Human Cloning in Akihabara

We've written about various methods of scanning yourself in 3D, then replicating your face, hands or favorite body part on a 3D printer. But what if you didn't need a 3D printer and could simply walk into a retail location and get it done on the spot? That's precisely what's going on in Tokyo's Akihabara at The Clone Factory. 

 

Danny Choo tries out this service, which apparently costs the nearly outrageous sum of 138,000 yen, which is approximately USD$1800. For that you'll get a "sit down" scan of your head, which is then placed on top of a figurine. The resulting facial detail is a little scary, as you'll see in the numerous images in the report. 

 

The process seems pretty straightforward: after your head is 3D scanned from a comfy seat, the Clone Factory operator prepares a 3D model using Autodesk Maya. Choo says, "They need a while to prepare my data", as is almost always the case on real-life scans. Finally the model is printed on a ZCorp Zprinter 650. While the 650 is capable of printing in color, we're thinking there may have been some post-print hand painting to achieve the amazing lifelike finish. Nevertheless, it's a great result!

 

But here's the question: would you partake of this service at that price?

 

Via Culture Japan/Danny Choo (Hat tip to John)

3D Printing Video Controversy

A 3D printing video from National Geographic went viral on the interwebs last week and quickly generated some controversy among 3D printing enthusiasts. 

 

In the video, physicist David Kaplan visited ZCorp HQ to "find out whether they can print a crescent wrench". Kaplan was shown a selection of amazing items printed on ZCorp devices, including multicolored objects with moving parts, as well as the standard explanation of how 3D printing actually works. 

 

Then the interesting part occurred. Kaplan's substantial wrench was put under a hand scanner, capable of capturing highly detailed 3D information. It then appeared as if this captured data was then converted into a proper 3D model, "creating an image that will be sent to the printer". 

 

Then, just like you'd see on a TV cooking show, the printer was opened and a printed wrench was extracted from the powder. While the wrench was demonstrated to be strong enough for actual use, questions immediately arose. 

 

We're wondering how a hand scanner can discern moving parts, such as are found in a crescent wrench? We know of no technology that could do such a thing, particularly when the video showed no part motion during the scan. Viewers were left with the impression that you could simply wave your scanner at anything and hope to replicate it immediately - including hidden internal moving parts, and by extension even electronics! 

 

That's just not possible. This was noticed and challenged by several sources, including on Jon Udell's blog, where a discussion erupted (link below). 

 

Scan captures are usually nowhere near printable state, and always require at least minor if not major editing and conversion before printing can be attempted. Worse, a given object's geometry might not be printable on a given 3D printer - the right 3D print technology must match the object. 

 

Providing general awareness of 3D printing is a good thing, but leading people to unrealistic expectations is not helpful. We fear that a growing abundance of such memes will eventually cause a backlash towards 3D printing, as folks will soon discover that you can't simply replicate just anything. 

 

Correction: you can't replicate just anything - yet. 

  

Via YouTube and Jon Udell

Photofly Makes 3D Models Easy

There are several ways to produce 3D models of real-life objects and Autodesk has provided another one: Photofly. This is a service and software combination, in which you take around 50 overlapping photographs of your subject and then upload them to Photofly. The service then grinds through some very serious processing to produce detailed 3D models. Models you can 3D print, with a bit of fixing up (like adding a flat base, etc.)

 

You can not only capture 3D models of objects, but also interior rooms, whole buildings and of course, heads and faces. There are a number of constraints on the imagery, including correct exposure, avoiding unnecessary backgrounds, movement, obscuring objects, transparencies and shinies, etc. However, this still leaves a great many possibilities for scanning. 

 

It works through a Windows-only program, the Photo Scene Editor, now available for download. It's only a preview and will expire at the end of 2012, however, but that allows plenty of time to produce a lot of models. At the moment they can produce point clouds, but apparently will soon release a version that produces a true 3D mesh. 

 

Via ExtremeTech, YouTube and Autodesk

3D Scanning by UAV

You may have guessed we're fascinated with new ways of capturing 3D models for printing, and this week we've found a rather unusual method: UAV images. Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne's Computer Vision Laboratory have developed software to combine thousands of images gathered by UAVs into very usable 3D models. 

 

The software, produced by spin-off company Pix4D, enables the creation of very detailed, large-scale 3D map models at very low cost. Images are loaded up to a cloud-based service that interprets them using vision algorithms that mimic human vision processing. Within 30 minutes you will have a completed 3D model in your hands. 

 

Pix4D suggests several applications for this new tech, including the ability for farmers to quickly inspect their crop area by tossing a UAV into the air to fly over their fields and collect images. 

 

We think this could be very useful for producing 3D printable models, too. Look up - that UAV might be capturing your neighborhood! 

 

Via KurzweilAI

3D Dino Prints

Another example of 3D data capture took place when a team from Southern Methodist University scanned prehistoric dinosaur tracks using 3D scanners out (literally) in the field. 

 

The team used a combination of hardware (including a NextEngine HD Desktop 3D scanner with ScanStudio HD Pro software, RapidForm XOR2 Redesign and LightWave 3D) to capture the dino prints. Gigabytes of data were processed into a photorealistic digital 3D model. The result was a massive model with over 1M faces. 

 

The teams intention was to capture this particular print before it erodes away (it's on permanent public outdoor display) and prepare a viewable rendering. However, we who know of 3D printing may have other ideas. If you're up to it, you might try downloading their 68Mb ZIP file containing both an OBJ and PLY format of the print. With some tweaking and fixing, it may be possible to 3D print your own dinosaur print! Download here. 

 

Via PhysOrg and Paleo-Electronica (PDF)

MyBestFit Could Be MyOwnScan?

There's an interesting problem with women's clothes: the sizes are inconsistent between brands, leading to a lot of experimentation before the right item is selected. However, MyBestFit now offers (at least in some major USA malls at high-end shops) a 21st century solution. They take a quick 3D scan of the buyer, similar to what you do at an airport security screen, and then convert the scan data into precise clothing dimensions. This is then matched against a database of clothing to select only clothes that exactly match the buyer. Very convenient! 

 

We're wondering if this technology could be adapted in some way for use with 3D object production? If these scanners show up at malls everywhere, why not put them to additional use scanning objects and people. Want a scan of Rex the dog? Your special chair? Just take it down to Nordstrom's for a quick scan. 

 

Via MyBestFit

3D City Models Made By Missiles

Technology originally used for targeting missiles has been adapted to provide incredibly detailed 3D models of cities. Saab's spin-off company C3 Technologies is gathering up a library of 20 city models suitable for licensing for mapping applications. We're hoping they'll make this data available for 3D printing, too. 

 

While we're always watching for new sources of great 3D models for printing, we suspect this data set will not be made available for printing, likely due to piracy concerns. Probably these incredible city models will only appear on big-time mapping websites. 

 

The maps and models offer an amazing resolution of a mere 15cm, which is pretty good considering we're talking about buildings. Imagine a 3D model of a city where you could swoop around and select a building - and print out a perfect replica. 

 

Via Technology Review

Probing Knut's 3D Brain

Berlin Zoo's most famous resident, the polar bear banned Knut, died suddenly this past March. Apparently the bear, famous for controversy surrounding the practice of humans raising bear cubs, had an infection that led to encephalitis and accidental drowning. 

 

While Knut is gone, his brain lives on. It's been captured in 3D by "some of the world's most advanced medical imaging machines", and researchers will be able to perform virtual inspections of the late bear's brain and skull. 

 

Fabbaloo readers will immediately realize that once a 3D model exists, it had better be printed. That's precisely what's happened here; researchers have printed Knut's skull on a 3D printer. 

 

Why all this attention? It seems to be that Knut became rather famous during his lifetime, generating massive increases in visitors to the Berlin Zoo. Once he departed, we think people would like to remember him. 

 

We're now wondering if there's a market for 3D prints of beloved deceased pets? 

 

Via Monsters and Critics and Wikipedia

Image Credit: Wikipedia