3D Systems is Toying Around with Additive Manufacturing

When I was a kid, we didn’t have the panoply of interactive media that surrounds children today. Sure, we had video game consoles, but I didn’t know any kids that spent more time playing Nintendo than they spent playing with other kids and, particularly, with a broad range of toys. The toys are still around, but it seems to me they frequently take the back seat to technological distractions. Maybe a shake-up is in order.

That could be part of the thinking behind the recent moves on the part of 3D Systems. Signs that the additive manufacturing (AM) giant has been leaning toward 3D printing as entertainment began with the acquisition of Gentle Giant Studios, strengthened with the announcement of a partnership with Hasbro, and became a certainty with 3D Systems’ latest acquisition, Digital PlaySpace.

Digital PlaySpace’s products include Digital Dollhouse and Dreamhouse Designer, which let kids create and play in virtual spaces. What likely attracted 3D Systems is the company’s drive to partner with other companies to brand their products in virtual worlds. From its website:

From virtual worlds to social games, Digital PlaySpace captures and converts consumers through interactive entertainment that strategically leverages play behaviors and lifestyle preferences, seamlessly linking real and virtual goods within immersive and relevant games and interactive experiences.

While old fogies like me might think kids are more interested in iPads than GI Joe, toys sales for 2012 racked up $22 billion, according to the Toy Industry Association, which is still a large chunk of cash. By way of contrast, the video game market topped $79 billion in 2012, according to Gartner, but the audience for video games is a whole lot more diverse than for children’s toys.

3D Systems has the potential to shake up the toy industry by leveraging the might of AM to offer bespoke toys. If you (or your child) ever wished you had a toy that looked just so or came with one specific gadget or MacGuffin as seen on TV or in the movies, AM has the power to make those dreams come true.

Even better, a home 3D printer allows children (and the occasional adult) to print out their own, customized toys. Terry Wohlers has opined that the first AM system to truly be embraced by home users will be one that makes, or assists in making, toys. That idea doesn’t seem all that far-fetched. Slap a Transformers or My Little Pony sticker on a Cube, paint it the industry approved range of bright children’s colors, and suddenly you have a home toy factory.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Hasbro, a premier, global, branded play company, to jointly define, shape and lead the entire digital play space, powered by 3D printing,” said Avi Reichental, president and CEO, 3D Systems, when announcing the Hasbro partnership.

The shaping aspect is an important part of the equation as well. Instead of attempting to get kids to pick toys over tech, why not incorporate the physical and the digital into one product? That’s pretty much the essence of 3D printing, and the link with Digital PlaySpace.

The kid that decorates a room with Digital PlaySpace has invested a solid amount of time into the creation process. Offering them a chance to bring that room out of the digital space and into the physical seems like a no brainer. The same should be true for other product lines. Who wouldn’t like to design their own Transformer?

Below you’ll find a short video about the AM options offered by Digital PlaySpace.

Source: 3D Systems