Based in Rome, Italy, three co-founders of a small start-up formed a basic business plan to develop a useful and engaging 3D printing app. With a pair of engineers and a product designer, Makoo was launched after the trio noticed how complicated it was to use common 3D modeling tools.
Watch: RapidFIRE: Start-Up Translates Your Voice into 3D CAD Geometry
Engineering graduates Federico De Simone (CEO and project coordinator) and Dario De Angelis (CTO) partnered with Giulio Galassi (CCO, product and UI designer) to create a simple, personal, and emotional way to create 3D objects that were capable of providing tangible value based on a customer’s exact words.
With little more than a microphone and a PC at their disposal, potential customers can create customized rings, bracelets, tiepins, cufflinks, and necklaces with sound wave data that is translated into a 3D CAD geometry (see demo below, or click here). Makoo’s software records a short vocal message provided by the user and extracts a few data points, primarily intensity and frequency. The data points are used to shape the jewel/pendent/charm’s final geometry and, once the 3D model is generated, the user can modify it based on torsion, thickness, and height. The user then selects a desired print material, such as steel, bronze, silver, or gold.
According to CTO Dario De Angelis, who hails from the University of Rome – La Sapienza, the Makoo engine uses the Rhinoceros 3D modeler to realize the jewel prototypes, but a proprietary software is used to implement them.
While this technology may be able to extend beyond custom accessories, De Angelis notes that the scope will remain constrained. “[Right now], we are focusing our project on jewels and accessories for him and her,” he says. “Once our software and its functionalities are validated, it will be easy to switch to different applications.”
With most concepts and new products, it’s often difficult to pinpoint an exact inception date, but for Makoo, De Angelis could not be more certain.
“Makoo is a startup which was born the 23rd of April 2013 within InnovAction Lab 2013,” he says. The brainchild of Augusto Coppola, Roberto Magnifico, and Paolo Merialdo, InnovAction Lab (InnLab) is a training initiative aimed mainly, but not exclusively, at young or recent graduates of Italian universities. The project’s aim is to “encourage the emergence of a new entrepreneurial mindset (and a new ruling class).”
At the InnLab Gran Final, Makoo was among 120 hopeful projects that were judged by a jury of investors and entrepreneurs. Makoo took home the bronze and even won a two-week study trip to Israel to collaborate with their peers at Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology.
The company’s next step is to launch a private beta site this month in an effort to validate the project’s value and efficacy. At the moment, you can find them in co-working area at the Luiss Enlabs Incubator.
After the software validation and private beta launch this month (which is exclusive to Makoo followers), the team plans to participate in Dublin’s Web Summit 2013 (also called “Europe’s SXSW”)and the European Maker Faire in Rome this October.
The first public release is scheduled to launch in December 2013.
For more information, visit https://www.makoojewels.com/.
