HP Announces 3d Printer, Scanner+

HP today announced a new 3D printing technology called Multi Jet Fusion that it said will enable mass production of parts with a technology traditionally reserved for rapid prototyping.

The new industrial 3D printer, about the size of a washing machine, is 10 times faster and 50% less expensive than current systems on the market, HP said. The printer can also use a myriad of colors and materials.

The company also announced Sprout, a new immersive computing platform that combines a 23-in touch screen monitor and horizontal capacitive touch mat with a scanner, depth sensor, hi-res camera, and projector in a single desktop device.

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Shapify Booth: 3D Scanner to 3d Print Life-like Figures...of YOU

3D scanner manufactuer Artec Group announced the U.S. debut of its Shapify Booth, which can scan your entire body in 12 seconds and use the resulting file to print a life-like figurine.

The figurine, which Shapify is calling a "Shapie," is created on a 3D printer in full color.

Artec hopes the scanning booths will catch on in U.S. retail stores, such as Walmart, as well as theme parks and other major tourist sites, shopping malls and airports. Artec has already rolled out the booths in two ASDA supermarkets in the UK. ASDA is owned by Walmart.

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Intel has Developed RealSense: a 3d Scanner Built Into a Tablet

Intel has been working on a 3D scanner small enough to fit in the bezel of even the thinnest tablets. The company aims to have the technology in tablets from 2015, with CEO Brian Krzanich telling the crowd at MakerCon in New York on Thursday that he hopes to put the technology in phones as well.

"Our goal is to just have a tablet that you can go out and buy that has this capability," Krzanich said. "Eventually within two or three years I want to be able to put it on a phone."

Krzanich and a few of his colleagues demonstrated the technology, which goes by the name "RealSense," on stage using a human model and an assistant who simply circled the model a few times while pointing a tablet at the subject. A full 3D rendering of the model slowly appeared on the screen behind the stage in just a few minutes. The resulting 3D models can be manipulated with software or sent to a 3D printer.

"The idea is you go out, you see something you like and you just capture it," Krzanich explained. He said consumer tablets with built in 3D scanners will hit the market in the third or fourth quarter of 2015, with Intel also working on putting the 3D scanning cameras on drones.

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heh.  Betcha this or a version after gets banned from art galleries.