The craze of 3D movies is starting to come to a close but that doesn’t mean that 3D is completely gone. It is starting a new lifecycle but in a completely new way. 3D scanning, printing, and imaging are slowly starting to become bigger deals, and not just in the business world. There have already been a few contenders beginning to show themselves, most notably Occipital. With 3D rendering and printing now a real life thing, and not just something out of your favorite science fiction movie, it will be interesting to see how they become utilized within day to day society, along with competition. Speaking of competition, MakerBot plans to come on strong with their new product, The Digitizer.

Now since MakerBot is known for its 3D printers, it would only make sense to build a 3D scanner to go along with it. So how does this product work exactly? Well to start, it is operated from your desktop. That’s right, a 3D scanner right at your home or office computer. The way that the object actually becomes digitized is actually via the turntable on which you set the object, to which the scanner’s laser begins to do its job and digitize it. It is actually quite the impressive sight to see. The product also works in tandem with the MakerBot 3D printer, so that after you are done editing, shaping, adding to, or taking away from the digitized 3D rendering, you can print your brand new designed object.

Overall, this product is looking to be a nice addition to any digital design office or creative mind at home. There do seem to be a few drawbacks at first notice, though. Upon looking at the scanner, it would appear that only certain sized objects can be scanned, as the turntable is only so big. That and a $1,400 price tag is enough to make many people have second thoughts. The new scanner is setting up to be retail ready by this October. 3D is far from out the window, and with these new products coming out for average consumer retail, it’s safe to say we may have a new type of tech war brewing.