{"id":646024,"date":"2013-03-08T17:41:55","date_gmt":"2013-03-08T22:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=618565"},"modified":"2013-03-08T17:41:55","modified_gmt":"2013-03-08T22:41:55","slug":"the-king-of-3d-printing-kicks-off-a-sxsw-focused-on-the-physical-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/646024","title":{"rendered":"The King of 3D printing kicks off a SXSW focused on the physical world"},"content":{"rendered":"

Austin, Texas<\/em> \u2014 Wearing a textured black jacket from cyberpunk-designer Sruli Recht<\/a>, and repeating the word \u201cawesome\u201d throughout his hour-long talk, the CEO of 3D printing company MakerBot<\/a>, Bre Pettis, told an audience of thousands of geeks at the annual SXSW Interactive Festival on Friday afternoon that \u201cIt is the<\/em> best time to get into hardware.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the past few years, SXSW \u2014 which is like the tech industry\u2019s Spring Break fueled by BBQ, beer and the latest startups \u2014 has acted as a platform for a variety of social media and mobile apps to launch and gain mind share. Twitter famously broke out in SXSW in 2007. But at SXSW this year, as the New York Times noted this week, it looks like it\u2019s hardware\u2019s turn in the spot light<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hot hardware
<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The Replicator 2, 3D printer, by MakerBot<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As rain drizzled down outside the Austin convention center and marketers handed out logo-laden bright ponchos to conference-goers, Pettis used the opportunity of his opening remarks at the show to unveil his company\u2019s new 3D scanner called the MakerBot Digitizer. He referred to the Digitizer as the \u201cwasher and dryer\u201d partner to MakerBot\u2019s 3D printer the Replicator 2, and described the Digitizer\u2019s 3D scanning process as \u201clike what happens in Tron when Flynn gets digitized.\u201d<\/p>\n

The device, which is supposed to be out in the Fall, will give creators and makers another tool to move designs from the physical world, to the digital world, and back again. While professional designers and artists have high-end machines that do this, the Digitizer is meant to bring this capability to the DIY movement. The Digitizer uses a camera to scan the device as it rotates, the digital design of the 3D object is captured, and the Replicator 2 can replicate the object, or a tweaked version of the object.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

A monster created by the MakerBot<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Pettis also used his talk to announce that design giant Autodesk is now selling MakerBot\u2019s 3D printers, giving the startup access to Autodesk\u2019s large customer network, and adding some heft to the 3D printer movement. Pettis, who was introduced before his talk as the \u201cKing of the 3D printing revolution,\u201d launched MakerBot as a company at SXSW in 2009. (To read more about 3D printing check out our research report on GigaOM Pro<\/a>, subscription required).<\/p>\n

Makers, creators and devices<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Stacey Higgenbotham predicted<\/a> earlier this week, SXSW Interactive 2013 is all about the DIY maker movement and 3D printing. Across the street from the convention center, Autodesk is hosting a large \u201cCreate\u201d space that\u2019s highlighting inventors, and tinkerers and the devices that they\u2019ve developed.<\/p>\n

Of course under the Create tent, Autodesk and MakerBot are showing off the Replicator 2, and Autodesk\u2019s 3D printer software and applications, and they\u2019ve even got a vending machine that\u2019s selling 3D-printed monsters. Autodesk has an app<\/a> called 123D Creatures that lets you make, and print out, monsters on your iPad; Autodesk can use these types of consumer-focused apps as both marketing, as well as to boost sales for its 3D printer software ecosystem.<\/p>\n

\"Vending<\/a><\/p>\n

Vending machine dispensing 3D printed monsters, by MakerBot, Autodesk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Other devices under the Create tent include social good gadgets like the BioLite Stove<\/a>, invented by Alexander Drummond and Jonathan Cedar, the \u201cSee Better to Learn Better<\/a>\u201d low cost eye glasses from Fuseproject\u2019s Yves Behar, and the Embrace Nest<\/a> baby warmer. Lytro was showing off<\/a> a camera that was launched at SXSW 2012, and which captures the light field of photos, enabling users to focus on and interact with different parts of the picture.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The Lytro camera<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In fact, in the few hours that the show has been open on Friday, I have yet to see a demo of or hear about a super hot social media or mobile app that\u2019s blowing up at the show. But I have heard about 3D printable rocketships<\/a>, new wearables from unusual players<\/a>, and I got a brief demo this morning of the Misfit Shine from Misfit CEO Sonny Vu. I\u2019m sure the digital-only apps and services are here at the show, but hardware and the physical world seem to be overshadowing them.<\/p>\n

In a way, that makes sense. The Internet of Things is officially here<\/a>, and super cheap sensors are enabling gadgets to use data to help us in our daily lives. At the same time, wearable technology like Google Glass is making the computing industry think in an entirely new way. A physical component is almost necessary to move the computing paradigm forward beyond tablets, smart phones, and laptops. And for the early-adopters at the SXSW show this year, that means they get the first change to play with these devices.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:<\/strong>
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial<\/a>.<\/p>\n