamps. However, it highlights a potential application of RP technology in the future.
The concept of consumers designing products from scratch is unrealistic, what's more likely is that the consumer will have input in the process, one that is still initiated by a designer. Future Factories shows us one way this interaction could happen.
