UK startup Autentica car parts is launching a marketplace for NFT-backed 3D printed parts for cars on November 1. Instead of shipping physical spare parts, a 3D model is sent to a nearby 3D printing service provider, who can create the part locally. Blockchain has been used for quite some time for authenticating 3D models. However, Autentica also uses it to protect the intellectual property of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
Without something like blockchain (plus additional safeguards), printing a 3D part can be risky. Imagine someone alters a 3D model, rendering the printed part unsafe, which then causes a car accident. It’s no wonder the first use of blockchain to verify 3D models was for aircraft parts where an accident has far greater consequences. In 2019, separate solutions from the US Air Force and GE Research emerged using blockchain to authenticate models.
How it works is conceptually quite simple. The model has a digital fingerprint or ‘hash’ which is stored on the blockchain. So if you check the model has the same fingerprint that the creator stored on the blockchain, you know it’s original.
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