Cilllia: 3D Printed Micro-Pillar Structures for Surface Texture, Actuation and Sensing

Jifei Ou, Gershon Dublon, Chin-Yi Cheng, Felix Heibeck, Karl D. D. Willis, Hiroshi Ishii

Abstract: This work presents a method for 3D printing hair-like structures on both flat and curved surfaces. It allows a user to design and fabricate hair geometries that are smaller than 100 micron. We built a software platform to let users quickly define the hair angle, thickness, density, and height. The ability to fabricate customized hair-like structures not only expands the library of 3D-printable shapes, but also enables us to design passive actuators and swipe sensors. We also present several applications that show how the 3D-printed hair can be used for designing everyday interactive objects.