Startups are now creating specialized 3-D printers capable of producing everything from synthetic hamburgers to multi-story apartment buildings.
We're now able to 3D print in 200 different materials, from titanium to rubber, plastic, glass, ceramic, leathers, and even chocolate.
I believe in the near future we will 3D print our buildings and houses.
When we looked out at the world and saw what 3D scanners could do, we wanted to make something that could make really high quality models that you could create on your MakerBot.
We started MakerBot in 2009 and made a conscious decision to educate people with the possibilities they could do with 3D printing and share with people what is possible.
We got involved with the RepRap Project, a community focused on making 3-D printers that could make copies of themselves and help create a world without money. We started making prototypes.
We use digitisation and 3D-render programs such as Optitex and ClO3D to create the silhouettes, but we invented our system to let users mix and match components in real time.
The technology for a clothing printer exists but is not packaged in a form that would be suitable for consumer use. With the future potential of printing technology, an at-home clothing printer is a definite possibility. Our challenge was to define the experience.
