Motorola Mobility, a Google company, is building a 3D printed modular phone, and has partnered with 3D Systems for commercial fulfillment. More »
The Captured Dimensions pop-up studio was located in the Smithsonian Castle and featured approximately 80 digital cameras all connected to 3D software. More »
Microsoft expanded their support for 3D printing by launching a Windows 8 app called 3D Builder. It includes a library of objects you can edit and 3D print. More »
3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) announced the availability of the Sense 3D scanner, the first 3D scanner designed for the consumer and optimized for 3D printing. More »
With rumors circling that 3D Systems will be purchased by IBM, the stock soars. We look at why IBM might be interested in the 3D printing giant. More »
Go Shopping! Black Friday 3D Printing Deals: Shapeways, MakerBot, i.Materialise
Here’s a round up of big 3D Printing deals for Black Friday. Today only!
Shapeways
3D printing marketplace Shapeways is offering 20% off orders of $75 and up OR free shipping until 11:59PM EST tonight!
For 20% off orders of $75 or more, enter tdzmu at checkout, or for free shipping, enter v9v7r.
MakerBot
Get a Thing-O-Matic at a discount!
For a $1999.00 fully-assembled kit: use coupon code TRYPTOPHAN.
For a $999.00 user-assembled kit: use coupon code TURKEYSTUFFER.
[MakerBot discount was for last year. Sorry.]
i.Materialise
Get free shipping on Black Friday from 3D printing marketplace i.Materialise.
No code necessary, but you can visit their free shipping blog post.
Airwolf 3D Printer
Fully assembled Airwolf 3D printers are regularly priced at $1,695 and as part of the Black Friday sales event, the price has been reduced to $1,645 and you will also receive a second glass plate with PET film installed (a $35 dollar value).
MakerBot Joins the Race For 3D Printing Your Self-Portrait
In the past few weeks, we’ve written about a 3D printing photo booth opening in Japan and startup MixeeMe 3D printing avatars you design. Now MakerBot is joining the race to be the 3D printing self-portrait service of choice.
MakerBot opened a 3D printing photo booth in its New York City store. Customers at the store can have their faces scanned in about 5 minutes and 3D printing their head takes several weeks. MakerBot’s 3D scanning capability is powered by Direct Dimensions’ ShapeShot technology.
“It’s a new kind of portraiture,” MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis said at a press event. ”This is beyond digital photography – it is the future – and to be able to create a 3D image of yourself is just amazing. We’ve had celebrities and musicians come in and get a 3D Portrait made. It’s fun, it’s inexpensive, and it’s totally cool.”
Top 3D Printing Headlines Last Week: Chris Anderson, Infographic, Cubify
A roundup of the top news On 3D Printing brought you from November 13 to November 18.
Tuesday, November 13
Startup Mixee Me Launches Beta: 3D Print Your Own Mini-Me Likeness
Mixee Me is a new 3D printing startup that lets you easily create a mini you and 3D print it. The company was founded in 2012 by Nancy Liang and Aaron Barnet. Nancy previously worked for Shapeways and Aaron is the software developer and architect.
Mixee Me launched its public beta today. You can visit the site at mixeeme.com.
How does it work?
Using a web-based character modeling tool, you can create a little buddy that looks just like you. Similar to designing a Mii on the Wii, you can pick the hair, eyes, clothes and accessories to suit your personal tastes. We found it really quick and easy to make a little dude.
Once you have completed your design, it is auto-uploaded to 3D printing marketplace Shapeways where you can purchase the physical object for $25 plus shipping.
The models are printed in full color sandstone and are roughly 2 to 3 cm tall. That may seem small but Mixee Me founder Nancy explains that this is a limitation of the early technology, “Because 3D printing is priced volumetrically, bigger prints are way more expensive. We want to make 3D printing accessible, and that includes the price of the final products.”
Here is our final model, which is now on order from Shapeways.
More about Mixee Me
What sets you apart from others in this industry?
Nancy: Right now, there are a lot of great companies focusing on making 3D printers. Before you can print anything though, you need 3D files that tells the printers what to do. When I first started modeling, it took me 3 hours to make a stick figure, because most 3D design tools are aimed at professionals. It then took me 2 more hours to rework my file so a 3D printer can understand it, because most 3D design tools are made for applications like injection molding and animation, not 3D printing. After all that work, my model was way too expensive to print. We don’t want anybody to go through that!
What about the industry excites you?
Nancy: We believe in a future where anybody can make anything they want. Instead of ordering stock products through Amazon, you can download virtual 3D files, maybe tweak them to suit your specific needs, and send them to the printers.
Each product can be customized to your specific needs. Holding something that you designed in your hands is a delightful, personal experience. It can really change the relationships people have with their stuff.
With 3D printing, designers can iterate on their ideas quickly. My friends in hardware often say that product design does not move at “internet speed,” where you can make tweaks just by clicking a button. 3D printing changes that.
What is your long term vision for Mixee Me?
Nancy: Mixee Me aims to make designing 3D printable objects accessible to anybody. Right now, we are focused on our character creator. Eventually, we want to expand the range of what people can make with Mixee Me to just about anything. It’s a tough problem no doubt, but a very exciting one to tackle.
Launch Promotion
MixeeMe is running a special launch promotion. To enter, follow these steps:
- Make a Mixee online: http://www.mixeeme.com
- Tweet @MixeeMe, link to your Mixee’s URL, tell us why your Mixee is awesome
- Every hour from 1 PM to 8 PM EST, we will pick one to give away for free!
Phantom Geometry Technique Wins Gehry Prize for 3D Printing Innovation
This is ‘Phantom Geometry’, a masters thesis in architecture by Kyle von Hasseln and Liz von Hasseln, developed in the Robot House at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI_Arc). It was awarded the inaugural Gehry Prize at the SCI-Arc commencement ceremony on September 9.
This work is centered on the development of a system for generating material volume from streaming information. The system uses UV light from a modified DLP projector to continuously and selectively cure photo initiated resin within a shallow vat system we developed for the project. The cured part is simultaneously and continually pulled away from the vat, allowing un-cured resin to flood in beneath it to be subsequently cured. The result is the material reification of streaming data that emerges along the motion path of the Staubli robot maneuvering the vat/projector apparatus.
This system of fabrication relies upon native real-time feed-back and feed-forward mechanisms, and is therefore interruptible and corruptible at any time. The streaming data input may be transformed or modified at any time, and such interventions impact emerging downstream geometry.
Watch the video below to see this technique in action.
