3D printing offers ability to print physical objects

As the cost of 3D printing hardware begins to drop, bespoke, printable products may be about to hit the market.

One scheme that is looking to capitalise in the technology is RepRap, short for Replicating Rapid Prototyping, which offers a cheap way of replicating objects - including the printer itself.

And the software and hardware specifications are all open source - meaning the machine can be duplicated freely.