Will 3-D printers be a common household item for you? [VIDEO & REPORT]

By Jobs & Hire Staff Reporter | Jan 12, 2014 04:42 PM EST

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3-D printers stole the show at the 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas and may soon become typical household items, according to a report by the Associated Press.

The report said that there is a boom in 3-D printing companies that joined the CES show this year. Last year, there were only few 3-D printing companies that have participated, but this year, organizers witnessed thirty companies at the trade show. They said they had to turn others away because they couldn't fit them in. The 3-D printing area of the CES show floor drew dense crowds that gawked at the printers and their creations. The creations ranged from toys to tea cups to iPhone cases.

According to the report, 3-D printers have reached a point where it's no longer a niche product for a specific consumer market like engineers and tech enthusiasts. Instead, what the CES have shown is a tray of 3-D printing products that could cater to the needs of all types of consumers.

For example, ChefJet Pro is a 3-D printer and the first commercial kitchen-ready food printer. The report described it to look like an oven, but it deposits sugar layer by layer in a tray. You can add the variety of ink colors of your choosing to make the end product as colorful as possible.

ChefJet Pro is manufactured by 3D Systems Inc., a Rock Hill, S.C., company. It expects to sell the full-color ChefJet Pro printer at $100,000 in the latter half of this year, and half the price for its monochrome version.

"[With 3-D printing], we're moving to a world of mass customization," Shawn Dubravac, an analyst for the Consumer Electronics Association, the organization that puts on the show, told The Associated Press. Dubravac said that 3-D printing can now happen in all kinds of industries.

"The question in my mind is not 'Will we have a 3-D printer in each home?' but 'Which room will it be in?'" Avi Reichental, the CEO of 3D Systems, told MSN News. "Will it be in your garage? Will it be in your kids' room, or the man cave ... Or the wardrobe?"

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