Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah company uses 3-D printing to offer people the chance to be a superhero, or at least to have a superhero toy that resembles them.
“What 3-D printing allows us to do is let them create personalized opportunities,” said Cyndi Tetro, CEO of 3-D Plus Me.
Those opportunities can transform ordinary people into Iron Man, Captain America or other superheros. Tetro demonstrated how the "Super Awesome Me" station works.
First, the user sits in a chair while a camera pans over his face.
“This is the 3-D face scanner. It’s going to rotate. It will take roughly 30 second to take your face scan,” Tetro said.
Each rotation of the camera brings crisper, smoother details.
“It’s picking up more and more of the point,” Tetro said, “plotter information to create a really accurate representation of what the 3-D model of his face looks like.”
Once complete, the 3-D scan is merged with a color picture.
“We wanted a high-resolution photo so the color print is really accurate. So we take those two data sets and we morph them together,” Tetro explained.
Then it’s time to select a superhero alter ego, like Iron Man.
The 3-D printer uses a material that is not plastic or resin, but a gritty, powdery gypsum, Tetro said. It allows for a full-color print, which she says most plastic printers simply cannot do.
“It’s going to lay down a really fine layer of powder, binder and ink across the entire print bed,” Tetro said. “And then, near the end of it, we’re going to suck out all the extra powder. You’ll be left with the actual models.”
After some finish work, the superhero face is attached to Iron Man's iron suit.
It may seem like a lot of work for one toy, but Tetro said fans — young and old — love this sort of personalization. That’s one reason why the toy and collectibles industries, and many others, are putting their hooks into 3-D printing, she said.
“When you have the option and you need to get something that’s customized, that’s a one-off, it’s now economical to do that with 3-D printing,” Tetro said. “This is just the very, very beginning of what’s going to happen there.”
The personalized "Super Awesome Me" action figure costs $45.
The 3-D Plus Me firm doesn’t have any events planned in the near future to showcase its "Super Awesome Me" stations. However, appointments at its Pleasant Grove office are scheduled through orders@3dplus.me.
