Desktop 3-D printing has largely been the domain of extrusion-based machines like MakerBot’s Replicator and homebrew RepRap designs. While this process’s print size, speed and quality have improved over time, it still lags behind the capabilities of pricier, professional stereolithography devices, where UV light cures incredibly thin layers of resin to create objects on par with manufactured goods.

Developing this type of printer at a consumer price point has thus far been an elusive goal, but a today trio of MIT grads with impressive backers announced a new machine, called the Form 1, that can potentially bring professional-grade 3-D prints to the home workshop.

Formlabs, the group’s company, comprises David Cranor, an electrical engineer with a passion for digital media; Maxim Lobovsky, an engineer and former project lead on the Fab@Home project; and Natan Linder, who previously co-founded an R&D center for Samsung in Israel. Cranor explains that the three classmates noticed a huge gap in the market with no 3-D printers between the high end of the hobby market at $3,500 and professional machines that start at $10,000, and realized “Designers couldn’t afford the quality of product they needed to be effective.”

With this insight, and their technical chops, they raised a round of seed funding from former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt; Media Lab director, Joi Ito; and Mitch Kapor, the founder of Lotus. Utilizing just $500,000 and less than a year’s time, the team developed their printer’s hardware, its specially formulated resins, and proprietary desktop software.

The Form 1 is a desktop-sized machine that creates professional-grade, light-cured 3-D prints. Their prototype units are fully functional and Formlabs will finance manufacturing via a Kickstarter campaign that launches with today’s annoucement. Initial backers will be able to pre-order the Form 1 for $2,299 (only 25 will be available at this price); additional units are priced at $2499 and $2699, based on order of contribution. Actual market pricing has not yet been released.

While Kickstarter campaigns are wrought with delays and undelivered goods, Formlabs is attempting to circumvent that problem. They’re preparing to meet their February 2013 shipping target by partnering with Dragon Innovation, the manufacturing consultancy that has helped the team behind the Pebble watch navigate the manufacturing process and has landed many clients’ projects on the shelves at the Apple store.

On our recent visit to Formlabs for a demonstration of the Form 1, we were left highly impressed.

Plastic isn’t deposited on a build platform; instead, parts are extracted from a gooey pool of resin. In addition to its higher accuracy, this process also makes translucent parts and complex geometries possible. It can print objects 4.9 by 4.9 by 6.5 inches with layers that are just 25 microns (0.001 inches) thick.

To put this in perspective, the Form 1 resolution is four times higher than the new MakerBot Replicator 2 (100-micron layer thickness), and is on par with professional grade systems. With tolerances this tight, designers will be able to produce high quality presentation models suitable for painting, small runs of production parts, and models with enough detail to be used in jewelry casting.

Its technology stands out, but the product’s design is breathtaking. Cranor and his co-founders invested early in clever engineering and quality industrial design. The Form 1 only has a few moving parts making for quiet operation, while the anodized aluminum housing gives it a respectable, serious look. The Formlabs team sees the product in a different category than the current class of plywood-clad, low-cost printers and wanted the product design to reflect that.

The translucent orange box on the top of the machine protects the resin inside from UV rays, but also lets designers see their products being built in real time. “The 360-degree view was a conscious decision, so the part is the focus” says Lobovsky “The printer is cool, but your project is cooler.”

The team also wanted the machine to be easy to use, and recruited Yoav Reches, an industrial designer who had previously worked on mobile phone designs for Samsung to help formulate the entire printing process.

Reches says “Existing 3-D printers cannot live in the office because they are too clumsy and messy. A friend of mine has a printer in his living room and when I visit him I see bits of plastic all over the living room.” He continues, “We’re dealing with resin, which is more complex than building with extruded material, so we felt we had to take responsibility for that.” This led the team to develop an included cleaning station called the “Form Finish Kit,” simplifying the parts cleaning process.

According to Lobovsky, the resin is safe, but should be treated like bleach or epoxy – it’s fine to use in the home, but unsupervised children probably shouldn’t be playing with it. Eventually, there will be multiple resins available in different colors and with special properties, e.g., materials that can be melted in lost wax casting.

With light-based printing, resin prices are one of the unknown variables. Cranor estimates the resin will cost about $149 per liter, but says “Kickstarter supporters who buy a Form 1 print package will be guaranteed at least 1 liter per month for $129 ($0.13 per cubic centimeter) or cheaper for the life of their printer.” This is approximately three times more expensive than Makerbot-style extrusion printing; however, bigger companies charge between $300 and $800 per liter, and you can pay 10 times that with online print services.

The Form 1 may be the first low-cost 3-D printer that allows people to focus on developing their product, instead of fussing over the production process. If the first MakerBot was 3-D printing’s Apple II, the Form 1 may just be its iMac.

A comparison between Makerbot’s Replicator 2 and the Form 1:

MakerBot Replicator 2 Formlabs Form 1 Technology Fused Filament Fabrication (Heat) Stereolithography (Light) Build Size 11.2″ x 6.1″ x 6″ 4.9″ x 4.9″ x 6.5″ Build Material Polylactic Acid (PLA) Filament Liquid Acrylate Photopolymer Layer Thickness 100 Microns 25 Microns Print Software Included Included Cost $2,199 $2,299-2,699* * Kickstarter pricing – retail pricing TBD