It Takes a Village – CloneScan3D Scans and 3D Prints Models of Everyone in a Tiny Spanish Town

Spanish firm Grupo Sicnova says they can make you smaller, and they can do it very fast.

Grupo Sicnova was founded in 2007, and they design, build, and sell 3D printers and scanners at stores in several Spanish, Portuguese, and Mexican cities.

With their CloneScan3D, the company says they’ve created a “massive and automatic 3D scanning device” which can capture a 3D image of a person in less than two minutes – and with a single push of a button.

Created by Spanish engineers, the CloneScan3D can render the whole of a person and build a 3D model in just 15 seconds for the scanning process, and 90 seconds for the final rendering of the 3D image, the company says.

The team at CloneScan3D say their invention means “getting a personal, 3D virtual replica is now as easy as taking a picture of yourself at a photographic studio.”

Grupo Sicnova, which is based in the city of Jaén, in southern Spain, say they built a portable scanner made entirely of iron and aluminum which measures just 1.90m x 2.07 m x 2.55m.

The device is equipped with a group of infrared sensors which the company says is “totally safe and harmless” to human beings. The sensors automatically scan a person from head to toe, and after a technician enters the height of the target into the software, the rendering process results in a .PLY file capable of producing a full color 3D image of the model.

Grupo Sicnova says the resulting file can be used in most 3D printers, and they add that the scanned image can be stored privately in a cloud-based system. Via that storage system, users can view the image and order a physical copy by simply entering their username and password at the dedicated CloneScan3D website.

The device was officially launched this week in the small town of Torrequebradilla in southern Spain, and as part of the launch, all 318 inhabitants of the town were 3D scanned in a single day. Later this week, each of the subjects will receive their own personal, miniature 3D sculpture which the company calls “clonesculturas.”

CloneScan3D says it’s the first time in history an entire village has been 3D scanned, and they add that the event was organized in cooperation with the Town Hall and Diario Jaén.

The latest Grupo Sicnova product, CloneScan3D, is aiming to make a splash across the country by conducting similar 3D model events at various events in different Spanish cities. The project was created in cooperation with Tr3sDland.

“Our goal is to make possible that everybody gets (his or her) own 3D model for free.” says Ángel Llavero, the CEO of Grupo Sicnova.

Llavero says his company is planning to expand and is currently in the process of selecting resellers for international markets. He adds that plans call for the company to have a presence in at least 15 additional countries by the end of the 2015.

You can’t help yourself. You take “selfies” and post them on Facebook, right? Well now a Spanish company is taking the concept one step further with their CloneScan3D. Let us know what you think about getting a 3D printed statue of yourself in the CloneScan3D forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out a video below (in Spanish) and a Vine clip showing the 3D scanning process.