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"   (Photo courtesy Normal)   Normal, a startup that opened up shop recently in New York City, has the bright, minimalist look of an Apple store, but it functions at a higher level, doubling as the retail outlet and factory for the company&amp;#039;s only product: earbuds.   I visited Normal on a recent morning and felt like I&amp;#039;d stepped onto the production line. A technician/salesperson used a smartphone equipped with the Normal app to photograph and create 3D digital images of my ears, holding up a shiny quarter beside them as a size reference. The next day something incredible happened: The earbuds\u2014which sell for $199\u2014arrived on my desk at Popular Mechanics.   The quick turnaround owes mostly to Normal&amp;#039;s 3D printers, ten Stratasys Fortus 250mc&amp;#039;s that line the store&amp;#039;s walls. The earpiece, made of a firm but cushiony ABS plastic, prints in about 2 hours. It fits into the outer ear, positioning the sound source at the entrance to the ear canal.   Looking through the glass wall at the back of the shop, I watched as the assembly of the earpiece and other components took place. &amp;quot;We&amp;#039;re very transparent in everything we do,&amp;quot; says Nikki Kaufman, the founder of Normal. (Kaufman, a founding team member and cultural advisor for Quirky, is married to that company&amp;#039;s founder and CEO, Ben Kaufman.) The glass wall is a nice touch. Unlike a sausage factory, Normal is a place where you want to see how the product is made.   &amp;quot;We live in a small-medium-large world,&amp;quot; Kaufman says during her presentation at the store. What she means is that most of the things we buy are mass-produced to fit in an approximate way. But a person&amp;#039;s ears, of all things, deserve better. Kaufman states it thus in her LinkedIn profile: &amp;quot;Putting a mediocre one-size-fits-all product into the intimate and one-of-a-kind spaces on either side of our heads [sic] is no longer acceptable. There&amp;#039;s probably someone else in the world who looks like you, has the same name and the same weird fetish for hairy Scottish men, but we guarantee if we stuck a finger in their ear, it would be completely unique.&amp;quot;    The idea for 3D-printed earbuds came to Nikki when she and her husband looked into better fitting headphones only to find that the existing option was arduous and costly: a trip to the doctor, ten minutes of jaw-clenching while molds of your ears are made, and about $2,000. Backed by $5 million in angel investment, Kaufman solved all of these issues. Money isn&amp;#039;t everything, but it sure does help with product development.   When my customized Normal buds landed on my desk, I was amused to see &amp;quot;One size fits none&amp;quot; printed on the box. My set sat snugly and\u2014because of their precise positioning just outside the ear canal\u2014kept out the majority of ambient noise. Unlike off-the-rack earbuds, which can hurt to wear for long stretches, Normal&amp;#039;s still felt comfortable after two hours of listening. While walking along the clamorous streets of New York, Spoon poured into my ears, muffling the horns and sirens and revving engines. I could also hear every word of NPR&amp;#039;s Fresh Air, which was simply not possible with my off-the-rack buds.   After a few days of testing, I must admit that Normal&amp;#039;s slogan is accurate: &amp;quot;Finally, the earhole has been conquered.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/startups/a11644/new-york-city-startup-normal-3d-printed-earbuds-17392337/>