MakerBot has introduced a brand new prototype product called Digitizer 3D Desktop Scanner which scans real-world objects and produces designs in conjunction with the 3D printers available from the company. With this 3D scanner users can now scan an object that measures up to 8 inches by 8 inches in not more than three minutes and to do so the object should be placed on the top of a platform which spins it while the Digitizer scans it. Digitizer 3D Desktop Scanner basically uses cameras and lasers to scan the objects that enable it to create 3D CAD model. Explaining how the device function, CEO of MakerBot, Bre Pettis said that it “is an innovative new way to take a physical object, scan it, and create a digital file — without any design, CAD software or 3D modeling experience at all — and then print the item again and again on a MakerBot Replicator 2 or 2X Desktop 3D Printer.”
The CEO of MakerBot said in a statement that, “We are super excited to be able to announce at SXSW Interactive that we are developing the MakerBot Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner. It’s a natural progression for us to create a product that makes 3D printing even easier. With the MakerBot Digitizer, now everyone will be able to scan a physical item, digitize it, and print it in 3D – with little or no design experience.”
According to Pettis, “This takes us from being a 3D printer company into being a company that’s building out a 3D ecosystem,” as he stated that “archiving, prototyping, replicating, and digitizing prototypes, models, parts, artifacts, artwork, sculptures, clay figures, jewellery, etc.” can be scanned through Digitizer. In addition to this, to use MakerBot’s new 3D scanner users does not need modelling experience and advanced design. So “if something gets broken, you can print it again,” says Pettis. However, since this 3D scanner is in prototype stage therefore it would not be available to the general public in the near future.
Other than designers and various product manufacturers, Pettis believes that their “biggest customer is NASA, which just makes the nerd in me so happy,” because “they can make cheap prototypes on our machines before using their high end one.” Overall the advent of 3D scanner will open new avenues, but at the same time it is expected that it will also boost legal issues as well because producing replica designs of objects through Digtizer could potentially violate copyrights.
Photo: TheVerge
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