But what's this got to do with 3D printing? Turns out that Bram is a puzzle fiend, designing highly complex 3D puzzles using sophisticated software and a lot of imagination. And now he's using Shapeways as the service platform to build and sell his creative 3D puzzles in physical form.

It's ironic, you might figure, that someone who invented something that dramatically affected intellectual property rights is now selling his own intellectual property on Shapeways. But Bram doesn't see it that way. From Shapeways Blog:

I have a lot less interesting in the subject of intellectual property than most people seem to expect. I have an interest in networking protocols, and also one in puzzles, both of which happen to bring up intellectual property issues, but I deal with such issues of necessity, not because I particularly care about them. There is the interesting question of how to get puzzles produced, and also how to try to make money off of their production, which ideally I'd like to do, but that's a secondary issue, since obviously it's impossible to make money off a puzzle which people aren't very interested in even if it's free.

And:

In some sense that already exists and I post my own stuff to it - the 'Puzzle will be played' burr site has a huge collection of burr puzzles, and most of my experience with burr puzzles comes from rebuilding most of the puzzles from that site in Burrtools. Only a tiny fraction of all puzzles have any commercial value whatsoever, so piracy isn't really an issue for them. Among the puzzles with a little bit of commercial value, the few people and companies who make them are generally quite strict about only producing things with permission, because the community is small enough that there's little gain and a lot of potential ostracism from doing otherwise. For the rare puzzle which has so much commercial potential that it might attract real knockoffs, the two approaches are to either make a brand-based premium version, as the Rubik's Cube does these days, or to ramp up supply ahead of the knockoffs while the fad moves along, as the Rubik's Cube completely failed to do when it was first introduced. Patents don't in practice help all that much. All of that is in the 'good problem to have' category though - most mechanical puzzles simply fail commercially, and it's unusual for one to succeed enough for knockoffs to be a concern.

And that's the truth: Bram is simply an inquisitive person who solves puzzles, like the one about transferring data efficiently. He didn't take on the music and movie industries; it was those who used his technology who did.

And that brings us back to 3D Printing. It's a technology, just like BitTorrent, and can be used for good or evil. It's up to us, the users and pioneers of the technology to see what we can make of it.

Via Shapeways

We've noticed Grossman before and been very impressed with her work. Now we find a full-length interview with the sculptor from Desktop Engineering Online, in which she explains how she came to use 3D print tech. Highlights we observed:

• Grossman feels that she was “backed into” working with 3D printing as a way to accomplish her sculptures, because her designs aren’t moldable.
• I needed a production method that's able to produce quantities of unmoldable designs, and there really is only this one
• Grossman uses ProMetal, an Ex One LLC company and service bureau, to execute her 3D models. The material used is a composite metal (not an alloy) of about 60 percent steel, 40 percent bronze
• Once she has a model whether it’s actually physical or mental, she designs it in CAD software, usually Rhinoceros software, or other software and freeware
• For Grossman, the learning curve for 3D modeling was initially steep, and it still remains a time consuming, technical process
• scanning technology can't (yet) handle the undercutting and interlacing found in her pieces
• It's easier to do this in metal than in plastic; art buyers like metal
• Grossman feels she has demonstrated that a broad-based consumer market exists for 3D printed products

We can't agree more; with the emergence of numerous popular consumer-oriented 3D services, the field of 3D printing is now growing rapidly.

Via Desktop Engineering

Our friends at the revolutionary manufacturing service Ponoko recently interviewed Cathy Lewis, CEO of Desktop Factory, the company attempting to market a quality 3D printer for less than US$5,000. We've interviewed Ms. Lewis here, but Ponoko covered different areas. Some highlights we noticed:

• Desktop Factory believes their big opportunity lies in providing 3D technology to the education segment, which as a side effect will assist in the generation of new engineers.
• They also were surprised by the interest in printing avatars from virtual worlds. We've seen several different services emerge that can perform this feat.
  
• They forsee a future reduction in transportation-generated carbon footprint, as some items can be printed directly at home instead of being shipped half-way across the planet.
• They expect to see the initial users of 3D printing tech to be early adopters, capable of handling the associated technology issues, but later expect to see development of more mainstream services built on top of the home printing infrastructure.
• They anticipate a gradual transition from 3D print services to a more distributed approach, including home 3D printers and "Over time I can see Kinko’s having 3D printers available to their customers".

Via Ponoko Blog and again

Yesterday we posted part 1 of our interview with Desktop Factory CEO Cathy Lewis, in which she discusses some of the key issues facing the start-up company. Today we conclude the interview:

Fabbaloo: 3D printing is a new concept, foreign to many consumers. How will you go about educating the public? Or do you foresee sufficient demand from knowledgeable hobbyists and businesses without the mainstream picking it up?

Cathy Lewis: We have been fortunate in seeing a great deal of early, pent up demand for our 3D printer, the Desktop Factory 125ci. However, as mentioned earlier we now know that there is a tremendous opportunity to educate a much broader audience, both business and consumer, who can benefit from access to this technology.

Our approach to education has started with web based information sharing and our newsletter.  We then attempt to participate in events and forums where we can raise the awareness of 3D printing at the macro level and Desktop Factory in particular.  This interview is an example, and we have just participated in a couple of chapters for books on the promise of 3D printing.  We participated in Wired Magazine’s NextFest in September, presented at the first meeting of  Netxplorateur in Paris, where we received an award ,and we are currently on display at Disneyland in Southern California in their House of Innoventions.

Partnerships will play a major role for us in the future in terms of education. We will leverage dedicated education forums and relationships to reach that very important, under-served market. We have pending arrangements with software and services partners that we will take advantage of in the future for all industries. This includes new companies like Ponoko, a community for the design and rendering of new products for Do-it-Yourselfers.  And at the time of launch we plan a fairly significant press engagement where we believe the power of third party endorsements for the technology will have a very positive impact in helping to get the word out.

The next steps will include the use of social networks and a dedicated web based community to share files, applications and interesting uses of  3D printing.  We need to help our early users by highlighting and sharing the availability of enablers such as low cost scanners, software transforms that will take 2D pictures and convert them to 3D images for printing and web sites where unique and creative images are available to download, both free and fee based.

Prior to entering the consumer space we plan to follow through on some initial efforts with toy and gaming companies.  We believe that along with easy to use 3D modeling software we will need toys and games that help generate new ideas and uses for the technology. I am particularly interested in developing  'How To' educational programs for children that use 3D printing; think robots, home/room, doll and clothing design, construction/ building and design of trucks/cars.

As you will note, we have a tremendous opportunity to build off of a relatively small industry base today.  But we also have a responsibility to provide education and application support and enablers over time to an untapped, much broader market.

Fabbaloo: Some may say that inexpensive 3D printers are already available: RepRap, Fab@home, etc. What makes DesktopFactory's product different?

Cathy Lewis: We are also very excited about Fab@Home and RepRap. In talking with Professor Hod Lipson of Fab@Home fame we both agree that our solutions are complementary and will help build this industry. Certainly the cost of parts for these systems is low but then the consumer must put them together and maintain them, which does add to the overall economic picture.  This approach – much like the PC Heath Kit that some of your readers may remember from 25 years ago – is clearly not for everyone. Desktop Factory is intended to be a complete, finished product – ready for the user to turn on and print - with all traditional warranties and support. We will also work very hard over time to bring the price down even further.

Printed 3D objects derive from a combination of a good 3D printer and a good 3D model/design. What steps have you taken to develop relationships with 3D software modeling tools or services?

We have begun discussions and some early work with several software companies.  Our systems software, which processes the 3D file for printing, requires the object to be an .stl file which is created by any one of numerous commercial 3D solid object modeling software programs. Therefore it was important to us to know that we were compliant with the most common file format (.stl) and that our software works well with these established suppliers. We will continue those relationships – hopefully expanding several as marketing partnerships as well – even as we continue our quest for new offerings of software and file formats for the consumer.

Fabbaloo: Do you believe you have any serious competition? Will those who produce more expensive 3D print technology produce low-cost models to compete with Desktop Factory?

Cathy Lewis: In terms of competition we feel that there is ample opportunity in this market for a number of participants. The current vendors like Stratasys, ZCorp, Objet and 3d Systems are not household names as you see in the 2d printing space.  In fact, few outside the industry have ever heard of them and after almost 20 years they continue to be relatively small companies with revenues ranging from $50M to $150M dollars annually. And most of them, with one exception, are very profitable and growing rapidly.  They tend to sell through distributors and they may be too busy satisfying current customer needs and moving into Rapid Manufacturing to worry about what we are doing. At least for the time being.

However, one can never take their eye off of the prize  . . .

Fabbaloo: Final question: When can we get one?

Cathy Lewis: We are planning on placing several local beta units with customers when we complete this round of testing. Those placements will be in the first quarter of 2009 after which we will begin our commercial launch.  Please keep in mind that we do have 350 units on order at this time and we will prioritize those customers first. And remember we will update testing, beta and launch on a regular basis via our Desktop Factory newsletter!

For more information about Desktop Factory, visit their site.

Recently we had the opportunity to speak with Cathy Lewis, CEO of Desktop Factory, a company focused on delivering a breakthrough product for the 3D Print industry: an inexpensive desktop 3D printer suitable for use in small businesses, schools and even homes. The sub-USD$5000 device isn't yet available, but CEO Cathy Lewis and team are putting it together.

Fabbaloo: Most companies proceed through product development in a relatively inconspicuous manner, but as a company producing what could be a major mainstream breakthrough product, how has that affected your strategy? Do all the eyes watching make a difference?

Cathy Lewis: Desktop Factory has been fairly visible almost from the beginning which is unusual in a new product development situation.  I think that part of the exposure was brought on by our early customer research as we tried to understand and gauge the market awareness, requirements and interest.  It is amazing how quickly word traveled, much more than we had intended or planned, but we accept this response as a powerful confirmation of the pent up demand for low cost, easy to use 3D printing technology.

That said this level of visibility is not without risk. Will you wake the sleeping giants who are your competitors? Will you create interest for a whole new set of market entrants who may steal your thunder, not to mention your business? Will you stumble in full sight? As we considered these adverse scenarios we all agreed on one salient point.  The market lacked an overall awareness of the availability of 3D printing solutions and we had a responsibility to fill the void. So, while the informed 3D solid object modeling users knew that they needed an alternative to current offerings, there was a much larger audience of technology 'beneficiaries' who didn't even seem to know 3D printing existed – even at much higher prices. We believe that Desktop Factory is contributing to the education of the full market and that we are building demand for all suppliers, which over time will be a value to us as well.

Finally, with regards to stumbling in full sight – we have.  Late last year we encountered a significant technical problem with the system which required us to delay the launch and evaluate the redesign of one major subsystem, at a minimum. Due to the visibility we enjoy and to our position of helping to build the market we believed that our customers and prospects deserved a full accounting of our situation. In our company newsletter we shared our issues and potential remedies and asked for support as we stepped back from launch preparation to resolve our problems. The response was overwhelmingly positive and we have now had the time to complete the newly designed lens based imager that will go into full test mode on multiple systems late this month.

As you can see we feel that transparency and visibility have been beneficial for our business, the market and our constituents.

Fabbaloo: What will be your approach for providing print media to customers as your business expands?

Cathy Lewis: We want to make the availability and access to our consumables as easy as possible. Our customers will be coached initially on the amount of supply recommended based upon use patterns at the time of order. Their subsequent orders can be placed easily over the web where we will have a merchandising system that will remind them of prior orders with dates so that they can track current use.  We will also have email reminders when we believe they may be running short of materials.  For educators we will offer annual purchase contracts to coincide with their funding year. The materials will be warehoused in various strategic locations so that shipments should be available in one to two business days.

The material will have some ability to be recycled.  This can be very important from a cost perspective as well as from an environmental standpoint.  Once we fully understand the best process and how many times it can be successfully reused we will announce the recycling warranty and process.  This may mean that early recycling will need to be handled by us – if so we will provide the packaging and a discount on the next order.

As we expand and certainly as we enter into the broader consumer market we intend to have materials available in retail locations that offer weekend and evening store hours. We will continuously monitor the situation as the market grows and our customer's requirements change.

Fabbaloo: There have been delays in getting the 125ci to production. What is the latest status?

Cathy Lewis: I gave you a partial update in one of the prior questions. We are now ready to re-engage internal beta testing of the product for 5 – 6 months following a redesign of our imager subsystem.  The outlook is good and we are encouraged by the improved image quality.  However, with any major new design you need to completely debug it and be certain that the new components work as intended and that you have not introduced new problems or failures. Also during this testing we will continue to focus on and improve our reliability to meet a specification that we upgraded early this year based on customer feedback. Our goal is user maintenance / cleaning only every 7 days for well under one hour of time. We are actually achieving 10 days between user maintenance intervals.  In terms of a technician level repair requirement, the current statistics have us running 4 weeks without a failure against a target of 3 months at launch.   We will continue to keep all interested parties updated on our progress through our e-newsletter which you can sign up for on our website.

Part 2 of the interview continues tomorrow. For more information about Desktop Factory, visit their site.

One of the most interesting companies in today's fabrication space is Ponoko, a New Zealand based start-up that seems to be a mashup of a 3D print service, eBay and design library. We thought we'd better take a deeper look at them, and we interviewed Steven Kempton, Ponoko's Blog Editor.

Fabbaloo: Tell us the story of how Ponoko came into being?

socalTech interviews Cathy Lewis, CEO of Desktop Factory. DesktopFactory is building a sub-$5000 3D printer suitable for many businesses and even home use. Their first printer is set to be released later this year. In the article Ms. Lewis sets Desktop Factory's milestone:

Our goal is to bring this down market, to where it's $995 and if you break some equipment in your house, you can literally go to the web, download a drawing, and print a replacement part and not go to Home Depot and search for it.

She also explains that one of the major barriers to producing low cost 3D printers is patents on media material and complexity. We expect high demand for the Desktop Factory device when it comes out.

Via socalTech