The edge of technology is when it enables you to do something that you couldn't do before. It's one thing to put your imagination down onto a piece of paper, or into a computer program, but what if you could hold it in your hands? This is the vision of 3D printing. Digital designs can be turned into real objects using various kinds of plastic. This technology is not new, but bringing the machine home with you is — the people behind MakerBot started the company with a goal of making 3D printing more accessible.

Along with an affordable 3D printing solution has come a community of makers. They're able to share designs, so if you see a picture of something you like, there's a chance you can just make it yourself — by printing it out. For industrial designers, this can speed up prototyping, but for everyone, it's a tangible expression of the imagination — which should, in turn, bring about more innovation.

SEE ALSO: Everything You Wanted to Know About 3D Printing But Were Too Afraid to Ask

MakerBot considers itself to be part of the next industrial revolution. It enables everyone from hobbyists to doctors to professional industrial designers to turn virtual designs into tangible products with MakerBot's line of 3D printers. Founder Bre Pettis tells us more about the capabilities of his products and the MakerBot community.

Q&A with Bre Pettis, Founder of MakerBot

What first inspired MakerBot?

At Makerbot we’re out to change the world, to fuel the next industrial revolution. The company started because we wanted a 3D printer, but they were too expensive and we couldn't afford one, so we played around with one as a hobby for a few years. When it almost worked, we quit our jobs and started MakerBot. Our first printer was a hobbyist printer, and we just launched the Replicator 2, which is a desktop 3D printer that is targeted at professionals who want a 3D printer on their desk or at home. It's also great for amateurs and entrepreneurs, and we’ve got a third layer, which is parents and educators.

How is MakerBot making 3D printing approachable?

With professionals, we’ve got industrial designers, engineers and architects, and they use it to make prototyping go a lot faster. Before MakerBot, when you wanted to have something prototyped you either had to be at an elitist institution, or it took a lot of time — maybe up to a month. When you have a MakerBot on your desk, it can take just minutes or hours, and instead of doing one iteration in a month, you can do multiple iterations in a day. It totally changes the acceleration of innovation, in a good way.

Then we’ve got entrepreneurs — so many times on Kickstarter, there’s between five and 10 things using MakerBot to show the prototype. They’ll do low number runs, less than 1,000, or just be using it to show the what the final product looks like.

“We’re out to change the world, to fuel the next industrial revolution."

Then there’s folks in the medical world — doctors who are using it to take a CAT scan can literally print out what a tumor looks like before they do surgery, so they can hold it in their hands — it's exciting, and there's a lot of interesting work being done in the prosthetics world. People are using 3D printing and MakerBot to create prosthetics to replace things that used to cost $1,000, they can now cost just a few dollars. It might not last as long because it’s plastic instead of metal, but you can make a new one on demand whenever you want. If you grow and want to adjust it, it’s that much easier. We’re at the beginning of this really special time where people have access to the technology, so for us, it’s our mission to empower creative people everywhere and we’re giving them this superpower to make the things that they need.

SEE ALSO: Woman Gets Jawbone Made by 3D Printer

What was the landscape like before you launched, and how did you know when it the right time for you?

Before we launched, 3D printers were the size of refrigerators or bigger. It was kind of like the mainframe era of 3D printing. They were really expensive. On the low end there was a $60,000 option, and these printers are all still available, and they go up to $2.5 million when you’re talking about the metal printers and the ultra large, high-end ones. What’s exciting is that a MakerBot is in many cases as good as the 3D printer that’s a lot more expensive. It's just opening up the whole landscape to people who haven’t had access to it.

In the mainframe computer days, you had to sneak in on the weekend, to get access to PDP-11. It’s the same thing — that's the way it used to be until we brought 3D printing to the desktop.

We also have a site called Thingiverse. You can put your finger on the pulse of 3D printing, and there's new things every day. I look at Thingiverse every day, and I see everything on there — it’s my favorite thing to do every day. Right now we have featured some dollhouse wicker furniture, a hammer that you can 3D print, a small castle and some holiday trees that you can print out to make holiday decorations. It's such a wonderful frontier right now for anyone who’s looking to get involved. The woman who does the miniature dollhouse furniture is actually a set designer for Broadway plays. The things that she’s sharing are literally models that you can go and see on Broadway. As a bonus, everybody with a MakerBot can make them, too, because they're downloadable. She’s become the go-to person for dollhouse furniture in digital design. Whatever passion you have, the landscape is so wide open that you can be the pioneer in that world. I'm looking forward to seeing when the RC car folks arrive on Thingiverse because there’s room for somebody to be a superstar at that. Nobody’s thrown that gantlet down yet, but it’s just waiting and it’s going to happen this year. They dont necessarily need to have been an expert — they can become an expert and our community will support them. It’s so cool.

What will the next five years in tech be like?

The next industrial revolution is coming, and it’s here for people who are ready to ride the tiger of the future. I’m looking forward to seeing what MakerBot users make, they’re already the smartest people in the world, and now with this tool they’re going to become amazing designers and engineers.

Even on a small scale, you have parents who are getting these — you’re going to have kids growing up with a MakerBot. I’m 40 years old now, and when I was growing up, my family got our first computer in 1981. I’m that kid who grew up with a computer who was a total nerd. And we’re going to see the next generation grow up and the kids who have MakerBots are going to be the ones learning how to design a better future and solve problems.

"The kids who have MakerBots are going to be the ones learning how to design a better future and solve problems."

I think we’re going to see more innovation happen at the granular, grassroots level that used to only happen at the industrial level. It happened to computers first, then it happened to bookstores with the rise of Amazon, and now it’s happening to things. You’re going to see author tools and integration in all kinds of different industries. The physical layer to the Internet.

Where do you find inspiration?

I find inspiration in a lot of places. Good product design, I love cars, I love looking at how the evolution of the car has come around. I get inspired by furniture, I love collecting things on Pinterest — I collect my inspirations on Pinterest so people can see it there. The other place I get inspired is really on Thingiverse, where people are sharing amazing things every day. Every day I go to Thingiverse and get that hit of, “What is innovative in the world today” and I can literally see all the new things that have been shared that you can make — that you couldn't make yesterday.

Images courtesy of Makerbot