Will ‘Shapies’ Replace Selfies? Fun 3D Printed Body Scans by Artec Group in Minutes

Last weekend I was at the movies with my kids, and on the way out they were clamoring for dollar bills to stuff into a photo booth which looked like a machine from my childhood that someone dusted off and put back out in the lobby after a long respite. Kids and parents (all certainly equipped with smartphones that take much better pictures) were lined up all in good cheer, gaily running off with lowlit, black and white photostrips of themselves that appeared as faded as the old booth itself. If people think that’s cool, just wait until they enter the high-tech world of a Shapify booth.

Special note to retailers and event venues: Get rid of your old style photobooths and raise revenues with Artec Group’s Shapify booths, where users can leave with a 3D printed model of themselves — and fast. In a mere 12 seconds, their machine is able to produce a scanned and detailed 3D model of the customer. It’s then 3D printed in full color in just a few minutes — and you have your ‘Shapie.’

People love to have images preserved for posterity and sharing, and it certainly doesn’t get any more real than this. The booths are being highlighted today and tomorrow at the Inside 3D Printing Conference and Expo which runs October 21-23 in Santa Clara, California.

The Shapify booth certainly offers a lot of fun to users, and they may soon be very accessible to the public, as Artec hopes to see their booths in:

• US retail stores
• Wal-Marts
• Theme parks
• Major tourist sites

Currently the booths are in 3D printing action in two ASDA supermarkets in the UK — with a special note here that Wal-Mart owns ASDA, so that may be a stepping stone to seeing booths in Wal-Marts soon.

“The Shapify Booth will be the first experience many people have with 3D scanning and printing technology,” said Artyom Yukhin, president and CEO of Artec Group. “As a kid you may have gotten into a photo booth with your friends and had a strip of pictures printed out to commemorate the occasion.”

“Our goal is to have this generation do the same thing, but add another dimension and in the end have a 3D printed figurine to solidify the memory. In a short time, we’ve already seen people use the booth to capture their pregnancy, to create a figurine for their grandparents, to make wedding cake toppers, and more. The possibilities are endless.”

So, how does this work? Once you get into the Artec Shapify booth, four high-resolution scanners rotate around you, detailing your figure comprehensively — right down to the wrinkles in your shirt. With ‘seven hundred surfaces stitched together using Artec’s advanced algorithms,’ a file is made ready to 3D print your replica.

While the Shapie is a bit more of a financial investment than the typical photobooth, it’s a great idea for a gift, with these full-body 3D printed scans anywhere from $50 to $200. Do you own a 3D printer? If so, that makes the process even more exciting, as you can buy the 3D CAD file for $20 and print your own bad self.

Artec Group also sells a software package called Shapify Pro that allows users with a Microsoft Kinect (with or without an Xbox console) to scan themselves and 3D print the figurine, or have it produced and shipped from Artec.

Technology is certainly keeping us all on our toes. Most of us are still getting used to seeing everyone snapping and sharing selfies, but it’s already time to move on to the ‘Shapie.’ If I’m going to be indulging in such a thing, I guess it’s time to step up my time on the treadmill — and make sure the clothes are ironed!

Check out a video from the UK, when a Shapify booth appeared at the supermarket, and see it in action!

What do you think of this latest 3D printing innovation? Have you seen one of the Shapify booths yet? Share your thoughts with us in the Will Shapies Replace Selfies? forum at 3DPB.com.