The design community is embracing additive manufacturing for tasks such as prototyping and even fabricating products. But as designers seek to do more with the technology, its current limits are becoming apparent. On many wish lists are the capacity to print objects larger than existing print beds; the availability of affordable and resilient extrusion materials; and the ability to integrate components such as circuitry and sensors to turn gadgets into interactive products.

At the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held this week in Las Vegas, we got a look at some of those improvements. But first, a disclaimer: For all its hype, the market for consumer-grade 3D printers (the stuff on display at CES and that has found its way into schools, libraries, and even some design studios) is relatively small. In October, Gartner forecast worldwide 3D-printer shipments for 2015 to surpass 217,000 units, with consumer printers comprising a small portion of that total. The still-small consumer market remains that way in part due to common downsides among that class of printers including high failure rates, low resolution quality, slow production time, and a limited material selection.

“Most of the materials we can print with today are really not good enough for the things we want to use them for,” said Autodesk CEO Carl Bass in a talk Wednesday.

At CES, a selection of hardware and software developers showed how they're upgrading their products to meet the needs of non-industrial-scale designers and fabricators using 3D-printing technology.

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