The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Va., recently hosted a fascinating display of technology. 3D Systems (DDD 0.86%), Stratasys (SSYS 1.12%), and other top companies involved in additive manufacturing, or 3-D printing, displayed their wares in the same room.

Motley Fool analyst Rex Moore was at the conference, and chatted with Stratasys engineer Jim Comb. In this installment of our series, Comb says we're at the dawn of a new era, where consumers can design their own products and have them delivered to their homes.