This article was taken from the November 2012
issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in
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Want to learn computer-aided design (CAD)? Play Minecraft. "[Minecraft creator]
Notch hasn't just built a game," Cody Sumter, part of the Human
Dynamics group at the MIT Media Lab, says. "He's tricked 40 million
people into learning to use a CAD program."
Minecraft players construct elaborate virtual
structures; Sumter created a program that allows users to bring
these into the real world using 3D printers. Players build their
digital monuments -- whether they're the USS Enterpriseor
the Taj Mahal -- in the game itself. Then they place obsidian,
diamond, gold and iron blocks at set points to define the 3D area
to be printed.
recognises this area, then renders a standard model file for
printing, either on professional 3D printers or personal printers
such as MakerBot and RepRap. The intention is to turn
Minecraft into a gateway program to more professional CAD
software. And, according to Sumter, "Minecraft has
something that is lacking in actual CAD programs -- fun."