Is there a 3D printing vending machine? Yes.. there is now

At Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering they thought of a totally new way for using 3D printers. In every college or university you will find vending machines selling food or beverages in big amounts. The Virginia Techies therefore invented the DreamVendor. This is a vending machine that turns your CAD design (or ‘dream’) into a physical object while-you-wait. With this coolest of the coolest vending machine you insert an SD memory card into the reader, select the 3D model file, and tell it to start printing. At that point the Makerbot Thing-O-Matic 3D printers (inside the vendor) begin printing the model. When it’s done, it’s dispensed into a bin for the student to take.

Take a look at the video and see the DreamVendor in action.

Is there an actual demand you might ask? Yes there is!  The Dream Vendor has been open for just weeks and they are unable to count the number of models printed.