• For more information about Doppelganger Laboratories, go to www.doppelgangerlabs.com.
• To learn more about the Shapify Booth, go to shapify.me/partner/booth.
• For more information about Artec Group please visit www.artec-group.com.
Last week’s opening of Doppelganger Labs — which allows Dayton Mall shoppers to create life-like “mini-me” figurines of themselves for gift and keepsake purposes — demonstrates the trend of 3D printing technology shifting from its initial high-tech engineering and and manufacturing applications to uses that resonate with consumers.
And the new retail store represents another first for Dayton: the Doppelganger Labs kiosk in the mall’s center court is the first of its kind in a retail setting in North America to use an Artec Shapify Booth 3D full-body scanner to create life-like figurines, Doppelganger Labs spokesman Keith Beason said. The service has been available in Europe for about a year, and Artec has a demonstration scanner in Palo Alto, California.
“We’re confident the people of Dayton will like it,” Beason said. “They embrace technology and are known for innovation.”
If its Dayton launch is successful, Doppelganger Labs “will take it to other states across the country,” Beason said.
In 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, complete and complex objects are created by applying successive layers of material to create a three-dimensional solid object from a digital model. The worldwide market for 3-D printing products and services grew to $3 billion in revenue last year and is expected to exceed $20 billion by 2020, according to independent consulting firm Wohlers Associates Inc. in Fort Collins, Colo.
The rapid-prototyping technology has helped create objects for a wide range of industries including engineering, construction, aerospace, autos, medical, dental, and others.
But the technology is now showing up in unexpected places. The Proto Build Bar, a bar and cafe that opened last month at 534 E. First St. near Fifth Third Field, invites customers to experiment with its 3D printing equipment. And the UPS Store at 2312 Far Hills Ave. in Oakwood is one of 100 company stores across the country to add 3D printing services.
Partha Kopparti of Mason, the founder of Doppelganger Labs and Mini-Me 3D Systems Inc., is familiar with 3D technology through his training as an engineer, and he was intrigued by the concept of using the scanner and printing technology on a retail basis. Kopparti exchanged dozens of emails with Artec officials in Europe and Russia, and wrestled with the logistical challenges of shipping and installing the $180,000 3D “Shapify Booth” scanner before opening Doppelganger Labs last week.
“This really brings 3D printing home,” Kopparti said.
Artyom Yukhin, president and CEO of Artec Group, agreed.
“The booth’s installation at the Dayton Mall is a big step toward getting 3D technologies in the hands of the everyday consumer,” Yuhkin said in a release. “Although 3D technology, specifically 3D printing, is seen in the news on a daily basis, it is not yet widely within reach of the average person. It’s our hope that the Shapify Booth can change this by becoming many people’s first interaction with 3D technologies.”
David Esrati, owner of Dayton-based The Next Wave marketing and advertising agency and a spokesman for Doppelganger Labs, said the new business represents technology transfer from facial-recognition and manufacturing quality-control technology into the retail market.
At Doppelganger Labs, “People realize they can crate something unique,” Esrati said. The company’s slogan is, “Say hello to my little friend.”
Here’s how it works: Doppelganger Labs customers stand motionless for 12 seconds in a booth and are scanned on all sides by four wide-view, high-resolution Artec scanners that use white light, not lasers, and which rotate around the customer to scan from all angles. The resulting full-body 3D digital image file is used to make the figurines.
Customers can view a preview of the figurine, which is made off-site and can be shipped to the mall in five to seven days for customer pickup.
The figurines range from $149 for a one-to-12 ratio small figurine that averages six inches tall, to $249 for a one-to-eight ratio that is about nine inches in height.
A figurine of Beason shown for demonstration purposes last week was finely detailed, showing the veins on the back of Beason’s hands and the stitching in the seat of his jeans. “It’s a keepsake, not a toy,” Beason 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.
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.” Artec said in a news release that the “Shapies” figurines “are the next generation way to capture life’s special moments like weddings, pregnancies and graduations.”
For more information about Doppelganger Laboratories, go to www.doppelgangerlabs.com. To learn more about the Shapify Booth, go to shapify.me/partner/booth. For more information about Artec Group please visit www.artec-group.com.
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