While one of the main limits to consumer 3D printing adoption is accessible 3D software, there are more and more online apps that help you make products to 3D print by modifying basic 3D designs. The new version of the Selva online app goes one step further and helps you make 3D printable consumer products directly from your favorite images, logos, and even photos.
What this means is that you can upload you favorite logo (for example, that of the FC Internazionale football team, for me) and the software will create a 3D version of it. That, at least, is what the current version does. The new Selva version, currently in beta testing phase, will let you take that 3D logo and apply it to a series of pre-designed consumer products, so that you can really make them your own.
Created by Alejandro Lodziejski, Selva is already accessible online as a tool to create 3D files directly from commonly used image file formats, such as JPEG and GIF. The current version transforms the logo or photos into a flat 3D file, and, then, directs you to PayPal for payment in case you actually want to download and use it.
The newest version presents a number of new features, including a “credits” payment system, which enables you to obtain more favourable prices when you purchase a large number of credits. It still lets you upload the image file and “extrude” a 3D printable version of it; however, now you can also use it to embed into a number of objects.
For example, by clicking on the “Use This Model to Create Something Cooler” button, you can use it to make a keychain, a trophy, or an FC Inter mobile phone/tablet stand. You can even use it to customize a pre-designed case for commonly used mobile phone models, such as the iPhone 5, 5S, 6 and Galaxy S5. Also available are rings and photo frames with many more likely to follow.
While there already are tools that let you do the same thing, the extreme accessibility of Selva – which does not even require you map the images – may make the difference in easing up mass adoption. And, maybe one day – with the advancement of digital manufacturing technologies – the Selva platform will be used to make not just simple accessories, but real consumer products, like mobile phones and such. Only, by then, those phones probably will be called “communicators.”
