3D Printing

3D Scan Your Venus for a Perfect 3D Printed Valentine’s Day Gift

Remember how we said – over and over – that in the (near) future we will all have 3D scans of our entire bodies (and/or specific body parts) to receive specific services and products made to fit? For those with a hefty amount of creative talent – and those who populate Autodesk’s Instructables network – the future is today, on Saint Valentine’s day.

3d scanning Le Fabshop

Samuel N. Bernier, a Paris based industrial designer, got stuck with spending February 14th in New York City (there are worse places), where he will be attending the 3D PrintShow (there are worse things) to represent Le FabShop, the online reference for digital creativity in France. His job might be as fun as one can imagine, however not as fun as being with his loved one on lovers’ day.

So, to make up for future lost time, he skipped ahead a few days and celebrated Saint Valentine’s day early but, to make up for having to celebrate early, he decided to make his Valentine’s day present truly unique. So unique that no one else could use it other than the person it was meant for.

Bernier tricked his girlfriend into posing for a 3D scanning session (he used a fairly basic Asus Xtion Pro Live) telling her he wanted to make a 3D printed copy of her. He then used the 3D scan data to design a lingerie corset that would wrap around her perfectly.

meshmixer 3D Printing Autodesk

skanect 3D Scanning 3D Printing

venus 3D Printed 3D PrintingThis way not only did he create something completely original and only for her, but he also avoided the risk of getting himself into the terrible “wrong size” situation, where a size too big makes her think you think she’s fat and a size too small makes her think you would want her to be skinnier.

So Bernier got her 3D scanned, using Skanect as capture software and Autodesk’s Meshmixer to clean up the file. By concentrating on her neck and hips for optimal resolution, he was able to print out a “Venus de Milo” Type of statue to cover up his tracks and than focus on designing the lingerie for 3D printing. It might not be the most comfortable of all tops but, then again, for a great Valentine’s day it does not have to stay on that long.