The edge of technology is when it enables you to do something that you couldn't do before. It's one thing to put your imagination down onto a piece of paper, or into a computer program, but what if you could hold it in your hands? This is the vision of 3D printing. Digital designs can be turned into real objects using various kinds of plastic. This technology is not new, but bringing the machine home with you is — the people behind MakerBot started the company with a goal of making 3D printing more accessible.

Along with an affordable 3D printing solution has come a community of makers. They're able to share designs, so if you see a picture of something you like, there's a chance you can just make it yourself — by printing it out. For industrial designers, this can speed up prototyping, but for everyone, it's a tangible expression of the imagination — which should, in turn, bring about more innovation.

SEE ALSO: Everything You Wanted to Know About 3D Printing But Were Too Afraid to Ask

MakerBot considers itself to be part of the next industrial revolution. It enables everyone from hobbyists to doctors to professional industrial designers to turn virtual designs into tangible products with MakerBot's line of 3D printers. Founder Bre Pettis tells us more about the capabilities of his products and the MakerBot community.

Q&A with Bre Pettis, Founder of MakerBot

What first inspired MakerBot?

At Makerbot we’re out to change the world, to fuel the next industrial revolution. The company started because we wanted a 3D printer, but they were too expensive and we couldn't afford one, so we played around with one as a hobby for a few years. When it almost worked, we quit our jobs and started MakerBot. Our first printer was a hobbyist printer, and we just launched the Replicator 2, which is a desktop 3D printer that is targeted at professionals who want a 3D printer on their desk or at home. It's also great for amateurs and entrepreneurs, and we’ve got a third layer, which is parents and educators.

How is MakerBot making 3D printing approachable?

With professionals, we’ve got industrial designers, engineers and architects, and they use it to make prototyping go a lot faster. Before MakerBot, when you wanted to have something prototyped you either had to be at an elitist institution, or it took a lot of time — maybe up to a month. When you have a MakerBot on your desk, it can take just minutes or hours, and instead of doing one iteration in a month, you can do multiple iterations in a day. It totally changes the acceleration of innovation, in a good way.

Then we’ve got entrepreneurs — so many times on Kickstarter, there’s between five and 10 things using MakerBot to show the prototype. They’ll do low number runs, less than 1,000, or just be using it to show the what the final product looks like.

“We’re out to change the world, to fuel the next industrial revolution."

Then there’s folks in the medical world — doctors who are using it to take a CAT scan can literally print out what a tumor looks like before they do surgery, so they can hold it in their hands — it's exciting, and there's a lot of interesting work being done in the prosthetics world. People are using 3D printing and MakerBot to create prosthetics to replace things that used to cost $1,000, they can now cost just a few dollars. It might not last as long because it’s plastic instead of metal, but you can make a new one on demand whenever you want. If you grow and want to adjust it, it’s that much easier. We’re at the beginning of this really special time where people have access to the technology, so for us, it’s our mission to empower creative people everywhere and we’re giving them this superpower to make the things that they need.

SEE ALSO: Woman Gets Jawbone Made by 3D Printer

What was the landscape like before you launched, and how did you know when it the right time for you?

Before we launched, 3D printers were the size of refrigerators or bigger. It was kind of like the mainframe era of 3D printing. They were really expensive. On the low end there was a $60,000 option, and these printers are all still available, and they go up to $2.5 million when you’re talking about the metal printers and the ultra large, high-end ones. What’s exciting is that a MakerBot is in many cases as good as the 3D printer that’s a lot more expensive. It's just opening up the whole landscape to people who haven’t had access to it.

In the mainframe computer days, you had to sneak in on the weekend, to get access to PDP-11. It’s the same thing — that's the way it used to be until we brought 3D printing to the desktop.

We also have a site called Thingiverse. You can put your finger on the pulse of 3D printing, and there's new things every day. I look at Thingiverse every day, and I see everything on there — it’s my favorite thing to do every day. Right now we have featured some dollhouse wicker furniture, a hammer that you can 3D print, a small castle and some holiday trees that you can print out to make holiday decorations. It's such a wonderful frontier right now for anyone who’s looking to get involved. The woman who does the miniature dollhouse furniture is actually a set designer for Broadway plays. The things that she’s sharing are literally models that you can go and see on Broadway. As a bonus, everybody with a MakerBot can make them, too, because they're downloadable. She’s become the go-to person for dollhouse furniture in digital design. Whatever passion you have, the landscape is so wide open that you can be the pioneer in that world. I'm looking forward to seeing when the RC car folks arrive on Thingiverse because there’s room for somebody to be a superstar at that. Nobody’s thrown that gantlet down yet, but it’s just waiting and it’s going to happen this year. They dont necessarily need to have been an expert — they can become an expert and our community will support them. It’s so cool.

What will the next five years in tech be like?

The next industrial revolution is coming, and it’s here for people who are ready to ride the tiger of the future. I’m looking forward to seeing what MakerBot users make, they’re already the smartest people in the world, and now with this tool they’re going to become amazing designers and engineers.

Even on a small scale, you have parents who are getting these — you’re going to have kids growing up with a MakerBot. I’m 40 years old now, and when I was growing up, my family got our first computer in 1981. I’m that kid who grew up with a computer who was a total nerd. And we’re going to see the next generation grow up and the kids who have MakerBots are going to be the ones learning how to design a better future and solve problems.

"The kids who have MakerBots are going to be the ones learning how to design a better future and solve problems."

I think we’re going to see more innovation happen at the granular, grassroots level that used to only happen at the industrial level. It happened to computers first, then it happened to bookstores with the rise of Amazon, and now it’s happening to things. You’re going to see author tools and integration in all kinds of different industries. The physical layer to the Internet.

Where do you find inspiration?

I find inspiration in a lot of places. Good product design, I love cars, I love looking at how the evolution of the car has come around. I get inspired by furniture, I love collecting things on Pinterest — I collect my inspirations on Pinterest so people can see it there. The other place I get inspired is really on Thingiverse, where people are sharing amazing things every day. Every day I go to Thingiverse and get that hit of, “What is innovative in the world today” and I can literally see all the new things that have been shared that you can make — that you couldn't make yesterday.

Images courtesy of Makerbot

自動翻譯僅供參考

3D打印技術和制造商的崛起

技術的優勢是當它使您能夠做一些事情，你不能這樣做了。這是一件事把你的想象力下來到一張紙上，或者在計算機程序，但如果你可以拿著它在你的手中？這是3D打印的愿景。數字化設計，可以變成使用各類塑料實物。這種技術并不新鮮，但把機器帶回家是 - 背后MakerBot的人開始公司以制作3D打印更容易的目標。

隨著經濟實惠的3D打印解決方案已經制定者組成的社區。他們能夠共享的設計，所以如果你看到你喜歡的東西的圖片，還有你可以讓自己一個機會 - 通過打印出來。對于工業設計師，這樣可以加快原型設計，但對于每個人，這是一個想象的具體表現 - 這應該反過來，帶來更多的創新。

參見：一切你想知道的關于3D打印，但太不敢問
MakerBot認為自己是下一次工業革命的一部分。它使每個人都從業余愛好者到醫生的專業工業設計師把虛擬設計轉化為有形的產品，MakerBot的路線3D打印機。方正布雷松佩蒂斯告訴我們更多關于他的產品和MakerBot社區的能力。

與布雷松佩蒂斯，方正MakerBot的
第一次是什么激發了MakerBot？

在Makerbot我們出改變世界，來推動下一次工業革命。創業之初，因為我們需要一個3D打印機，但它們太昂貴，我們也買不起，所以我們研究了一下一個作為一種業余愛好了幾年。當它幾乎工作，我們放棄我們的工作，并開始MakerBot。我們的第一個打印機是一個業余愛好者的打印機，我們剛剛推出了復制2，這是針對誰想要在他們的辦公桌上或家里有3D打印機專業桌面3D打印機。這也是偉大的業余愛好者和企業家，我們已經得到了第三層，這是家長和教育工作者。

如何MakerBot制作3D打印平易近人？

有了人才，我們有工業設計師，工程師和建筑師，他們用它來制作原型走快了很多。 MakerBot之前，如果你想有一些原型，你要么不得不在一個精英的機構，還是花了大量的時間 - 也許長達一個月。當你有一個MakerBot你的辦公桌上，它可以只需要幾分鐘或幾個小時，而不是一個月做一次迭代，你可以在一天內做多次反復。它完全改變創新的加速，在一個好辦法。

然后，我們已經得到了企業家 - 這么多次Kickstarter上，有使用MakerBot展示樣機五至10件事。他們會做一些低運行，不到1000，或者只是用它來展示最終產品看起來像什么。

“我們出改變世界，來推動下一次工業革命。”

此外，還有人在醫學界 - 醫生誰正在使用它采取了CAT掃描可以從字面上打印出什么是腫瘤看起來像他們這樣做術前，這樣他們就可以拿在自己手中 - 這是令人興奮，而且也有趣了不少正在開展工作，在假肢的世界。人們使用3D打印和MakerBot創造假肢更換的東西，用來花費$ 1,000，他們現在可以成本只有幾美元。它可能不會持續的時間，因為它是塑料代替金屬，但你可以根據需要一個新的，只要你想。如果你的成長，并希望進行調整，這是容易得多。我們在這個非常特殊的時期，人們有機會獲得該技術的開始，所以對我們來說，這是我們的使命是賦予有創意的人無處不在，我們給他們這樣的超級大國，使他們需要的東西。

參見：女人得到顎骨由3D打印機
什么是你推出之前，類似的景觀，和你怎么知道什么時候的最佳時機嗎？

在我們推出的3D打印機是冰箱或更大的尺寸。這是一種像大型機時代3D打印的。他們真的很昂貴。在低端有一個$ 60,000個選項，這些打印機都仍然可用，他們上升到$ 2.5萬安時你談論的金屬打印機和超大型，高端的。什么是令人興奮的是，MakerBot在許多情況下不如3D打印機是貴了不少。這只是打開了整個景觀還沒有對它的訪問誰的人。

在電腦主機日子里，你必須潛入周末，以獲得進入PDP-11。這是同樣的事情 - 這是它曾經是，直到我們把3D打印到桌面的方式。

我們也有一個名為Thingiverse網站。你可以把3D打印的脈搏手指，每天有新的東西。我每天看Thingiverse，和我看到的一切在那里 - 這是我喜歡做的事的每一天。現在，我們有一些特色的娃娃屋柳條家具，一把錘子，你可以3D打印，小城堡和一些節日樹，你可以打印出來，使節日裝飾。它是這樣一個美妙的前沿，現在的人誰的希望參與進來。誰做微型玩偶家具的女人實際上是一組設計師百老匯戲劇。說她分享的東西是字面上的模型，你可以去看看百老匯。作為獎勵，每個人都用MakerBot可以讓他們，也因為它們是下載。她成為去到人的娃娃屋家具數碼設計。無論你的熱情有，景觀是如此之大了，你可以在這個世界的先驅。我期待著看到當車模的鄉親到達Thingiverse，因為有足夠的空間供人成為一個超級巨星在那。沒有人拋出的長手套還沒有下來，但它只是等待，它會在今年發生。他們不必然需要一直專家 - 他們可以成為專家，我們的社會將支持他們。這太酷了。

什么將在高科技，未來五年是怎樣的？

下一次工業革命的到來，它在這里的人誰愿意騎未來的老虎。我很期待看到什么MakerBot用戶進行，他們已經在最聰明的人在世界上，現在有了這個工具，他們將成為驚人的設計師和工程師。

即使是小規模的，你還有父母誰是得到這些 - 你將有孩子長大了MakerBot。我40多歲了，當我長大的時候，我的家人得到了我們的第一臺電腦在1981年，我的孩子誰長大了一臺電腦誰是一個總的書呆子。我們將看到下一代的成長，誰擁有MakerBots孩子將是那些學習如何設計一個更美好的未來和解決的問題。

“誰擁有MakerBots孩子們將是那些學習如何設計一個更美好的未來和解決問題。”

我認為我們將看到更多的創新發生在粒狀，基層是用于只發生在工業水平。它發生在計算機首次，那么它發生在書店與亞馬遜的崛起，而現在它正在發生的事情。你會看到各種不同行業的作者工具和整合。物理層到互聯網。

你在哪里尋找靈感？

我找到靈感了很多地方。良好的產品設計，我喜歡汽車，我喜歡看著怎么坐車的演變過來。我得到靈感的家具，我喜歡收集東西Pinterest的 - 我收集Pinterest的我的靈感，使人們可以看到它。其他的地方我得到的啟發是真的在Thingiverse，那里的人們每天都在分享令人驚奇的事情。我每天去Thingiverse和獲得，即打“什么是創新的當今世界”，我可以從字面上看到所有已共享，可以使新的東西 - 你不能昨天做。