A few days ago I visited SMAU, a once extremely popular technology exhibition that takes place in many cities throughout Italy. Perhaps it is because I am now used to the colours, fun and incredible objects – not to mention the crowds — I see at 3D printing shows these days but I was surprised to see how empty and sad the stands looked at SMAU.
Perhaps I missed something(s), but all I could see were servers, and computers, and advertisements for cloud services. I don’t want to say, in any way, that the ever present software infrastructure is not important — of course it is, but it does seem to have lost its buzz and it is no longer fun. It has become an integral part of our world, not one of its new frontiers.
So I ran through the stands looking for something interesting that I could touch — and finally I found it: InstaTwin, a new 3D scanning and 3D printing service focusing on personal clones or 3D selfies as many like to call them. I must not have been the only one to think they were the most interesting stand at the show, because a regular flow of people kept stopping by.
Nevertheless Alessandra Giraudo, the customer support specialist at MisterCloner, the 3D Systems reseller behind InstaTwin, took the time to 3D scan me. In less then ten minutes, with an Artec EVA scanner and a rotating platform, she finished the job and – apart from the subject she had to work with – it was not bad at all.
Before me she put her 3D scanning skills to work on much more interesting subjects. For the launch occasion, Giangiacomo Prunotto, MisterCloner’s founder, invited Superbike champion Niccolò Canepa and rally driver Luca Betti, currently participating in the Peking Express reality TV show.
The high profile launch was used by Prunotto to promote his Instatwin franchise project aimed at current 2D photography studios. MisterCloner offers an affiliation package, which includes an introduction to Artec 3D scanning and 3D Systems’ Projet full color 3D printing technology (with plastic or gypsum), workflow management software, social media advertising, e-commerce setup and in store marketing materials.
“For 19 years I worked in the the photography sector,” said Prunotto, “I witnessed the death of film and the birth of digital. And now? I think 3D is the future, the new technological frontier that interprets reality through the eye of a photographer.”
