Tinkercad.com is a startup from Finland which was founded by ex-Googlers. Back in November 2011, Tinkercad received over 1 million dollars in Venture Capital and Angel Investor funding to expand the Tinkercad platform; allowing users to create their own 3D models using an interface designed with children in mind.
While several other 3d obj modeling platforms exist on the net, Tinkercad allows users to copy and edit (aka fork) the creations of other users. This means that users can build off of existing models and create evermore elaborate works.
The most interesting aspect of Thinkcad is that it facilitates the 3d printing of created models using popular 3d printers. Unfortunately since I don’t own a 3d printer I was unable to test out this feature, but Tinkercad claims that the site can be used by children to create their own toys. What I found fascinating is to ponder the question of just how long will it be until children can print our their own Superhero figures and whether or not it would create a copyright and licensing issue. Just imagine, next Christmas, where you might being able to print out pirated models of Spiderman for the children in your family.
Edit the WebGL 3D Reddit Alien HERE (Created by Svetlana Tovarisch)
WebGL – Quake 3 demo