A group of researchers from the Hasso Plattner Institut in Pottsdam, Germany, have developed a system that allows for the beaming of inanimate physical objects from one location to another. The system has been named ‘Scotty’ in homage to the chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise, Montgomery Scott, a fictional character from the Star Trek franchise. Scotty’s operation of the Enterprise’s transporter system inspired the famous catchphrase, “Beam me up, Scotty.” Scotty enables objects to be transported from a sender unit to a receiver unit through one press of a relocate button. Each unit consists of an off the shelf 3D printer that has been fitted with a 3-axis milling machine, a camera and a micro-controller for encryption, decryption and transmission. Users place an object into the sender unit, enter the address of a receiver unit and press the relocate button. The sending unit digitises the original object layer by layer, shaving off material through the built in milling machine, capturing the object with a photo, encrypting the layer using the public key receiver and transmitting it. The receiving unit decrypts the layer in real time and begins printing immediately, allowing users to see the object appear on the receiving side as it disappears at the sender side. Scotty’s destruction and encryption mechanism guarantees that only one copy of the object exists at any given time. This technology could be key to companies who are looking for a secure way to sell their goods online via home 3D printers. Researchers behind the current prototype, which is limited to single-material plastic objects, claim that Scotty guarantees “a personal, handmade gift remains unique when sent across distances, i.e. that there is no other copy - an important aspect that emphasises the intimate relationship between sender and receiver”. For more technical details on Scotty and how it works, please click here. See Scotty at work in the video below: http://youtu.be/Qtp7kkKXMOw