MakerBot Unveils Desktop Scanner Prototype for Amateur 3-D Printing

MakerBot, a company specializing in selling 3-D printing hardware to individuals and smaller companies, unveiled a small, desktop-sized 3-D scanner prototype at SXSW on Friday. MakerBot founder Bre Pettis said the device uses a series of cameras and lasers to scan an object, and then creates a digital file that can be read and used to fabricate a 3-D printed object on one of MakerBot’s Replicator printers. The company aims to launch the product by the end of the year. Inexpensive 3-D scanning was also a major focus at Microsoft’s recent TechFest.