A hobbyist 3D printing and VR enthusiast has developed a new method for triggering 3D model printing while in VR: virtually throwing his models at the printer in passthrough mode. Although somewhat gimmicky, anything that lowers accessibility barriers between the real and virtual worlds is likely to make mixed-reality activities more useful and
As <a href="https://www.tomshardware.com/3d-printing/meta-quest-user-vibe-codes-3d-object-throwing-to-3d-printer-ive-never-felt-more-like-tony-stark-says-the-software-engineer” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>Tom’s Hardware reports, X user Hank posted a video that shows him making a quick 3D model on a virtual display while in passthrough mode on a Meta Quest 3 headset. He then grabs the model off the screens with a virtual hand and throws it at the printer, which begins printing.
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The 3D printer is a Bambu Lab P2S, which we found to be excellent in our review. It doesn’t feature a native Meta Quest 3 interface, but Hank vibe-coded a simple way to transfer model files from his PC to the 3D printer, using the Quest’s mixed reality space as the pipeline.
Bambu Lab printers have an API you can use for local controls. By using his PC as a web server, Hank now has a system where the VR Android app can send model files to his PC, which then sends them to the 3D printer. The throwing is just a way to visualize it within the virtual space.
Understandably, there’s been some real interest in the project from the VR/3D printing crossover communities. In its current state, it’s very much vibe-coded, so it isn’t compatible across devices and systems, but Hank has pledged to share the code once it’s been polished.
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Hank clearly has a penchant for fusing different technologies and has been having a blast using GPT-6 Astra to reverse-engineer a bunch of games to work in VR or in the web browser. He’s previously shown himself playing Super Smash Bros Melee in VR, as well as converting the Chao Garden from Sonic Adventure 2 into a multiplayer web app that anyone can play around in.
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Jon Martindale is a tech journalist from the UK, with 20 years of experience covering all manner of PC components and associated gadgets. He’s written for a range of publications, including ExtremeTech, Digital Trends, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, and Lifewire, among others. When not writing, he’s a big board gamer and reader, with a particular habit of speed-reading through long manga sagas.Â
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