Welcome to the next level of 3D printing

From biodegradable filaments to a new 3D paper printer, there was plenty to see at the Inside 3D Printing show last week in New York City.

3D Printing demo stations always have some intriguing printed objects to catch your attention. These models at ProtoCam's table were no exception. It turns out they offer more industrial solutions than printing tech for your average maker, but the glitter and transparency got my attention.

FlashForge showed off a few new 3D printers that will be released later this year. The first is the Inventor.

And then there was the FlashForge Inventor II. The company is based in Australia, and offers free shipping in that country and New Zealand on orders over around $190 (roughly £155 or AU$250).

This is the largest 3D printer I have ever personally seen, and I've been to a lot of tech shows. This is a Delta 4070 Pro by WASP. You can grab it on Amazon for a $9,999.

A-Team Ventures' station showed off a forthcoming 3D printing remote control called Waggle. The system allows you to print designs remotely from an app, from which you can also allow friends to print to your machine. They plan to crowdfund the Waggle and hope to sell it for around $100.

NV Bots was showcasing its uniqueness to the 3D printing world: It has a blade that can automatically remove your printed piece so the next piece can begin printing. Presuming a human -- or a robot -- is on hand to remove finished pieces from the chamber before it gets too full, you could have this machine print out countless items from a queue.

Figurines like these were all over the place as demonstrations of the various texture and color effects you can get from filaments on offer.

Here we see a new "environmentally friendly" PLA (Polylactic Acid) Alloy filament from ECOmaylene 3D out of Singapore. Because it's made out of corn starch or sugar cane, it's biodegradable: It's supposed to decompose within two years of hitting a landfill.

Another green-thinking solution on offer was the refillable spool from Titan 3D. You can order precoiled refill packs that slide right onto the old spool, and never have to throw away that piece of plastic when you restock a color.

The AccuSmooth 3D Printed Part Smoother is a vapor tank you can dip your 3D-printed objects into for a few seconds to get a smoother finished look. The vapor melts the surface of your object just slightly, eliminating the layer lines.

Here's a look inside the tank. It's $9,500, so consider this one "commercial" more than "consumer."

Stratasys' booth featured this cool transparent model of a human head and neck. This technology has come so far so fast.

You might not know it from looking at it, but this 3D piece was actually printed out of paper.

The Mcor Arke printer uses stacks of paper, which it will cut, glue together in a stack and print color onto, creating finished objects with very little weight.

Here's a shot I took through the somewhat transparent cover as it works on creating a new piece.

This "Piguin" series by Bert De Niel caught my eye at the i.materialize booth, which is an online market through which artists can sell their 3D creations. Here they're showing a variety of colors and finishes available.

The same company was introducing a new material that seems to be of interest for jewelry designers: Rhodium-Plated Brass.

Around the corner I spotted these shoes and had to investigate.

Recreus was introducing it's new FilaFlex filaments, which remain flexible after hardening, perfect for fashion designers working on wearable printed pieces like this.

And finally, I had to get a picture of these doll dresses created using 3D pen. This is exactly the sort of toy I would have loved to play with as a child. With the specialty filaments from eSun your child can dissolve and reuse the materials if they don't like what they made.