Print in another dimension

Imagine that your old inkjet or laser printer could pump out three-dimensional objects on demand — kind of like those futuristic replicator devices that exist only in the world of "Star Trek."

You could create something frivolous like a new pair of shoes or smartphone case. Or decorative, like a miniature model of the Eiffel Tower. Or something medically helpful like a dental retainer. Perhaps a replacement air filter for your car.

This is where the world of 3-D printing is headed.

Also known as additive manufacturing, or in the medical field, bio-printing, companies are pushing into what has long been the sole province of architects and professional design and fabrication firms.

From Cambridge to California, startups are using a variety of materials and methods in an attempt to bring this technology to the mainstream.

Here in the Hub, the startup c, founded by a trio of MIT Media Lab alums, is nearly ready to ship its first desktop 3-D printer, a sleek silver and orange box called the Form 1.

With nearly $3 million raised on Kickstarter and a slew of high-profile investors, the Form 1 costs $3,299 — including 1 liter of resin (think 3-D ink).

Available for preorder on formlabs.com, the printer stands 18 inches high and has a roughly 12x12 footprint. It can fabricate objects about the size of two Rubik's Cubes.

Other companies are trying to introduce 3-D printing as well.

Brooklyn-based MakerBot is already selling the second generation of its aptly named Replicator, and a group of University of California at Berkeley students are working to develop a 3-D "vending machine," a printer that can receive orders via email and then build and dispense the finished product.

The big hurdle for this industry right now is that its buyers have to know 3-D CAD software to design multidimensional objects. That basically limits the market to engineers and architects.

But one local startup is producing a device that could spur mainstream interest in 3-D fabrication. The 3Doodler claims to be the world's first three-dimensional printing pen, and it had raised $2.3 million in Kickstarter funding as of last week. It allows users to "draw" lines of quick-cooling plastic that can be used to create designs and shapes that rise off the paper. The company says the price will be under $100, and it could be the tipping point for a 3-D generation that will come to think of printing as something that doesn't just happen on paper.

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