Category Archives: News
Disney World Offers Guests Personalized 3D Printed Star Wars Memories
Disney World is using 3D printing technology to launch a new catchy souvenir for Star Wars Weekends this year.
One of the most memorable scenes from Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back is the moment when Captain Han Solo is frozen in carbonite. Starting May 18, guests at Disney’s Hollywood Studios can relive that memory and bring home a personalized carbonite figurine – with the guest’s likeness on it.
First, state-of-the-art cameras capture a guest’s face from multiple angles. Then, the image is sent to a 3D printer which produces a eight-inch figurine reminiscent of that famous scene in Star Wars.
This should prove to be a pretty popular attraction!
Read more at the Disney Parks blog.
Hat tip to 3dprinter.net for finding the story.
3D Systems CEO: 3D Printing Will Be As Big As the iPad
The Cube is coming and it’s going to help 3D printing be as big as the iPad.
That’s the message 3D Systems CEO Abe Reichental wants you to understand. The Cube is 3D Systems’ new printer targeted at the mass consumer. It simplifies the process of getting from design to print via embedded Wi-Fi and cloud printing. The Cube will retail for $1,299 which undercuts the current consumer standard MakerBot Replicator by $500.
There is no doubt that Mr. Reichental has conviction about his belief in the growth of the 3D printing industry. 3D Systems transfered from NASDAQ to NYSE just one year ago and has grown its market cap by 40%. It has since been on an acquisition tear, picking up My Robot Nation, FreshFiber and several other companies. The 3D printer company recently reported record revenue for Q1 and is now placing bets on its Cube consumer printer and Cubify design portal.
In an interview with VentureBeat, Mr. Reichental commented on why 3D printing will become as big as the iPad:
There are very few artists around the world that can start painting on a blank canvas, but there are millions of people who can use a coloring book.
And further on his expectations for printer prices over time:
The prices will come down. It’s inevitable that in the next year or year-and-a-half prices will be half of what they are today, and then come down again.
We are excited to see the launch of the Cube printer!
Via VentureBeat.
iPad Crowd photo from niallkennedy used under Creative Commons license.
MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis is 3D Printing’s First Celebrity
Congratulations to MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis for being called “3D Printing’s First Celebrity” by Bloomberg BusinessWeek! We are sure that fame is not his key driver, but it’s great to see him getting recognition for being a pioneer in consumer 3D printers.
MakerBot has received more than $10 million in venture capital from a huge variety of sources and has put that money to good work so far. Pettis is just about the only 3D printing celebrity—holding his own, for example, during an appearance on The Colbert Report last June. Using a hand-held laser scanner, Pettis captured a three-dimensional image of Stephen Colbert’s head and then printed it on the spot. “We no longer have to rely on the Chinese for our plastic pieces of crap,” Colbert said. “Because what’s cheaper than a Chinese worker? A robot.” Pettis also presented Colbert with a chimera, fusing Colbert’s head to the body of an eagle, perched atop the dome of the Capitol Building.
Read the full editorial at Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
Bre Pettis photo from bre pettis used under Creative Commons license.
Hey Red Sox Fans: 3D Print Your Own Fenway Park [video]
Objet, a leading provider of 3D printing systems and materials, has designed the dream of every Red Sox fan: a 3D printed replica of Fenway Park.
First featured on local news, this story has now been picked up by ESPN and other national press:
The 3-foot-by-5-foot model was printed at Objet North America’s Billerica, Mass., headquarters, less than 20 miles from Boston. The massive creation is about 1/200th scale, includes 40 separate printed sections and weighs in at around 105 pounds. The detail of the piece, however, is meticulous enough to capture not only the Green Monster, the Pesky Pole and the exact number of lights, but even the famous red Ted Williams seat in right field.
From the Objet blog:
- The 3D printed model itself was printed in 40 seperate interlocking pieces on the Objet Connex500 – Objet’s largest multi-material 3D printer.
- When put together the final assembly weights about 105 pounds.
- The final 3D model shows off the fantastic print resolution of the Objet machine to great effect. Some of the noticeable details include Pesky’s Pole, Ted Williams’ red seat, the Green Monster (including seats atop).
- The model also includes the exact number of lights, concourses, dugouts and bullpens.
Below is a video of the construction of the model:
MakerBot Looks to Occupy Wall Street’s Office Space
3D printing pioneer startup MakerBot has outgrown its headquarters and is moving to One MetroTech in Downtown Brooklyn’s tech triangle. It’s neighbors? Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
MakerBot founder Bre Pettis told the Wall Street Journal, ”We’re going to put the tech in Metrotech, literally,” in a feature that shared some of the company’s early history:
MakerBot was founded in a “hacking collective” called NYC Resistor, at 397 Bridge St. Mr. Pettis and his partners, Adam Mayer and Zach Smith, quit their jobs in 2009 and locked themselves in a room with caffeine and a case of ramen until they came out with a prototype for a 3-D printer.
Since that time, MakerBot has grown to over 125 employees and is now in need of new headquarters.
Our only hope is that MakerBot’s new Wall Street neighbors take the opportunity to visit and try out 3D printing for themselves. Maybe they will be inspired to help finance this revolutionary industry.
Via Wall Street Journal.
