Star Trek style Replicators become a reality

In the 24th century, replicators could be used for replicating machine parts, clothing, food or other objects. Now 3D Systems and Cubify.com are teaming up to introduce a Star Trek customized 3D printed collection.  Fans, starting early this year, will be able to create personalized 3D printed products and collectibles based on the legendary franchise, starting with The Original Series.

3D Systems and Cubify.com are showing a preview of the Star Trek 3D printed collection during the Consumer Electronics Show, being held from January 8-11 in Las Vegas.

In an interview with Star Trek.com, Scott Harmon, Vice President, Corporate Development, at 3D Systems, talked about how the replication process works and on what fans can expect to see.

“How much like Star Trek’s replicators is this?”

“Regarding the replicators, this is a great analogy. Our technology is called a 3D printer. It does a really good job of replicating shape and color. It cannot, at least today, replicate materials like food or like Earl Grey Tea, although you may see a chocolate 3D printer coming down the line.”  – Scott Harmon

“What Trek items can fans make/personalize? Give us a few examples, please.”

“The first products will be crew members. We will be offering the ability to put your face on a Star Trek TOS figure. So, you send us two photographs and we’ll put your face on one of the Star Trek crew figurines. What you’ll get is a 6”-7” figurine or statuette that looks exactly like a character from TOS, but it’ll have your face on it. This is the first time anything like this has ever been done with a brand like Star Trek. You can get things like bobbleheads with your image on them, but that’s not quite the same as this. This is pretty special.” – Scott Harmon

“What is the name of the technology you’re utilizing? And, to be clear, people will be able to buy the output of the printer, not the printer itself, right?”

“The machine we use to print the Star Trek figures is the ZPrinter TM 650. And, yes, they will be able to buy the products we make with the printer, not this particular printer itself. But it is worth noting that we sell a slightly different technology called, Plastic Jet Printer, PJP, in a home version called the Cube. Star Trek fans could think of that as sort of a home version of a first-generation replicator.” – Scott Harmon

“You’re starting with TOS and figurines. What else, Trek-wise, is in the works?”

“As time goes on, we will add additional crew characters from more recent series, like The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. And there are other things we hope to do over time, like the customization of accessories, and maybe even ship customization.” – Scott Harmon

“How excited are you about all of this? And are you a Trek fan?”

“I’m extremely excited. I think the fan community for Star Trek is a perfect match for our technology, and you could certainly make the argument that 3D printing was first envisioned from the idea of the replicator. And I’m definitely a fan. My mom loved TOS, so it was one of the few shows I got to watch as a kid. Also, just look at my name. Growing up, people said “Beam me up, Scotty” to me about a billion times. If I had a dollar for every time someone said that, I’d be rich. So being a fan was probably inevitable.” – Scott Harmon

The new products will be available through Cubify.com and StarTrek.com, using the content publishing platform from 3D Systems.

Original source Star Trek.com

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Author: Marc Stamper

Trek geek extrordinaire and the TrekMate tech wizard. Always liked Trek but when TNG started here in the UK I fell in love and have not looked back since. Podcaster since January 2012

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