This article was taken from the May 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Throw away that selfie stick -- now anyone can print a Grecian bust as the next step in self-immortalisation. "Scanning takes a fraction of a second, so you don't have to stand still," says Alewijn Medendorp, CEO of ScanLounge. Launched in 2014, the Dutch startup wants to reintroduce the family photo in sculpture form. The process uses 68 cameras in ScanLounge's studio-based pod, and snaps can be retouched. "It's possible to perform digital plastic surgery," says Medendorp, 43.
Other startups getting in on the trend include London-based iMakr and Berlin-based TWINKIND. "It's a novelty product now, but in the future these figurines will be more commoditised," says iMakr CEO Romain Kidd, 30. The next step: mobile body-scanning devices using your smartphone, with TWINKIND set to launch a version later this year.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
