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SALT LAKE CITY -- It takes an uploaded image, and layer by layer it prints out plastic until the print becomes a full- bodied object.
The 3D printer from the Pocket Factory is making this technology available in homes all over. Bilal Ghalib and Alex Hornstein, two men who were tired of working for other people, came up with the technology in hopes of supporting themselves and is parading it around the country, showing people what they can do with the $1300 machine.
"I think it is already an everyday object, you just don't know it yet. A lot of the things you own right now were initially developed using these tools," Ghalib said.
The men tout their products as "hackable and maker- friendly," and their efforts are mostly concentrated on enterprising and creativity.
"In our dream world, the only barrier between a desire to make a living off of creative design and doing so is just a click of the 'print' button," they said in their mission statement.
The printer, they say, is part of that. With it they have reproduced not only images of people and objects one might expect to be the focus of a photograph, but useful objects like customized iPhone cases.
"It's absolutely incredible to be a designer using these. We use them to design, we use them to prototype and we use them to produce our ideas." Hornstein said.
