From the plug-n-print 3D printer offered by Botmill (www.botmill.com) for just over £1,000 through to the Thing-O-Matic (available from 3D print supplier RepRap www.reprapcentral.com), which is available at a similar price point, the cost of 3D printing has reduced significantly – RepRap last month also introduced a 'large format' printer called the RepRap Mondo, featuring a build area of 305×460x280mm, available for the princely sum of £999. It's not just obscure one-man-band start-ups that are offering the technology. Print manufacturing behemoths such as HP now have a 3D print presence and 3D print stalwarts like Z Corp offer larger build size machines – its ZPrinter 650 has a maximum resolution of 600×540dpi with a build size of 254×381x203mm.

 

Originally these 3D machines were ideal for rapid prototyping or even speciality manufacturing, with the range of proposed uses spanning aiding the design of a new mobile phone case through to the creation of human bones that could be used in reconstructive surgery. But there's growing talk that in the not too distant future 3D printers could be used to create finished products rather than just prototypes. Prototyping expert Terry Wohlers, of research firm Wohlers Associates, predicts that by 2020 50% of the output of 3D printers will be the finished product – today that figure stands at just over 20%. Sales of 3D printers are also expected to rise significantly – in 2009 just under 5,500 3D printers were sold globally.

 

We're already seeing the birth of a new breed of printer who purely offers 3D print (check out London-based Digital Forming www.digitalforming.com). But this is not a technology that will be limited to business users. The founder of Thing-O-Matic says that one day every home will have a 3D printing machine, which will allow consumers to order something over the internet and then watch their product built before their eyes. It sounds like a scene from a futuristic sci-fi movie, but if the rate of change and adoption of 3D technology continues at its current pace, it could become a reality sooner than you think.