Mcor CEO Dr Conor MacCormack with Mcor's chairman John Ryan and Mcor's CTO Fintan MacCormack. Photo via Chris Ryan - www.viewsoftheworld.com
Global office supplies player Staples has gone live with a new 3D printing Experience Centre in the Netherlands, which is powered by technology made by Irish firm Mcor.
Mcor’s low-cost, full-colour paper 3D printing technology called IRIS transforms sheets of standard A4 and letter business paper into solid, photorealistic physical models and enables Staples to provide easy and affordable access to 3D printing for everyone.
The Staples Experience Centre provides a hands-on 3D printing experience where consumers can learn all about 3D printing. Visitors will be able to interact with Mcor 3D printers, examine full-colour, paper 3D printed models, as well as attend 3D printing presentations and workshops.
“An accessible 3D printing Experience Centre where everyone can become acquainted with this new service, is the first step in offering a complete 3D printing solution,” Oscar Pakasi, business development director of Staples Printing Systems Division explained.
“The Experience Centre, combined with our new Staples Easy 3D online service, will provide everyone access to lifelike, photorealistic 3D printed products at an affordable price.”
An historic first for 3D printing
“This is historic – it’s the first time a major mainstream retailer has provided 3D printing to the public,” said Mcor Technologies’ co-founder and CEO Dr Conor MacCormack.
“Staples Easy 3D and the Experience Centre, both using Mcor 3D printers, is a perfect way to introduce the world to the magic of 3D printing, the beauty of true colour, photorealistic models, and the sustainability of the paper-based medium. I believe that this is the first step in defining a new era in 3D printing, whereby the Mcor 3D paper technology will be the solution of choice to provide affordable, full-colour and eco-friendly 3D printed objects to everyone.”
Staples Easy 3D will launch in the Netherlands and Belgium this year and will then roll out elsewhere in Europe. It is not clear when the service will be launched in the US.
Mcor, founded in 2005 by brothers Dr Conor MacCormack and Fintan MacCormack, has developed a printer that produces 3D objects using A4 reams of paper, at a cost of up to 60 times less than competitors’ products. In addition, it is an ecofriendly product, as its only waste is recyclable paper.
Mcor was a finalist in the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG)’s Company of the Year awards in April and recently secured a US$1m investment from the Irish Diaspora Innovation Fund, the angel investment fund headed up by technology entrepreneur John Hartnett.
Last year, it emerged that the Irish CEO and founder of copy protection giant Macrovision (now Rovi) John Ryan joined the company as chairman.
