iMakr has launched its Christmas popup store at Westfield Stratford City in London, giving shoppers the opportunity to buy STARTT 3D printers for £99.
3D printed chocolate, 3D printed decorations, and Mini-You, a full color miniature version of yourself, created using 3D printing reseller iMakr’s on-site scanning booth, will also be available at the popup in “Europe’s largest urban shopping and leisure destination.”
3D Printing Industry paid the iMakr popup a visit during its eagerly-anticipated launch event.
The STARTT of the festive season
The STARTT, according to iMakr, is the world’s most affordable 3D printer. At £99, it is one way in which the company is realising its ambition of having a 3D printer in every home.
The STARTT 3D printers at the iMakr booth were busy 3D printing Christmas decorations, along with designs specially selected from the 6000-strong online MyMiniFactory library. These will form part of a 3D printed advent calendar.
Owners of a STARTT 3D printer can take full advantage of MyMiniFactory’s “click and print” feature. A user can simply click on a MyMiniFactory design, and automatically slice it using a “click and print preview” option. This generates a G-Code, ready to copy to an SD card and take to a 3D printer.
The technology itself was a novelty which surprised and fascinated many shoppers and passers-by.
All I want for Christmas is Mini-You
Mini-You’s new egg-shaped scanning booth is where a full-body 3D scan is taken, before resident artists manufacture and post process the result into an eight inch tall 3D printed mini figure.
The full body scan, lasting only minutes, uses a photogrammetry process, during which 2D photographs are taken from a variety of angles. The photos are then combined in an OBJ file, a 3D file which also has color detail. This is then 3D printed via sandstone material jetting.
Members of the public were particularly impressed by the Mini-You figures’ intricate level of detail. Some even wanted 3D printed Mini-You models of their young children, although convincing them to stay still during the photogrammetry process might prove to be more challenging than making the model itself.
A word from iMakr CEO Eric Savant
Taking a break from the crowds, 3D Printing Industry managed to speak to iMakr CEO Eric Savant, who was busy greeting the Christmas shoppers together with the rest of the iMakr team.
“We’re really excited to be at Westfield this Christmas as it gives us a chance to show off some of iMakr’s big successes from this year,” Savant said.
“We’re bringing 3D printing to the masses in a way that’s never been possible before.”
“The £99 STARTT makes putting a 3D printer under the Christmas tree an affordable option for the very first time and the reaction so far has been tremendous,” he added. “Customers have also been amazed by our Mini-You figurines and our new booth is a real eyecatcher.”
Have yourself a Merry little Christmas…
The iMakr popup will be at Westfield Stratford City throughout the Christmas period until 18 December. STARTT 3D printers and personalised Mini-You figurines will be on sale.
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Featured image shows The iMakr popup in Westfield Stratford City. Photo by Rushabh Haria.
