shapeways

The 3D printing movement is well under way -- albeit with some hype built in -- and Shapeways, a marketplace where people can design, create, and sell their own products, is leading the charge.

Shapeways, sometimes known as the Etsy for 3D printing, now has 10,000 "shop owners" -- people who have designed products, from iPhone cases to jewelry and shoes, that they print out and sell via Shapeways. The New York-based company is building out its recently opened 3D printing factory in the Queens borough of New York City, where its printers are cranking out roughly … Read more

I can hold my Facebook profile in the palm of my hand. It's shaped like a pink butternut squash with a top hat, no arms, and a bit of blood dripping from its teeth.

This strange creature came about through the Creators Project, a globe-hopping initiative from Intel and Vice that supports artists working through technology. The initiative has been around since 2010, but the Facebook 3D-printable figures project just started this year.

The 3D-printable Facebook project can take three different forms. There's Monster Me, which turns out a little monster. There's Crystallized, which interprets your social data as a pretty crystalline form. There's also Astroverb, which turns out a personalized visual horoscope. These are all pretty abstract concepts. Given the choice, I had to go with the monster.… Read more

We may have to wait awhile for true 3D-printed meat, but in the meantime, we can take solace in a 3D-printed Mobius bacon strip. This bacon strip simultaneously evokes deep feelings of bacon-past and challenges our perception of what bacon is.

If M.C. Escher were to design breakfast products, this is the bacon he would come up with. It's a never-ending circle of pork that owes its existence to advances in 3D printing.… Read more

As I explored in this post, while it's possible to print a working firearm component with a 3D printer, it's not exactly the best way to create such a component. Still, more people might experiment with the idea as 3D printers become more common. And as 3D-printing technology develops alongside that growth, so will the popularity of 3D-printing services--companies that print objects for you based on plans you submit.… Read more

Siri's voice evokes different images for different people. We know she probably doesn't look like a big, hairy guy. So if Siri were real, what would she look like?

A contest by Shapeways offers a few different answers to that question. One of the top two winners is "Omniscient Siri" by SaGa Design. It takes the form of a face attempting to escape from an iPhone. It also doubles as a particularly unusual iPhone case.

The other winning design, by Eddie Adolf, imagines Siri as a punk-rock cyborg personal assistant sitting at a curved desk taking your questions through a headset.

Other favorite designs that received honorable mentions include an image of Siri as a pants-less sexy superhero and Siri as a fritzed-out blockheaded robot wrestling with information overload.… Read more

How far can you get with a 3D printer and a dream?

CNET photographer Sarah Tew and I took a tour of Quirky's new Manhattan offices this morning. As depicted in her frankly great shots in the slideshow below, we got a firsthand look at the inner workings of a serious, professional product development company.

Normally I don't go in for facility tours. The articles that tend to result from such things too often take the appearance of marketing material. It was the promise of the chance to see how a real design company uses a 3D printer that drew me to accept Quirky's invite.… Read more

Longing for a pair of Starship Enterprise silver earrings? Now you can craft your own, and even sell them. Shapeways, an online 3D printing community, has launched a service to print objects in pure silver.

Launched in 2008, Shapeways lets designers create 3D models in bulk for sale, or individual items as prototypes. The silver-printing service is available to those with or without 3D modeling skills. After designs are submitted and approved, objects are first printed in wax and then cast in silver.

The service can produce silver parts in layers with a resolution of 25 micron pixels, according to Shapeways. Prices are based on the amount ?of silver--$40 for the first cubic centimeter, with an extra $20 for additional cubic centimeters.

Creations on Shapeways include metal tetrahedon puzzles, dinosaurs, and funky bracelets.

Designers can open their own silver shop on Shapeways and sell to customers worldwide. The site handles printing, shipping and customer service.

Next time I need silver bullets during a werewolf attack, I know where to go. … Read more

3D designers looking to sell their creations have a new place to do so with Shapeways. The site, which launched in July 2008 as part of Royal Philips Electronics' Lifestyle Incubator formerly acted only as a virtual 3D printing service. Designers could use the service to print out a single design, or a large batch without leaving their house.

Now the service does the dirty work of packaging and shipping out what it creates to people who buy designed items. 3D designers simply put together which items they want in their shop, set the prices, then direct potential purchasers there. … Read more