For our second Connecting With 3D Printing event, we had the pleasure to speak with Dylan Saloner, founder and CEO of PocketMe. PocketMe has created a fully operating booth that can rapidly scan people. The scans are then sent off to a 3D Printing service which uses a powder material to create 3D prints of the scans. The powder material has the advantage of offering high-resolution, multi-color 3D printing.
The technology for creating the scans requires simultaneously taking pictures of the subject from different angles, identifying corresponding features in the images, and recovering 3D information from these correspondences. We discussed with Dylan how he and his team were able to creatively overcome some of the technical difficulties associated with this process. This discussion also spoke to what it takes to develop a business around 3D printing.
One of the key themes of this event however was the magic of capturing life events offered by scanning and 3D printing people. Every print reflects a particular time in someone's life. For example, one print captured a man proposing to his fiancee. Another print was made during Halloween. Yet another print captured a family of four. And we're showing in this post other examples that represent not just body scans, but people's events too. PocketMe's prints have also been used for wedding toppers. At this time the toppers are printed with powder, but could one day be printed with sugar for guests to eat or take home.
As to where the future of 3D printing lies? For Dylan, a very interesting area is building and architecture. The promise of designing and constructing homes in such a way that many parts can be built in place, at once through 3D printing is one that Dylan is particularly interested in seeing happen. The medical area is another domain where Dylan is expecting great progress: his own father has, for example, been using 3D printing to create venous models that can be used for surgical training.
Thanks Dylan for being such a great guest and sharing all these experiences with us!
We will be on a break next month due to the Holiday Season!