
Hello, I am Origo. I am a 3D printer for ten year olds. - jamesbritt
http://www.origo3dprinting.com/what-is-origo/
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donw
It's not legal to print ten-year-olds in 2D, much less 3D.

Joking aside, while a cool idea, I don't think it's really aimed at the right
market. I wouldn't mind having a cheap 3D printer for quick prototyping, but
for children, the physical experience of molding and shaping a new creation is
an important part of their mental and physical development.

At ten years old, kids' brains are still locking down key motor and spatial
reasoning skills.

This seems like a device more suitable for teenagers-and-up.

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jamesbritt
We need the inverse: place some real object in a box and get back 3D specs to
reproduce. Then kids (that includes all of us, too) can make stuff in Play-doh
then make more durable copies.

~~~
Jach
I'm pretty sure we've had 3D scanners since before 3D printers, but I don't
recall off-hand how cheap they are. But great idea for a kids application with
playdough.

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koffiezet
You should be able to do this pretty cheaply with pattern-lights, a cheap
webcam and some intelligent software?

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Jach
Yeah, you're right. Look at what people can do with just two Kinects; all you
really need is enough pictures of the object from different surrounding points
to construct a 3D representation that looks alright.

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jamesbritt
Damn good point. Even one kinect and a rotating platform could work. It could
plausibly be built for around $200.00.

Makes me suspect someone has already hacked one into existence ...

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jbermudes
I see a lot of work done in making 3D printers accessible to the point of
having one in every home, but I wonder if any home improvement stores have
considered having them on-site and using it to gain foot-traffic to buy the
additional parts needed to complete the object.

~~~
clistctrl
That's... brilliant!

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dirkdeman
Forget ten year olds, I'm 32 and I want one! When I looked at the first page,
I thought "nice idea, but ideas are worthless". Then I looked at the second
page, and you guys have put a lot of research in it, it's really thought out
well. If the price is right, let's say < 200 USD, I'm in the market. For my
kid, of course.

~~~
bradleyland
One day you'll be able to buy one for <$200, but not this one. Just having one
available at $600-$800 will be _huge_. Imagine if the rich kid in your
neighborhood had one of these when you were growing up.

I'm curious about operational costs though. Even if the initial investment is
within reach of well-to-do middle-classers, dropping $60 every time little
Jimmy wants to "print" his latest robot model could get old really, really
quickly.

~~~
rflrob
I don't see on the "Making of Origo" page anything about what material they're
using, but ABS plastic isn't that expensive, especially for small models. They
also ask (but don't answer) "What if it could recycle its own material?", so
little Jimmy will have to pick and choose which robot models to keep around,
but could in principle make a new one without a huge investment in substrate.

~~~
PotatoEngineer
Well, ABS is kinda expensive if you're buying it in spools from Makerbot:
about $45/kg. That's around $5 per toy, if they're smallish, or around the
cost of a toy you'd buy. It's not saving you money, anyway.

~~~
bradleyland
That's pretty good info. I don't think $45/kg is to terribly bad. I think a
lot of it will come down to who ends up funding/owning the devices and the
supplies. If they go for the "razorblades" (or maybe more appropriately injket
printer ink) profit model, things could go pretty poorly. Let's hope there are
at least a few players that decide to keep things sane.

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0x12
The copy on the page seems to be a bit ahead of itself, as long as you are in
the vaporware stage I think it is premature to say that "none will be as easy
to use as I will. None will be as reliable or work as hard for you".

The video caption on vimeo says it is 'ready for immediate launch' but the
origo home page says it is 'just an idea'.

Making statements about the reliability of something that is still in the idea
stage is premature. Though it is admirable that reliability is high on the
list of priorities.

~~~
olliesaunders
Those are just goals. There’s little wrong with aiming high.

~~~
jerf
This is rapidly becoming one of my personal catchphrases: "Goals aren't
results." There _is_ something wrong with talking about your goals as if
they're a foregone conclusion.

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lakeeffect
I think makerbot industries has a better marketing angle, price just above a
grand, aimed at tinkerers to create.

Unless the goal of origo is to print in a re-printable material, their target
market shouldn't be for a piece of the play-dough market comprised of
elementary school kids.

I can easily say i wouldnt buy either, i just dont have the need. If i was
going to prototype something i would probably use shapeways.com or another 3d
printing service.

<http://www.makerbot.com/> <http://www.shapeways.com/>

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JoeAltmaier
Cool product design; anything real behind it? Or just wishful thinking.

~~~
olliesaunders
3D printers are already a reality. As is easy-to-use 3D modeling software:
<http://www.spore.com/> is a game where you did your own 3D modeling to create
critters.

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nrp
3D printers are a reality, but $600 3D printers that are low maintenance and
come assembled and ready to go are certainly not.

I don't see anything on the Origo site suggesting they've solved the problems
that have kept the UP!, the assembled MakerBot Thing-O-Matic, and other
assembled home 3D printers above $2000. I also don't see evidence that they've
made any breakthroughs in reliability or ease of use, or really anything more
than renders and prose.

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glimcat
Existing 3DPs tend to require significant maintenance by expert or semi-expert
operators. I don't see anything here showing that you've solved that.

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evan_
Reminds me of the Super Thingmaker:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creepy_Crawlers#Varieties_of_Th...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creepy_Crawlers#Varieties_of_Thingmaker_mold_sets)

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iamwil
Where does the plastic go in?

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innes
Origo can talk and write blog posts. Lose that functionality and the price
should drop considerably.

