Mattel To Allow Kid Designers To Create Their Own Wicked Toys With 3D Printers

Paper printing? That's old-school. Today, the popularity surrounding 3D printing is immense, and it's even gone on to spawn other sorts of interesting printing scenarios, such as printing fabrics and soft objects. While so far, it's mostly been a select few who've taken advantage of 3D printing, technological advances and dropping prices will begin to make it more widely available - even to kids.

Autodesk's Ember 3D printer

That could happen sooner than later thanks to a partnership that just kicked off between Autodesk and Mattel. Based off of its Spark 3D printing platform, Autodesk is going to be releasing a couple of new apps that will help make 3D design and printing easier than ever so that kids can have great fun and learn at the same time. The first app is expected to launch in the second half of 2015, at which point Mattel will likewise launch a dedicated online hub.

At this point, this is all we know about this partnership, though it's not hard to be intrigued by what could become of it. As a kid, I would have had excitement seeping out my pores to have access to such cool technology, so hopefully today's kids will have similar reactions.