Direct Dimensions calls it ‘world’s first end-to-end fully automated 3D photo booth’
NEW YORK – Yesterday, the brand-new MakerBot store here on Mulberry Street in New York unveiled its MakerBot 3D Photo Booth, which led to lines in the store full of people eager to have their faces scanned and then 3D printed. The Photo Booth is the first retail installation of Direct Dimensions’ ShapeShot, what they’re calling “the world’s first end-to-end fully automated 3D photo booth experience in a retail store.”
People can now take their ShapeShot 3D snapshot, and purchase 3D prints with their own face made on the amazing MakerBot ReplicatorTM2 Desktop 3D Printer, according to a press release. ShapeShots can then be seen online at ShapeShot.com, or on the Android and Blackberry mobile apps (iOS is apparently coming soon), or at MakerBot’s Thingiverse website.
The launch of the Photo Booth drew quite a bit of attention on the web, with posts from Technically Baltimore, SolidSmack, VentureBeat, even Slate.
“Does anyone need a plastic replica of their head? I can’t imagine why they would,” writes Slate’s Will Oremus, “But might your loved ones want one to place on their desk or mantle in lieu of a boring ol’ 2-D photo? Quite possibly!”
In addition to the face-based 3D printed items available from MakerBot at the MakerBot Store featuring ShapeShot, customers also get access to their digital 3D face data online at both the Thingiverse file sharing community created by MakerBot, as well as the newly launched ShapeShot Market Place website. At ShapeShot.com, customers can log in to view themselves in high-def color and purchase a variety of 3D face-based physical products and virtual apps. Initial products include personalized jewelry, your mug on a mug, a 4-inch bronze bust, and a statue of you as revolutionary hero, among other things with many more apps reportedly coming soon.
“Launching ShapeShot in the MakerBot Store in Manhattan is a perfect mash-up,” said Direct Dimensions head Michael Raphael, in a statement. “Now for the first time, customers can use affordable 3D printing to make something really personal – themselves! And designers and entrepreneurs can leverage these two super-hot technologies: 3D imaging and 3D printing – to create and offer personalized collectibles and other apps to consumers around the world. We are building a whole new digital ecosystem, based on 3D imaging, for creative makers. This is the first 3D app platform like this.”
