“Anyone Can Print”: Supporting Collaborations with 3D Printing Services to Empower Broader Participation in Personal Fabrication

Abstract

Broader participation in 3D printing may be facilitated through printing services that insulate clients from the costs and detailed technical knowledge necessary to operate and maintain printers. However, newcomers to 3D printing encounter barriers and challenges even before gaining access to printing facilities. This paper explores the challenges and barriers newcomers encounter when identifying printing opportunities and when learning how to specify 3D printing ideas through observations of stakeholders (n=20) in two university 3D printing shops, and through a focused lab study investigating how to introduce newcomers individually to 3D printing (n=21). We adopt Olsons and Olson’s framework for remote collaborations, proposed in “Distance Matters”, to analyze the sociotechnical requirements for initiating collaborations with 3D printing services. We found that newcomers often require prior guidance towards 3D printing procedures and websites before establishing what to print in collaboration with 3D printing services. Finally, we discuss how future printing processes and computational systems may empower a future where Anyone Can Print.