How would you like to replicate anything that fits on a desktop turntable?
That's the idea behind the MakerBot Digitizer desktop 3-D scanner, a $1,400 device aimed at consumers and small businesses that began shipping on Tuesday. MakerBot is a unit of Stratasys Ltd. of Eden Prairie.
As the turntable rotates, lasers scan the object in the center, capturing features as small as 2 millimeters across, and saving them in a digital file. The scanned data can then be replicated with a 3-D printer.
MakerBot, which has its main operation in Brooklyn, N.Y., sells consumer-grade 3-D printers and Stratasys makes industrial-grade 3-D printers for manufacturers.
The Digitizer is aimed at "anybody in the creative profession, such as engineers, architects, artists and teachers," said Jenifer Howard, a MakerBot spokeswoman.
The device has been hyped for weeks on technology websites and publications leading up to Tuesday's release. But it has limitations. For instance, it can't be used to scan items that weigh more than 6.6 pounds. And people who want to share 3-D items with others via a MakerBot database can do so only if they own the design rights, Howard said.
Steve Alexander • 612-673-4553
