3D Systems has acquired My Robot Nation, technology which provides a game-like experience for creating content that can be 3D printed.
While the initial use case is pure entertainment -- allowing people to design and create their own colorful robot toys -- the My Robot Nation site's mission is really all about giving people with no experience or knowledge of 3D CAD tools the ability to easily create their own designs that can be output by 3D printers or 3D printing services.
The content creation piece is one of the primary bottlenecks standing in the way of widespread 3D printer adoption, My Robot Nation officials will tell you. Despite the influx of more reasonably priced 3D printer hardware, they said the reality is that people need to be fluent in complex CAD software in order to design the 3D models they aim to output.
My Robot Nation’s proprietary, browser-based platform lets average consumers quickly and easily personalize an object in 3D, then order their unique creation as a full-color 3D print delivered to their door. (Source: My Robot Nation)
My Robot Nation initially hooked up in a partnership with ZCorp, but ZCorp was acquired by 3D Systems last November in perhaps the biggest deal in its prolific string of acquisitions. Now, with its latest acquisition of My Robot Nation, 3D Systems is adding to an already impressive portfolio of end-user-oriented 3D printing technology, including Cubify.com, an online community and content site, and the Cube, a $1,299 personal 3D printer for the home market.
In fact, 3D Systems officials said they expect to integrate the My Robot Nation platform and experience into Cubify.com, the goal being to enhance the site with hundreds of new, easy 3D creation and printing capabilities, in addition to merging the growing developer community. Mark Danks and Sarah Stocker, the developers of My Robot Nation and experienced game industry veterans, will join the 3D Systems team as a result of the acquisition -- a move 3D Systems is touting as a conduit for enhancing Cubify.com with even more consumer-friendly and engaging technology, including play spaces, social capabilities, and game-like user interfaces.
And instead of having to leverage 3D printing services to output your My Robot Nation creation, the tight integration between the content creation piece and the Cube low-cost printer could be a compelling enough bundle to entice buyers to finally bring 3D printing technology into the home.
That seems to be how 3D Systems' President and CEO Abe Reichental is positioning the My Robot Nation technology. He called the technology a "disruptive capability" that would make the firm's Cubify platform more appealing to new users, "including kids from the ages of 8 to 80."
"We believe that this investment will accelerate the gamification and democratization of the entire Cubify experience and at the same time, facilitate our expansion into 3D hosting, publishing and the production of licensed content for other global consumer brands," he said, in a press release.
Love that shop of the colorful robots in the grass, Beth. It seems there is a consolidation going on in the 3D printing world. Is that the case? If so, how come?
Definite consolidation, Rob. I think part of the impetus is for companies to join forces to get economies of scale to push on market development. A lot of factors are aligning to take 3D printing from a niche market to the mainstream. It won't happen, though without money to promote education, awareness, and distribution of the technology. I think that is the primary driver for some of the consolidation. This particular example is more about 3D Systems buying a variety of technology to support a big push into the consumer sector.
Thanks, Beth, great story. Like Rob, I like that shot of robots on the lawn. I wonder if, in addition to technologies, 3D is also buying access to new markets via Robot Nation's distribution and sales networks, as in deals like this in commercial and industrial markets?
Absolutely. I think you and Rob are both right. Access to new markets and distribution venues is critical to making 3D printing a mass market technology.
It was inevitable that as soon as this technology hit a certain price point, it was going to move to the consumer market. I think consumer markets will find applications for this that most of us never dreamed of. It reminds me of the early '80s, when the PC hit the market, and skeptics said, "Why would I need a computer to store my recipes?"
Chuck, you gave me a laugh. I remember that time. However, it was a good question on the part of consumers, since PC companies were actually trying to market to us by suggesting we buy them to store recipes. Meanwhile, the machines were entirely unusable by non-technical people: I used many of the early models and have horror stories from that era. This was before the Mac, which actually did change everything.
Ann, I remember those days well. I, too, had a few horror stories. I had an old Tandy PC with a word processing tape cassette that slid into a side door. The word processor was called Scripsit and the display for the Tandy was your TV set. The problem was that the TV set sat right next to the computer, causing the computer to get hot and lock up. I lost some long articles that way.
Beth, the issue of content creation is one that comes up a lot. I was looking at a gaming software solution for a project that was not really a game. The game development environment is great, but a lot of the work is creating the objects that go into the game. Engineering is a creative process by its nature, but it is a problem solving creativity. There is a different type of creativity that goes into making the shapes that you would want to print. This could be a useful acquisition.
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