The following mug, available for download or direct 3D printing through 3D Hubs, represents the growing convergence of disparate technologies and the emergence of a new 3D ecosystem. To most consumers, there’s no mistaking the Microsoft logo, largely responsible for the omnipresence of desktop computers across the world. Two other brands, however, may not be immediately recognizable to mainstream consumers, less familiar with 3D modeling and printing technology: Sketchfab and 3D Hubs.
The former began as a platform for sharing models but is evolving into something much more substantial, allowing users to download digital objects for 3D printing. The latter signifies the growing distributed manufacturing network made possible by individual 3D printer owners around the world. And, through a partnership announced last week, a symbiotic relationship between Sketchfab and 3D Hubs allows Sketchfab users who don’t have access to a 3D printer to purchase models via the 3D Hubs community, on a 3D printer within ten miles from their homes.
On top of that, because Sketchfab models can be embedded into Facebook posts, this amplifies the power of both sites. It’s possible to share and sell your 3D models through the two platforms to an even greater number of people who not ordinarily be exposed to 3D printable models. This transforms Sketchfab from an isolated model sharing site into a model purchasing social network. The overlap of 3D printing into the mainstream becomes even more evident when introducing a company like Microsoft.
You can print or buy this digital mug. Read on: http://goo.gl/QrLfeA #3dprinting
Posted by 3D Printing Industry on Friday, April 24, 2015
Microsoft has been embracing 3D printing more and more, selling MakerBot 3D printers and releasing its own 3D printing platform called Builder. It is once the company begins sharing its models on Sketchfab, however, that the future 3D ecosystem begins to reveals itself. As large companies like Microsoft – or Autodesk, HP, or GE – bring 3D printing to mainstream consumers, sites like Sketchfab and 3D Hubs will make their way into larger mainstream use. Soon, 3D files will be viewed, shared, and printed through these sorts of sites more and more. And, as systems like Microsoft’s HoloLens or the Oculus Rift become more prevalent, we’ll have merged the digital and the physical, seamlessly transport objects to and from the digital world. And we’ll be doing it socially, teleporting objects across the web.
So, right now, this mug can be manipulated digitally via a clumsy mouse or trackpad and it can be brought into the real world through your own 3D printer or a 3D printing service. But, in the future, there may be almost no distinction between these two processes. In fact there may be no distinction between the digital and the physical. That day may be a long way off, but it’s coming.
