There’s an interesting trend in 3D printing lately: using the technology to bring virtual worlds to life.

Most people who play online MMORPGS spend quite a bit of time with their in-game avatar. Since most of these games are in the third person, you end up looking over your little Tauren for hours upon hours, so it’s natural that you’d grow a bit attached. Well, a few companies want to bring your ‘epic lewt’ into the real world (click to visit site):
FigurePrints (World of Warcraft):

Fabjectory (Second Life and Nintendo Mii):

Spore Sculptor:

These are pretty neat. They all use Z Corp printers, which lets them do nicely detailed models in full color. They’re reasonable in price, from between $30-$150.

While World of Warcraft is more popular as a game, the Spore and SecondLife creators are interesting because, in Warcraft, players just collect gear that the game gives them, but with the other two, players are actually using tools to create their character entirely within the game. When the Spore Creature Creator was released prior to the game itself as a $10 download, thousands of people purchased it, made creatures, and posted videos on YouTube. People like to make things, and new technologies help bring their creations to life in ways that used to be impossible.

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3D Printing by steve