Jul.28, 2013
Poor hermit crabs are unfortunate enough to bear no natural home of their own to protect their soft abdomen. Therefore Hermit crabs seek out abandoned shells constantly as they grow.
Japanese artist Aki Inomata has used 3D printers to produce shelters for the hermit crabs, hoping they liked her shelters and moved into them.
Inomata has designed shelters Tokyo house-style and a la Paris appartement for the hermit crabs, as well as flower shaped shelters. Hermit crabs are selective in choosing their shelters, therefore Inomata decided to use CT scanning to capture the detailed 3D images of the unoccupied sesashell that hermit crabs abandoned.
Based on those images, she modified and slightly enlarged them with a 3D modeling software, and then produced several types of shelters with a 3D printer.
Finallly I gave those shelters to my hermit crabs. It was their turn to choose their shelters.
Initially I was concerned that they might not be interested in the plastic shelters I had created.
However, one day I witnessed one of my hermit crabs moved into my shelter after he had been torn between a natural seashell and my plastic one.
I was pleased with his decision, but also had mixed feelings as he chose a plastic shelter rather than a natural seashell.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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