Formlabs, Hasbro Selfie Series Listed in World Changing Ideas

by Fast Company

SOMERVILLE, MA, May 3, 2023 – The winners of Fast Company’s 2023 World Changing Ideas Awards were announced, honoring sustainable designs, innovative products, bold social initiatives, and other creative projects that are changing the way we work, live, and interact with the world. Among these trailblazing innovations, Formlabs and Hasbro’s Selfie Series earned an honorable mention in the consumer products category for 2023.

In 2022, Formlabs and Hasbro announced Selfie Series – a groundbreaking endeavor that uses the speed, agility, and precision of Formlabs 3D printers to manufacture personalized action figures. For the first time, users can scan their face with a smart device and have a custom-made action figure delivered to them that matches their hair type and skin tone. Selfie Series represents the realization of a broader goal for both Formlabs and Hasbro, ushering in a new era of mass customization in consumer products via Formlabs 3D printers.

This year’s World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 45 winners, 216 finalists, and more than 300 honorable mentions—with health, climate, energy, and AI among the most popular categories. A panel of Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 2,200 entries across urban design, education, nature, politics, technology, corporate social responsibility, and more. Several new categories were added this year including rapid response, crypto and blockchain, agriculture, and workplace. The 2023 awards feature entries from across the globe, from Italy to Singapore to New Zealand.

Fast Company’s Spring 2023 issue (on newsstands May 9, 2023) will showcase some of the world’s most inventive entrepreneurs and forward-thinking companies that are actively tackling global challenges. The solutions cover everything from water reuse in urban environments and modular housing to an initiative combating book bans and a program that spotlights trans-friendly salons around the world.

“We are honored to be included in Fast Company’s prestigious list of World Changing Ideas this year, it’s an accomplishment to be regarded alongside today’s innovators and industry disruptors,” said Gary Rowe, head of business development, Formlabs. “Formlabs’ mission is to enable anyone to make anything, but Selfie Series marks a significant milestone for Formlabs as our first foray into the world of mass customization for a consumer toy product. It resulted in an exciting leap forward for the 3D printing industry, and our hope is that it will continue to inspire a new era of mass production and customization while proving that consumer goods can benefit from 3D printing technology.”

“It’s thrilling to see the creativity and innovation that are so abundant among this year’s honorees,” says Fast Company editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan. “While it’s easy to feel discouraged by the state of the world, the entrepreneurs, companies, and nonprofits featured in this package show the limitless potential to address society’s most urgent problems. Our journalists have highlighted some of the most exciting and impactful work being done today—from housing to equity to sustainability—and we look forward to seeing not only how these projects evolve but how they inspire others to develop solutions of their own.”

About the World Changing Ideas Awards

World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect them all.

About Formlabs

Formlabs is expanding access to digital fabrication, so anyone can make anything. Headquartered in Somerville, MA with offices in Germany, Japan, China, Singapore, Hungary, and North Carolina, Formlabs is the professional 3D printer of choice for engineers, designers, manufacturers, and decision makers around the globe. Formlabs products include the Form 3+, Form 3B+, Form 3L, and Form 3BL powered by an advanced form of stereolithography (SLA) called Low Force Stereolithography (LFS) 3D printing, Form Wash and Form Cure post-processing solutions, Fuse 1 SLS 3D printer, and Form Auto manufacturing solution. Through its Factory Solutions offering for industrial users, Formlabs provides the factories of tomorrow with the flexibility and versatility needed for demanding, evolving industrial applications. Formlabs also develops its own suite of high-performance materials that continue to push the boundaries for 3D printing, as well as best-in-class 3D printing software.

For more information, visit formlabs.com.