It is one of the open source projects that I most strongly believe in and could even become one I invest in. Generally – although I appreciate the tool – I am skeptical of many Kickstarter projects. However, for 3D Racers it might be just the perfect platform. We covered the 3D printed, smart RC car game after trying it at Maker Faire Rome, and it was a lot of fun although still in the very early stages of its development.
Now 3D Racers is about to enter into phase 2 and phase 3. The first is the private beta testing of its new editor App, which will allow you to modify each car, define the parts you want, export the files and 3D print them. It is not so dissimilar from the car racing videogame editors although just knowing that each piece can actually become a real component of a physical car is nothing short of incredible to me.
At this stage the 3D Racers Editor Widget will let you choose among two different types of car (Corvette and Jeep), to which you can add a bumper, five different types of exhaust, different style front and rear wheels, and some customization options. You can then visualize the model in 3D and – it seems safe to assume – export it as an STL. Compared with just a couple of months ago the car models already look a lot more solid and definitely cooler.
All the 3D printed pieces can then be assembled and integrated with electronic components to add the interactive functions, meaning the car – which can be controlled through a 3D printed remote control or an iPhone/iPad App – will be able to report damages, whether it’s run out of fuel or activate power ups, just like in a videogame. It will also be able to interact with parts of the racetrack to collect points, power ups and other items (I’m guessing the ideal model to follow here is Nintendo’s Mario Kart).
The concept is simple although it can easily open up tens of different business model and evolution scenarios. The founders stress this is an Open Source project, and they want as many people as possible to participate and share all the information and work they have carried out so far. My entertainment industry minded self, however, cannot help but think about the many different revenue possibilities in the longer term: micropayments for both virtual and physical items, online user model shops and garages, extreme customization services… basically all that you would do in real life racing and more. Forget Kickstarter, in my own opinion this is a project worth seriously investing in.
