Using unique multi-material technology, customers can now even print the rigid plastic frame along with the clear transparent lens all in a single build — requiring no assembly — in just a matter of hours,

increase in manufacturers using 3D printing to produce short-run production parts that can be used directly in the final product

they are set to become better and cheaper over time, radically lowering barriers to entry for start-ups like Protos, no matter how small their production runs.

“With traditional methods of manufacturing, eyewear companies need to mass produce thousands of the same exact frame. With 3D printing, we are not constrained by the same rules or properties, so each pair of glasses can be unique,” said Levinson.

US president Obama’s administration has already pledged funding of up to $60 million to a National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute.