How 3-D Printing Changes Everything

"If you're having a single model built for you that costs you anywhere from $80 to $120, which is probably the norm out there, and you can now build six models or five models on one run," Matossian explains, "as a business owner I think about all the money I'm saving doing these models ourselves."

Big business
Big businesses benefit as well, of course, from the improved efficiency of being able to print physical objects in complex shapes that would be considerably more expensive using traditional techniques.

"Because you can make things that were previously impossible -- ducts for wiring and cables, for example -- that makes engineering much more efficient," Shapeways' Weijmarhausen says. He points to the example of aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus, which has capitalized on the technology to make stronger, stiffer and cheaper parts for its aircraft.

As the efficiency of these techniques evolves, so does the bottom line for companies and consumers.

What's next?
While these examples only scratch the surface of what 3-D printing can do, industry leaders see a future in which 3-D printers become even more affordable, to the point where they will be accessible to anyone.

"Mainstream adoption, like in homes, is where everybody believes we will get to," Solidscape's Esposito says. "Nobody knows when or how quickly it will be adopted but there are so many ways the technology will be used."

Pettis sees the next big development in the 3-D printing world being adoption of the machines in schools rather than homes. MakerBot has developed some curricula for teachers to integrate the technology in the classroom, to familiarize the next generation with the process.

"Imagine you're 10 or 11 and have a machine that can make you anything; how does that change the scope of innovation in the U.S.?" Pettis says. "It's a great time to be alive, a great time to be somebody who's creative."

3-D printing may be the future, but check out our look at 7 Gadgets That Won't Make It to 2020 to see what devices are relegated to the past!

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