Getting closer to mainstream all the time, isn't it?
I estimate it'll be another 24-36 months and then we'll start to see some serious mass-market uptake of decent-resolution (albeit small-scale) 3D-printing.
Like many others, I expect 3D-printing will be MASSIVE.
If I had the money to invest, I'd be investing like crazy in 3D printer developers. I genuinely think 3D-printing can potentially give rise to a more successful company than Apple. Of course, the billion-dollar question then is, which of the 3DP companies will that be?
Meanwhile, how many of you CIEM DIY-ers have considered taking your ear impressions to a 3D-Printing workshop and asking them how much they'd charge for a small run of hollow shells? (Obviously, they'd need a bit of coaching on slightly enlarging the scanned mould model, to yield the equivalent of the 'wax-dipping' process).
Until such time as 3DP becomes truly viable in the home, I think outsourcing the 3DP could be the way to go.
I think companies like Minerva already offer a scanning service, though whether they'd be willing to produce empty moulds, too, I doubt, particularly since they seem to favour silicone.
Anyway, I'm quite certain there will be someone willing (even eager) to undertake the required work for a CIEM DIY-er, just as that Chinese fella demonstrates, on the manual side of things.
