Dayton is the first location in the U.S. to use the Artec Shapify Booth for retail purposes, a company spokeswoman said. A similar booth in Palo Alto, California is used for demonstrations. Alexey Steblev, vice president of business development at Artec Group, said 3D gifts and collectibles are a worldwide trend, and his company’s expansion plans in the U.S. “are huge.”
Customers stand motionless in a booth and are scanned on all sides by a series of digital cameras, creating a 3D file that can be used to make the figurines. Rather than using lasers, the scanners utilize white light that is the same as light emitted from household light bulbs, and which poses “no safety risk,” Steblev said.
Dave Duebber, general manager of the Dayton Mall, said mall officials “saw an immediate market” for the figurines. A member of a sports team could have a personalized statue made, or parents could sent figurines of their children to out-of-town grandparents, Duebber said.
Doppelganger Labs will join a Drones store that opened last week as two new, and very high-tech, retailers.
“We’re thrilled to be able to offer something that is unique, something you can’t find anyplace else,” Duebber said. The two new stores “are going to drive traffic, and they’re going to be destinations” for shoppers.
The Doppelganger Labs shop is scheduled to open Nov. 18, although that date is tentative, a spokeswoman for the store said.
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