First Look: HP pushes into 3-D printing, Blended Reality

NEW YORK — It's no secret that this has been a challenging period for Hewlett-Packard, which is splitting itself into two after 75 years. For the past five of those years, HP has been quietly working on tech initiatives that it is counting on to bring back a halo to the brand.

On Wednesday, HP unveiled the results of such efforts in 3-D printing and a brand new immersive dual-screen computing platform called Sprout.

Sprout lets you scan or take pictures of physical objects and merge them into a digital workspace — part of a new initiative the company calls the HP Blended Reality ecosystem.

Sprout goes way beyond an ordinary PC. HP is selling it as an entirely new product category rather than just a PC that can do fancy tricks.

It incorporates a desktop Windows 8.1 PC with a terabyte of storage, an Intel i7 processor and a 23-inch HD touchscreen display. Hanging out over the front is an armature called the Sprout Illuminator, which combines a scanner, depth sensor, high-resolution camera and projector.

It can project images onto a flexible 20-inch touch mat that serves as a second screen in this elaborate set-up. Flexible circuits are built under the mat. The Illuminator can produce digital representations of 3-D objects that you place on the mat, including something as ordinary as a potato.

But it kind of works in reverse too. If you see a picture of a flower, say, on the main computer display, you can "flick" it off that screen and drop it off onto the touchmat, which lies flat in front of the computer.

HP says the mat can survive the inevitable spills, anything from coffee to mustard.

You can manipulate the digital objects, either on the computer touchscreen or the mat. And folks working with Sprout in business can collaborate in real time remotely through an HP system known as MyRoom.

But HP has designs on home use, certainly for creative types and as HP vice president of immersive systems Eric Monsef put it, "the maker in all of us."

At $1,899 it's a pricey purchase. Around a dozen apps, including versions of Microsoft Office, Evernote, Revel Software PianoTime, and Martha Stewart Craft Studio's Creative App Framework have been optimized for Sprout and will be available at launch. HP plans to make others available through a Sprout Marketplace.

HP is taking preorders now; Sprout will be available Nov. 9 at select Best Buy and Microsoft stores.

Monsef, a former Apple vet who is heading the Sprout effort, gave me an early look recently at HP headquarters. He says that Sprout has been the most user-tested product in HP's history.

Monsef has bold ambitions for Sprout but concedes that it will take time before it goes mainstream.

Analyst Richard Doherty of Envisioneering says "Sprout may be the most important improvement in computing for the masses in the last 15 years or more. Nobody has integrated this much power into such a simple but also elegant professional package. I think for HP it's a clear differentiator."

Sprout certainly passed the cool test during my demo time inside HP's labs, but it remains to be seen what kind of reception it receives after the launch and how steep a learning curve it has.

All this will ultimately tie into HP's foray into 3-D printing. HP claims the new 3-D printing technology that it also announced Wednesday will be more accurate and 10 times faster than rival 3-D printing methods. Known as Multi-Jet Fusion, the technology leverages HP's current expertise in thermal inkjet printing.

Multi-Jet Fusion printers will be sold to enterprises, manufacturers and the kind of service bureaus — think places such as Shapeways — that then sell 3-D printed objects to consumers. The printers won't be available until 2016, and HP won't disclose prices, but says the technological breakthroughs achieved here will help drive down costs.

Pete Weijmarshausen, CEO of the Shapeways 3-D printing company says HP's 3-D printing technology addresses customers' needs. "It will result in potentially lower prices, faster turnaround for your order — two days for sure and maybe even one day — and higher quality."

After the corporate split, the new Blended Reality technologies will reside in the half of the company known as HP Inc. HP executive vice president and future CEO of HP Inc. Dion Weisler says of Blended Reality, "We believe it can change the world."

Email: ebaig@usatoday.com; Follow @edbaig on Twitter.