ReasonTV’s Nick Gillespie sat down with Peter Weijmarshausen, CEO of the New York based 3D printing company Shapeways, to discuss 3D printing, the future of customization, and the economics behind the new technology.

Gillepsie asks Weijmarshausen if we are “in the dot matrix era of 3D printing.” Weijmarshausen explains how 3D printing will shape the future of  shopping, saying “you may think this is science fiction, but it’s not.”

“What we want…is not to be about 3D printing, but to be about empowering people to get what they want,” said Weijmarshausen. “We enable people to be involved in the products, and I think they like that.”

Weijmarshausen believes that the growing popularity of 3D printing will revolutionize the ways we shop, giving consumers the choice to customize their products rather than settle for the small number of mass produced goods already on the market.

Watch the video below.

As 3D printing technology enters the mainstream market, retail shopping experiences will be transformed dramatically. Physical products can be printed on demand in a similar manner that consumers print out digital photos today.

Below is a video from Materialise that shows a large part for a car being printed out and prepped for assembly. While today this technology is in the lab, tomorrow it could be in your local pharmacy or copy shop.