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April 30, 2008 3:58 PM

Desktop fabricators allow users to print 3D objects

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Computers and the Internet have opened many doors to the masses. Blogs allow virtually anyone anywhere to be a writer, journalist or philosopher. Podcasts and YouTube let anyone be a DJ, radio host or video star.

But YouTube is so two-dimensional. The next frontier in user-generated content is set to move innovation off the screen and onto our desktops. The concept is called "desktop fabrication," and it allows users to design and print-out original 3-D objects.

Printers that can do this are now available on the Internet. The beginning of this trend caught the eye of futurist Cecily Sommers, President of the PUSH Institute in Minneapolis. She talked to All Things Considered host Tom Crann.

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