“Corporations already use 3-D printers to make product prototypes before embarking on mass manufacturing. Now a handful of technology companies, including HP and Google, are looking for ways to bring 3-D printing to consumers and small businesses -- a trend that could have profound implications for manufacturing and design. Here's why: The blueprints or files for 3-D printing are digital and, as a result, can potentially be edited by anyone -- if the designer permits.
Enthusiasts believe that such intense user input will lead to improved, more consumer-friendly products. A vibrant "crowdsource" community of designers already has formed around do-it-yourself 3-D printing -- echoing the make-your-own-computer scene from the late 1970s that popularized the PC.”
Fortune
Check out some of the projects like the Glif that used www.shapeways.com and www.kickstarter.com to make their designs happen.
Posted by: Duannscott | June 01, 2011 at 07:41 AM
Fabjectory rents time on a Z450. They use it to make and sell 6in high models of avatars – the characters players create to represent themselves in games like Second Life and World of Warcraft. For $100 and up, a Fabjectory rep will meet you in Second Life, virtually photograph you, and a beautiful little model will be on its way in a few days.
Posted by: excel development | February 10, 2012 at 07:42 AM