Real ivory on the left, 3D-printed Digory material on the right. Photo Credit: Vienna University of Technology
Most of us love the look and feel of ivory, but we hate the source: the tusks (traditionally elephants’) and teeth of animals, which has led to widespread animal slaughter over the centuries.
And while the ivory trade was banned internationally in 1989 to protect elephant populations, there is still a demand for the hard, white material, both to restore ivory parts of old art objects and also to create new objects with the same look and feel. Substitute materials such as bones, shells and plastic have all be used, but the results vary.