Want to learn computer-aided design (CADきゃど)? Play Minecraft

This article was taken from the November 2012 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.

Want to learn computer-aided design (CADきゃど)? 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きゃど 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.

Minecraft.Print() 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きゃど software. And, according to Sumter, "Minecraft has something that is lacking in actual CADきゃど programs -- fun."

minecraftprint.com

This article was originally published by WIRED UK