“It is the best time to get into hardware.” – Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot.

At the annual SXSW conference in Austin, Texas, MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis kicked off the show with a big announcement: the unveiling of the MakerBot Digitizer. Though only a prototype, Pettis promises that the Digitizer will enable copy and paste for the physical world. “It’s like Tron,” he told the audience. You can scan an object in 3 minutes and then print out a copy.

Pettis continued, “The MakerBot Digitizer is a great tool for archiving, prototyping, replicating, and digitizing prototypes, models, parts, artifacts, artwork, sculptures, clay figures, jewelry, etc. If something gets broken, you can print it again.”

MakerBot has setup a website where you can sign up to learn more about the Digitizer.

In addition, Pettis announced that MakerBot will be partnering with Autodesk, the makers of iPad app 123D Catch, the current leading consumer 3D scanning tool.