Apr. 1, 2015 | By Simon
In most cases, video games oftentimes mimic real life through their variety of storytelling, graphics and general gameplay. On the contrary, it’s not quite so often when real life mimics a video game - unless it involves dressing up as video game characters for a cosplay costume.
For the 2004 video game Katamari Damacy, players rolled a magical and highly-adhesive ball called a katamari around a variety of locations starting with small objects such as thumbtacks, paper clips and cups before moving up to collecting objects as large as humans and even mountains - ultimately big enough so that the katamari could become a star.
Inspired by the concept of ‘rolling a bunch of random objects together’, 3D printing enthusiast Arian Croft has applied the same idea to 3D printing in a new project that he is calling the Katamari Roll.
While the goal of Katamari Damacy was to collect as many objects as you could before a timer ran out, Croft is using the Katamari Roll project to test the limits of crowdsourced 3D printing. Those who have participated in the Katamari Roll project thus far - there have been 12 total - simply take the existing iteration of the Katamari Roll, add a random 3D model to it, print it out and pass the new iteration along.
“Wherein we 3D-printsmiths merge a katamari with the various things found on Thingiverse until the King of All Cosmos is appeased,” writes Croft on his Katamari Roll blog. “Essentially, we're adding various open source 3D designs to a katamari and printing them out as the mess gets bigger and bigger.”
Currently, the Katamari Roll resides on MakerBot’s Thingiverse platform where it is available for everybody to view, share and participate with. Because of the staggering amount of 3D models that pre-exist on the site, it also makes it the perfect place for finding another 3D model to add to the Katamari Ball rather than starting from scratch with your own custom 3D model (which is also possible).
Unlike the video game however, there is definitely a size restriction that limits a model to the size of a 3D printer - with that being said, there is alway the option to divide a large 3D model into smaller parts that can each be printed on a capable 3D printer. MakerBot’s largest printer is capable of printing objects that are 30 cm wide and 45 cm long, so even with existing 3D printers, a user can theoretically print a soccer ball-sized Katamari Roll with little trouble.
When the project is complete, Croft will use the final Katamari Roll design in a diorama that will also include the King of All Cosmos - a character in the Katamari Damacy game who judges the size of a Katamari.
You can contribute to the Katamari Roll project over on Thingiverse.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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