Festival goers have packed the Austin Convention Center’s Exhibit Hall 5, waiting for the official kick off to SXSW Interactive when Director Hugh Forrest makes his first appearance. When Forrest does take the stage, he claims the rain currently drizzling on Austin is a geek innovation. There’s a short welcome speech and a mention of two causes that SXSW Interactive has aligned itself with this year: Architecture for Humanity and Electronic Frontier Foundation. Forrest makes a plea to everyone in the auditorium and watching online to donate to each, specifically citing Hurricane Sandy for the former and “draconian legislation” for the latter as compelling reasons. Then, Forrest calls for a round of applause for the twentieth anniversary of SXSW Interactive.
“You might not have known we existed before a few years ago, or even this year, but we’ve been here a long time,” says Forrest.
The festival director goes on to mention the core values that have driven the festival since year one: creativity, innovation, and inspiration. And it’s with those ideas that MakerBot co-founder and CEO Bre Pettis is introduced.
Pettis’s excitement over being here has a palpable energy to it, and he begins by showing off his jacket by Iceland-based fashion designer Sruli Recht. The jacket is laser-cut designed, but you get the distinct feeling Pettis wants to show off the jacket simply because it’s cool, which is a good enough reason. Pettis tells the story that he and his friends wanted a 3D printer of their own but couldn’t afford what were at the time large devices that cost as much as $100,000. Ever the masters of innovation, the group of friends made their own 3D printer and promptly quit their jobs when they realized they could. As Pettis talks, he reveals two driving forces behind forming MakerBot.
Pettis says, “Fixing things is a real rush and you want more of it,” and a “combination of tools and friendships lets you feel you can make anything.”
The phrase “The Next Industrial Revolution” appears repeatedly on the huge screens at the front of the hall and Pettis finds varied ways to repeat the term that he clearly believes in. Thingiverse, the place for you to share your digital fabrication designs, receives a callout with special attention given to the Customizer for Nokia to create your own specific shell for the Lumia 520 or Lumia 820 and Duplo Brick creator, which greatly appeals to all of the parents in the audience whose children love Legos and building blocks.
One particular use of the MakerBot that draws a mix of awe, uncomfortable laughter, and a bit of worry is the sleep apnea device for babies that Pettis said can be used to, “check to see if your baby is breathing with your cell phone.” Staying with kids for a minute, Pettis discusses unique uses of the MakerBot, like when one father created orthopedic hill lifts for his little girl that let her pass a height requirement needed to ride roller coasters. This kind of cheeky application comes with the territory of the MakerBot as Pettis admits that he first used MakerBot at a bar to make shot glasses.
Pettis also gives a strong economic reason for pursuing MakerBot use more widely, and that’s because of increasing labor and fuel costs when going over seas for manufacturing. There’s also a line tossed in here by the CEO about quality in the products made because the company is based out of Brooklyn, NY and the “Brooklyn pride” that goes with that.
MakerBot’s big debut today is the Digitizer, preceded by an audience-created drumroll. The Digitizer scans and brings objects into the digital world, using lasers much in the same way that Kevin and Sam Flynn ended up in the world of Tron.
Simply put, the Digitizer can take a detailed scanned image of an object and give you the requirements necessary to replicate as many copies as you want. There are simply too many science fiction movies, books, TV shows, and comic books to cite here in comparison. As far flung of a future idea as this may sound, the Digitizer will be available in the fall. Pettis ends this section of the opening remarks by putting the question to the audience of “What would you digitize?”
Pettis obviously has a creative passion for innovation and the ability to inspire others to do the same. However, the excitable creator doesn’t want to create alone and avidly pushes for others to find their paths alongside him. The CEO’s final statement of the hour is a simple one.
“Join us and help change the future.”
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