US President Barack Obama has a thing for makers. So much so that he did not think twice about organizing the White House Maker Faire and declaring June 18th the National Day of Making. His passion might be contagious too — with Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi catching the bug. Shortly after returning to Italy from an official visit to the US, Mr Renzi joined the 3D revolution by getting himself 3D scanned and, who knows, a 3D printed selfie might already be in the works.
The curious occasion took place during an event in Venice, where our friends at Sintesi Sud caught up with him and convinced him to get 3D scanned. It must not have taken very long, as the youngest PM in Italy’s recent history has often shown his appreciation for modern communication media, especially Twitter, and has a proven passion for getting “selfies” done with his supporters in many different occasions.
A 3D selfie seems like the next logical step, and Renzi seems perfectly at ease with Sintesi Sud’s founder, Giovanni Marinaccio, circling around him, with the Artec EVA scanner shooting multiple flashes at him, while recording thousands of 3D images to build up the 3D model.
Now the question is, will the 3D scan be used to 3D print a replica of Matteo Renzi? With all the electoral promises he has been making to lift Italy out of its worse crisis since World War II, he could sure use an army of clones.
