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U.K. Supermarkets Beta Test Full-Body 3D Scanners For Selfie Figurines 165

Posted by samzenpus from the me-and-more-me dept.
Lucas123 writes Walmart-owned ASDA supermarkets in the U.K. are beta testing 3D full-body scanning booths that allow patrons to buy 6-in to 9-in high "selfie" figurines. Artec Group, a maker of 3D scanners and software, said its Shapify Booth, which can scan your entire body in 12 seconds and use the resulting file to create a full-color 3D printed model, is making its U.S. debut this week. The 3D Shapify booths are equipped with four wide view, high-resolution scanners, which rotate around the person to scan every angle. Artec claims the high-powered scan and precision printing is able to capture even the smallest details, down to the wrinkles on clothes. The scanning process generates 700 captured surfaces, which are automatically stitched together to produce an electronic file ready for 3D printing. Artec offers to print the figurines for booth operators (retailers) for $50 for a 6-in model, $70 for a 7.5-in model, and $100 for a 9-in figurine.
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U.K. Supermarkets Beta Test Full-Body 3D Scanners For Selfie Figurines More

U.K. Supermarkets Beta Test Full-Body 3D Scanners For Selfie Figurines

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  • UK article, US units (Score:2, Interesting)

    by loufoque ( 1400831 )

    Why is that allowed?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      Why is that allowed?

      The Mars probe mishap still haunts everybody, especially when it comes to body parts.

    • Re:UK article, US units (Score:5, Funny)

      by 91degrees ( 207121 ) on Thursday October 23, 2014 @04:08AM (#48210805) Journal
      Well, given that fuel is dispensed in litres, but distances are measured in miles, wine is measured in ml and beer in pints, the systems we tend to use are somewhat fluid.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mjwx ( 966435 )

        Well, given that fuel is dispensed in litres, but distances are measured in miles, wine is measured in ml and beer in pints, the systems we tend to use are somewhat fluid.

        Pint isn't an official measurement (officially its 568ml) but it's popular in colloquial usage, you buy a pint of beer, but not a pint of milk or motor oil. Ordering a pint is just something that's ingrained in UK culture (and most commonwealth countries) and not going to change any time soon.

        Height is a good example, when talking about height we use feet and inches but on any official document it's measured in centimetres.

        Australia fully converted to metric before I was born, but old imperial measure

    • US prices, too.

      Give 'em an inch, they'll take an ell.

  • The obvious question is (Score:5, Funny)

    by ruir ( 2709173 ) on Thursday October 23, 2014 @03:05AM (#48210615)
    Does it print *naked* figurines?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dgatwood ( 11270 )

      No, that's the next generation, when they add backscatter and/or millimeter-wave scanners.

    • Does it print *naked* figurines?

      It does print naked figurines, which don't require any quotation marks, if you take off your cloths inside the booth when the scan is taken.

      • if you take off your cloths inside the booth when the scan is taken.

        What, if anything, is to stop you from taking your clothes off outside the booth? It doesn't have to be on the street, you know.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rioki ( 1328185 )

      There is no reason why it can not. If you can handle the civil disorder charges afterwards, you know since it is in a public place...

      • If you can handle the civil disorder charges afterwards, you know since it is in a public place...

        No, it's not in a public place. It's on private property (a supermarket) to which the public are *granted* access but do not have a *right* to access. Which is why they have to employ security guards who do not have the powers of the police (they can't touch you, except in self defence, nor detain you except under the normal conditions of a citizen's arrest). You do not have the right to go there - the store ca

        • Disclaimer - I'm talking about Scottish law ; I am not sure of the state of English law. I'm sure that Asda's Scottish advocates do know and can inform their English barrister associates which bits of Asda HQ's English laws are not going to work in Scotland.

    • They should do a tie-in with RealDoll.

      Then Lennart Poettering would be able to comply with everyone's wishes.

  • Already Done (Score:3)

    by darkain ( 749283 ) on Thursday October 23, 2014 @03:06AM (#48210617) Homepage

    This has already been a thing here for several months here in the states at anime / gaming / sci-fi cons, mostly targeted at cosplayers. Kinda cool... kinda creepy... kinda indifferent about it, I guess?

  • We had a high resolution, full-body scanner at work that was being used to build a database of body shapes. I volunteered but was rather dismayed when I loaded the 3-d model to see what shape I really am ...

    • Let me guess: either you don't have access to a full-length mirror or you never bother to look at yourself in one. Granted, you can't get a good look at your backside that way, but you should have a fairly good idea of what you'd see if you did.

  • Voodoo (Score:5, Funny)

    by Tablizer ( 95088 ) on Thursday October 23, 2014 @03:26AM (#48210677) Journal

    Voodoo doctors are salivating over the possibilities...

  • While most users will be more or less what they expect, they will likely have more than a few nudes. So far, no big deal, but I'll bet they won't all be over 18.

    • What's the problem? Are you afraid of nudity?

  • Would I be able to surprise mi SO with a special toy made in my full body shape. I wouldn't need sharp edges, a soft material would better suit the purpose and no toxins should be freed on body contact -especially with the mucus membranes.

  • Boycott ASDA (Score:5, Informative)

    by hughbar ( 579555 ) on Thursday October 23, 2014 @03:51AM (#48210763) Homepage
    Many of us boycott ASDA anyway, since it's Walmart. Waitrose provides good food and pays its staff. And no, I don't work for Waitrose.

    • The two are hardly competing for the same market. Waitrose is aiming for the aspirational middle classes. Asda is... not.

      If you have the kind of household budget which means you shop at Asda, then making the switch to Waitrose is probably not a realistic option.

      Though on the few occasions I've eaten Asda food, their meat has had this weird texture, like it's already been digested once.

      • Asda, Morrison, Tesco and Sainsbury are all pretty similar in terms of quality and price, whatever people try and pretend.

        They're all equalled in quality and undercut in price by Lidl and Aldi, it's just that you generally have more choice in Asda et al as they have bigger shops.

        But if you want an aspirational carrier bag you go to Waitrose,or M&S.

        • Asda, Morrison, Tesco and Sainsbury are all pretty similar in terms of quality and price, whatever people try and pretend.

          We have mostly Tesco and Sainsbury's around here, and my experience has been quite different. They are aiming for similar markets, but their quality for own-brand goods, the kind of name-brand goods they sell, and their prices all fluctuate significantly over time. Right now, Tesco is clearly winning on all three counts for most of what we buy for my household. As little as 2-3 years ago, it was the other way around.

    • And many of us don't give a fuck and shop at ASDA, get good quality food, a good experience and low prices. Plenty of other employers around, the staff don't have to work at ASDA if they don't want to.

      • Plenty of other employers around, the staff don't have to work at ASDA if they don't want to.

        Ah yes, in a country with permenantly more people than jobs (only recently dropping below 7%) is clearly a country with plenty of other employers around. Some people do not have a great deal of choice over their employer.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Cederic ( 9623 )

          In a country where retail jobs are pretty much readily available, especially if you have retail experience, yeah, it's a matter of choice.

          If Asda treated their staff _that_ badly they'd get fewer recruits and have to improve working conditions. Walmart benefit from the relative lack of a safety net in the US but in the UK people just don't have to take abuse from employers.

          That said, Asda have gone from winning 'Best company to work for' awards (e.g. Sunday Times Top 100) to not even featuring in the lists,

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rkww ( 675767 )

      um... Asda is one of the better employers [top-employers.com]

  • This will be wildly successful (Score:3)

    by presidenteloco ( 659168 ) on Thursday October 23, 2014 @04:16AM (#48210819)

    in our narcissistic society.

    Really, it puts "selfie-sticks" to shame.

    Now, if you'll excuse me I need to search for my recent slashdot posts to admire them again.

  • wide like whoa (Score:4, Insightful)

    by darkitecture ( 627408 ) on Thursday October 23, 2014 @04:18AM (#48210825)
    >>Artec Group, a maker of 3D scanners and software, said its Shapify Booth, which can scan your entire body in 12 seconds and use the resulting file to create a full-color 3D printed model, is making its U.S. debut this week.
    >>The 3D Shapify booths are equipped with four wide view, high-resolution scanners, which rotate around the person to scan every angle.

    It's the US, you better fucking hope they're wide view!
  • hmmm....what if I just want a, um, "figurine" of just a specific part of my body?

  • Copyright/trademark issues? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by advocate_one ( 662832 ) on Thursday October 23, 2014 @04:48AM (#48210897)
    if wearing a t-shirt or other item of clothing with a copyrighted or trademarked item/logo?

  • Is there enough material out there for a 3D JLaw reconstruction?

  • Why call this a "selfie"? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by psymastr ( 684406 ) on Thursday October 23, 2014 @05:03AM (#48210947) Homepage
    How the hell is this considered a "selfie"? It's just an automatic 3D scanner. Its function is similar to automatic photographing machines whose output nobody would call a selfie.

    Ah, but you certainly sound "hip" and "cool" when discussing technology merely in the context of inane teenage habits.

    • How the hell is this considered a "selfie"?

      Because this will be its biggest consumer market. Just imagine: I can surround myself with icons of the glorious figure that is me, and they will make great gifts (suitable for worship) for all of my friends and followers as well. And who on this Earth wouldn't be interested in an ultra-realistic 3-D model of what I ate for lunch? You could almost recreate the experience of what it is like to be me, looking at my lunch.

  • I always thought it would be nice to have some kind of publicly accessible 3d scanner to get a standardized model of your body and use it to buy clothing online to make sure stuff fits properly. It would save time and reduce returns.
    • I find that not lying to yourself about your actual body measurements helps.

      If those 34 inch waist jeans are too tight to do the fly up, it's most likely that you are in fact a 38 waist, rather than that the jeans are mislabelled.

      Top tip: most people don't have the same statistics at 38 that they did at 18.

      • You must be a dude. Women's clothes are generally not labeled by measurements but by a non-dimensional number which means almost nothing from brand to brand, and even from year to year. To wit:a young women's clothing store near me recently changed all their sizes. Everything changed by one value (what used to be and 8 is now labeled as a 6). They even had convenient "conversion" charts in the store listing the "old" size, and then a column with the "new" size, exactly one size smaller.

        Men's clothes are les

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by swb ( 14022 )

          I've bought clothes from LL Bean for over 25 years. On more than one occasion over that time I've noticed new pants bought in the same size and style as I've been wearing suddenly getting a little roomier.

          I'm not sure if the sizing changes were the result of changes in fashion or adaptation to a clientele with more girth. If you look at magazines from the 1960s and 1970s, a lot of mens clothing was much slimmer fitting and perhaps a looser fit became the fashion standard. But it could also be that peopl

        • Shirts usually come with a collar size measurement - 15", 17.5" etc. Only cheaper shirts Ive seen come with a generic size band of S,M, L etc

          • Dress shirts come with collar size measurement. If you're buying t-shirts or non-dress long sleeve shirts, though, you need to content with Small-Medium-Large-XL. I can be a medium from some places (where mediums run large), a large in other places, and XL from some places that run their sizes on the smaller side. Clothes are one of the few items I mostly refuse to buy online (with the occasional TeeFury shirt as the exception) because of this sizing issue.

  • No doubt there will be a brisk trade in copied files of some of the cuties who will use the booth to make anatomically perfect dolls of themselves.

    • Where do you think Skynet will be sourcing its replicants from? C'mon, look at the timeline and start to do the math, then all this makes perfect sense.

      • So the Terminators won't actually look like Arnold, but will appear as good looking women. "Run, everyone! Run! Hey, stop gawking at them! They aren't women! RUN!!!!" *entire group gunned down while they stare at the Terminators*

      • You may be onto something there. I mean, seriously, without this kind of lure, how would they ever get good-looking women into WalMart?

  • I wouldn't mind a time when shops had this and could use it to print (or, somewhat more old-fashioned: sew) clothes THAT ACTUALLY FIT. For some or other reason I have a hard time to find clothes that are long enough around the legs, arms, and body, not too tight around the shoulders and a little less tent-like around the waist. No, I'm not exceptionally tall and I also do not have a body builder upper body. Just dislike the Made In China (for Americans, presumably) stuff sold where I live.
  • The selfie being an evident sign of narcissism, isn't a 3D selfie a thing of hypernarcissism? Why would I want a figurine 3D of myself?!? #WTF

    • Artec (the company behind this) has a storefront in downtown Palo Alto, so I decided to go in and get one myself. I'm not a narcissist, I just thought it would be fun, and wound up giving my figurine to my wife as an anniversary present (like a framed photo, only 3D).

      BTW for those that are curious the storefront literally uses an XBox to do the scanning (unless you pay a lot, I think $200, to use a professional grade scanner). They don't do the printing on-site so I'm not sure how that's done, and I also

  • Presumably the taller models costs more due to the extra material involved. Shouldn't the price also therefore be varied by waste size? A 6 inch figure of a super model will use a lot less plastic than a 6 inch figurine of my manly figure.

  • Without that, what's the point :-) .

    Go ahead, make some Rule34 versions of what "bobbles" you want to get.

  • Of course, there are lots of salacious possibilities, but also a lot of quite ordinary.

    It would be cool to have something like this of my wife and I or my family every few years.

  • I was at an event last weekend that had a photo booth. Before using it, you had to sign a waiver letting them use the photo for whatever they want.

    Who owns the scan of you in this case?

  • a gym. If you're unhappy with your shape at a supermarket, you'll probably buy less, but at a gym they can be all "we'll get you into the shape you WANT to be!"

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