While fan-created My Little Ponies may be something of a niche, such forward-thinking ventures highlight the potential of 3D printing. The technology has opened up all kinds of possibilities, but one very real implication is the issue of intellectual property theft. So much so, research firm Gartner predicts that by 2018, 3D printing will result in the loss of more than US$100 billion in intellectual property each year.

Collaborative efforts like SuperFanArt, where consumers are empowered and enticed by an element of authenticity, rather than the convenience of reproducing their own knock-offs, could see established brands such as Hasbro get the jump on the Pirate Bays of tomorrow.

The first line of My Little Ponies designs will be on show at Comic-Con San Diego from July 24 to 27. You can check out the designs in the gallery and find out more about becoming a SuperFanArt featured artist via the source link below.

Half of Europe’s Jobs Threatened by Machines in U.S. Risk Echo – This article by Simon Kennedy for Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section: 

Eoin Treacy's view

– In much the same way that intellectual property is threatened by the ability of people to download music, videos and books from the internet, the evolution of 3-D printing represents a similar threat to product designers and products. Music companies and publishers have changed their business models to permit downloads and adjusted their pricing to lower the barrier to entry. It is conceivable that 3-D products will go the same way.

The outsourcing of design to the crowd represents an additional development worthy of consideration. A quick perusal of shapeways.com highlights just how much design talent exists. Why limit yourself to a coterie of internal designers when you can have access to a web of enthusiastic minds only too willing to share their ingenuity?

A friend who creates trailers for movies told me recently that while he started out in animation by drawing each individual slide, that today there are myriad young people who are highly agile digital developers; often willing to work for free in order to get a foot in the door of movie studios. There is a reductio ad absurdum element to this trajectory but we can conclude that the most talented and creative people will prevail.      

The net result is that consumers will be provided with progressively more innovative, interesting products.