Turn Anything Into a 3D Model With the Makerbot Digitizer

Want to make 3D copies of an object but don’t have the know-how to design a computer model of it yourself? MakerBot has got you covered. The company is taking preorders for their Digitizer, a laser scanner that can create a 3D model of any object so you can print copies of it from your 3D printer. Soon, my army of action figures will be complete…

Well, we may have oversold it a little bit. The Digitizer can make a 3D computer model of anything you can fit on its turntable, which is still a lot of things. Place the object you want to copy on the turntable, and it will get zapped with lasers from all angles, providing you with a spiffy new digital model of it. Then, you can tell your 3D printer to print out as many plastic copies of that digital model as you’d like, providing you with a convenient clone army for all your favorite GI Joes. And also other things, I guess.

You can get a look at the Digitizer in action in the video below. At $1,400, the gizmo won’t come cheap,  but considering you’ll be able to use it to copy and print an almost infinite universe of small objects, look at is not as buying a really cool toy, but making an investment that also happens to be a really cool toy.

(via Mashable)

Meanwhile in related links

• The MakerBot store is basically Toys r’ Us for nerdy grown-ups
• We’ve wanted one of these for months now
• TangiBot also wants to bring 3D printing to the masses, and for cheap