Event recapWhat happens when AI-generated ideas start becoming real things? In October, Tripo invited IMPRESO to San Francisco for Tripothon S1, a world-building hackathon and demo day for AI and 3D. We went to see what creators and developers were building, and to bring back the ideas that matter for a print studio in Queens.
Quick take
The short version
Tripothon is Tripo AI's hackathon series for people building with AI-generated 3D. Season 1's Demo Day filled a San Francisco venue with team booths, playable demos, panels and an award ceremony.
The biggest takeaway: AI 3D isn't only about generating a model anymore. Teams were 3D printing what they made, wearing it, and turning it into playable characters. That's exactly the bridge we work on at IMPRESO.
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Arriving at Demo Day
The day ran from booth setup in the morning to awards in the evening. Teams showed their projects at standing tables across the floor, with sketches, prints and laptops side by side. You could walk up, try a demo and talk to the people who built it.
There were two panels. A Creative AI panel brought together people from Tripo, Reactor, Pika and Kling. A World Model panel covered where interactive, generated 3D worlds are heading next.
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Ideas you could hold
What stood out to us were the projects that left the screen. One team showed intricate nail designs, all 3D printed, displayed on a sculpted hand. It's the kind of detailed, small-scale work that goes way beyond generating a 3D model.
Elsewhere, a team had printed a dragon bust that sat on their table between markers and sketches. Physical pieces like these made the demos feel real in a way a render can't.
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Our favorite: a digital pet you wear
Gemtronic put a digital pet inside a 3D-printed ring. The team took the ring from a 3D model to a 3D print using Tripo's image-to-3D, then built a tiny screen and electronics into it.
We love the idea of combining something you wear with an interactive experience. It's jewelry, a toy and a piece of tech at once, and it started as a generated model.
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AI Slop Collectibles
Another project we really liked was AI Slop Collectibles. It mixes AI, internet memes and collectibles into one weird, fun idea. Viral characters become collectibles: you open a blind box, get your character, and it lives in a game.
Or you can 3D print it and hold the real thing. That last step is the part that excites us most.
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Watch the recap
We filmed the day and cut a one-minute recap for Instagram.
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Why it matters for a print studio
Teams everywhere were testing how AI could bring their ideas into 3D. It's not just about creating images anymore. You can take them into the physical world, 3D print them, or turn them into playable characters.
That's the work we do every day in Ridgewood, Queens: taking files, sketches and generated models and making them into real objects. If you've made something in Tripo or another AI tool and want to hold it, we can help you choose the right material and print it.
IMPRESO attended Tripothon at Tripo's invitation and produced event coverage in a paid collaboration with Tripo.
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