3D Printing has caught on at a staggering rate just in this past year. There are websites like ShapeWays that allow designers to sell their printed designs, without having to do the printing themselves. Then there are websites like Thingiverse that allow designers to post their designs in a format that allows others to download and print them.
However, these sites leave a bunch of entreprenuers and people with good ideas out of the loop. There are those of us that have great ideas for a design, but don’t have the talent or know-how needed in order to put it together in the correct printable format.
That’s where the new website Objectifiers comes into play. They allow the typical person that doesn’t have experience with CAD to have their idea and ultimately their design printed out.
Objectifiers is a company started and run by two entrepreneurs, Mathias Frydman and Jeremie Zazoun, who are in a Tel Aviv University accelerator called TheHive.
“We’ve become 3D printing enthusiastic and decided to create our start-up based on a simple observation: printing an object is complicated,” They explained to 3DPrint.com.
“It is obvious to us that the average consumer will not start mastering 3D printing even in the years to come. It requires too much CAD skills, operating the printer is complicated, buying a 3D printer is expensive and having a 3D printer at home means being limited on size and materials. We could actually go on and on about constraints and limitations! On the other hand there are now thousands of 3D printer owners who have gained expertise in designing and printing on very diversified 3D printing technologies. Those hobbyists are not taking enough advantage of their own talents and their 3D printers are often under exploited”
So what exactly is Objectifiers’ ultimate plan?
They intend to gather a community of CAD experienced 3D printer owners, who will offer customization services over templates of objects they have already created. They hope to offer customers a myriad of objects that they will be able to customize according to their needs and wishes.
In order to allow more control over designs, printing, time, costs and price, they have set forth the following strategies:
- Designers can pre-set a number of customization possibilities that will save them time processing orders.
- Because designers know their templates’ printing time and material requirements, they are able to set an accurate price for their object.
- Customers get a clear price that includes design and printing fees at the order.
On top of this, if a customer wants something printed that doesn’t fit into one of the already put forth templates, they can place an order for that non-existing object to a particular designer or to the community as a whole. The community can then provide that customer with estimates on a price.
“This marketplace, unlike our competitors, is dedicated to people who are not 3D printing savvy,” explained Mathias and Jeremie. “They do not have to know about G-codes, CAD, printing temperatures or support materials… 3D printing is just the way to the object desired.”
The whole premises behind the formation of Objectifiers is the assumption that currently the democratization of 3D printing isn’t about owning a 3D printer, but rather about owning objects that have been 3D printed, in a way that is totally custom to the end user.
Currently Objectifiers is in its beta phase, as they try and gather their community. They consider the beta a phase for designers to sign up and get started. While the company is ready to go forward, they are still looking to raise another $500,000 which will allow them to fully complete their vision. They are starting their pitch session next week in front of investors and angels in Israel. They also will be having a pitch night on February 12, at TheHive Ashdod which will take place at the Kivunim Center, Ashdod.
Discuss Objectifiers, and their brand new idea over at https://3dprintboard.com/showthread.php?1547-Objectifiers-Shapeways-but-with-out-needing-to-design-objects.