Adore your Shih Tzu? Now it’s possible to create a tiny replica of
Fluffy in figurine form for your office. You could also create
customized jewelry or an iPhone case. What might be called extreme
personalization is moving closer to mainstream consumers who don’t want
to invest in an industrial 3D printer themselves. This is all thanks to a
number of companies whose mission is to give everyone access to
high-end 3D technology normally used by large corporations to create
product prototypes.
Using their services, you can go online to design and order custom
products, whether you want to add your face in relief to a coffee mug or
design your own iPhone case using intuitive 3D software. You simply
download the free software on your computer, or in some cases even as an
application for your phone, customize your product, and upload the
digital file for the company to print. Or for more complicated projects,
like creating a real-life action figure of your dog or yourself, you
can visit a number of companies. Direct Dimensions, for instance, will
do a full body scan – called a ShapeShot
— for around a hundred dollars using a $60,000 handheld industrial
video scanner to circle around you as it captures your 3D image. The
company can then put together your digital file to print your real life
action figure.
“What we’re doing is fully democratizing the making of products,” said Peter Weijmarshausen, CEO of Shapeways,
which provides this service and recently opened a 3D printing factory
in Long Island City where New York City Mayor Bloomberg cut its
ceremonial tape using 3D-printed scissors. “Personalization,
customization; your imagination becomes your only limitation.”
So far the novelty gift applications seem the most promising, as
there aren’t many practical applications for 3D printing on the
household or consumer level — other than perhaps recreating a broken
part for a toy or appliance.
“The chance of 3D printed products becoming mainstream right now is
very low,” said Andrew Krabeepetcharat, an industry analyst at IBIS
World. “The main concern is cost.” 3D printer parts are still more
costly than parts for machines that produce items using preset molds to
be beneficial at the consumer level; they are much slower, and the
materials used for printing are also more expensive. Through Shapeways, a
digital photo of yourself can be sent to its printers to make a
three-inch bust of yourself for around $30 or a six-inch figurine of
yourself for approximately $70.
But the cost of printer parts and materials is decreasing, 3D
software is being developed and shared as open source material, and
twenty-year-old patents from 3D printer juggernauts Stratasys and 3D
Systems are coming to an end this year and next, respectively, which
will allow a large influx of entrants into the market and will likely
lower prices and make it easier for more companies to offer 3D printing
as a service. That’s already happening in the Netherlands and Belgium,
where Staples recently announced it would soon provide 3D printing
services in-store for consumers.
While the consumer-facing business model is still evolving, the
industrial uses of 3D manufacturing are growing rapidly, as new
applications for the technology have emerged over the past year. They
range from projects that aim to print vaccines, to the printing of an
entire house in less than a day. But consumer-level uses are still
relatively low, making up less than 10% of the entire industry’s
revenue. (That 10% represents the number of consumers buying take-home
3D printers that only print in plastic and are mainly used by hobbyists;
the percentage of consumers buying 3D-printed products from a printing
vendor is even less.)
Of course, one industry is famous for early adoption of new
technologies, and 3D printing is no exception: Just as the sex industry
was among the first to capitalize on the Internet, it is now finding
creative ways to use 3D printing. Startup New York Toy Collective creatively discovered a way to use 3D technology to make custom and affordable sex toys modeled after your own body parts.
As a promotion at its showcase last month in New York City, customers
could visit a luxurious, modern, dimly-lit suite at the Eventi hotel
and sip on champagne as a Minolta Vivid 910 laser scanner scanned their
body parts from multiple angles to create detailed 3D digital images.
Each digital file is then sent to a 3D printer to create a life-like
mold of the body part, filled with silicone and turned into the final
product – a personally-modeled and useable sex toy. It’s even dishwasher
safe.
“It’s almost impossible to get a real replica using traditional
molding methods,” said Laura Parker, a chemist and co-founder of New
York Toy Collective, explaining the discomfort and inaccuracy of waiting
for molding material to set around body parts, which could take several
minutes. “So 3D technology is really the only way.”
Using this method of scanning and printing, New York Toy Collective
was able to scan, print, mold and sell its products during the promotion
for $250. “We were really priced out by going through traditional
methods to get prototypes made,” said Chelsea Downs, co-founder of New
York Toy Collective, who said it could cost hundreds of dollars to make a
single prototype mold. “3D printing was affordable and really
adaptable. What it allowed us to do is create designs and products
without having to do a thousand-unit run.”
And that ability to adapt high-volume manufacturing techniques to
create one-of-a-kind products is what will surely drive the consumer
side of the industry — whether customers are asking for exact replicas
of their favorite earrings or something far more personal.
It was a pleasure to meet both of you dunrig the Family Fun and Food Festival and visit your site. Thank you for coming to see me. I regret we didn’t have the time to visit, but I am encouraged/pleased/grateful to meet two more fathers answering the same calling that has driven me to start writing. And I must thank you for establishing a link to my website. I think you will be happy to learn I was able to place many copies of My Father’s Gift into circulation over the weekend and was thus able to share some of the greater rewards associated with being a loving parent. May God continue to grant you the necessary strength, enlightening wisdom, and fortitude of certainty to continue your good work. I am certain you will be rewarded with many blessings for doing so, in ways you can’t begin to imagine. I have. It remains my hope, after reading My Father’s Gift , it still meets your approval and you determine we have reason to meet again.Your humble servant,Rodney
Francis Richardson
April 02, 2013
I am a disabled Korean War Veteran. I HAVE SEVERAL IDEAS ON SOME PRODUCTS TO MAME AND MARKET THAT WILL MAKE LIFE MORE BEARABLE AND GIVE A DISABLED PERSO0N MORE INDEPENDENCE IN THEIR LIFE. I NEED ALL THE INFORMATION ON HOW TO OBTAIN ALL THE necessary equipment, hardware,and software programs, needed to be able to make my prototypes of my ideas and inventions.
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Recently received the machine after a horrendous experience with the communication. Had no tracking number sent to me at all. Firstly, it was sent somewhere where they made it felt that it was my fault and had to wait. Tried to communicate with them, useless explanations with no real response but default messages. I would never recommend this company to anyone ... please avoid and try others..
The best printer (third) have ever had. Seamless prints with very user friendly soft ware. Would thoroughly recommend for anyone starting out in 3D printing. 👌
Sukkhjeephak
March 11, 2015
It was a pleasure to meet both of you dunrig the Family Fun and Food Festival and visit your site. Thank you for coming to see me. I regret we didn’t have the time to visit, but I am encouraged/pleased/grateful to meet two more fathers answering the same calling that has driven me to start writing. And I must thank you for establishing a link to my website. I think you will be happy to learn I was able to place many copies of My Father’s Gift into circulation over the weekend and was thus able to share some of the greater rewards associated with being a loving parent. May God continue to grant you the necessary strength, enlightening wisdom, and fortitude of certainty to continue your good work. I am certain you will be rewarded with many blessings for doing so, in ways you can’t begin to imagine. I have. It remains my hope, after reading My Father’s Gift , it still meets your approval and you determine we have reason to meet again.Your humble servant,Rodney