Canon has unveiled their resin-based 3D Printer, and the mixed reality VR, MREAL - looks like not only gamers get the fun.

Earlier this week, Canon unveiled a slew of futuristic equipment at the Canon EXPO in Paris. While the powerful company has already dabbled plenty in 3D technologies, the industry is still reeling at the first sight of Canon’s first 3D printer. With HP and Canon both in the 3D printing game, dreams of better, faster, more widely available printers are dancing in our heads.

https://youtu.be/hvwsNqPAx2Q

Relatively little is actually known about the printer itself. The specifications haven’t been published so far. But Canon made one thing clear: They want to make the production process easy and painless for professionals. The printer uses a resin-based laminating process, which they claim makes it ideal for rapid prototyping and manufacturing. Also, a wide variety of materials will be made available, like ABS and PE.

If Canon achieves faster molding speeds and minimize secondary processing, that means more time for creating and designing and less time spent doing manual labor.

Noting that the industrial use of 3D printing has a growth rate of 30%, Canon intends to wiggle their way into the field by touting simplified processes, 3D integrated software, and durable, highly exact results.

The MREAL (Mixed Reality Headset)

https://youtu.be/Ymsea8aEImE

There’s more than the 3D Printer. It seems fitting that Canon’s 3D printer is unveiled alongside the MREAL, the augmented reality headset that mixes the real with the digital (think about it as an Oculus Rift for Professionals). The goal is to ease the design process and streamline the steps from initial designs to final products.

The MREAL sets the given design, or image, in the real world, in real time. By bringing the theoretical into an almost tangible existence with just a headset is an great add-on for manufacturing; Canon notes that the ability to experience a design in real life would lead to more concrete exchanges and better judgements when creating a product.

Allowing you to see a design from up-close, far away, all sides and angles, means a far more realistic idea of how an object will work. Whether it’s designing, prototyping, or even sales, the MREAL will certainly make lives easier.

Canon’s video on the MREAL is positively breath-taking, and we hope you’ll watch it. Of course, as always, it’s a commercial. The MREAL is a rather new product, and the future is not quite here, yet. That’s why we’re leaving you with this awkward image from Canon’s MREAL website.