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This article was taken from the December 2012 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 <span class="s1">subscribing online.
The team at MakieLab are taking on the might of Barbie and Moshi Monsters with MAKIES: 3D-printed dolls with a virtual world to explore.
Desigining a MAKIE starts with a digital model created on the makie.me site. Customisation is key -- there are 19 adjustable sliders affecting facial features that cover jaw size, eye shape, nostril width and more. That digital model then gets printed out in 3D near MakieLab's London office, using selective laser sintering -- a process whereby a laser melts layer after layer of nylon powder into a replica of the digital model. The hair, eyes and clothes are added and the pieces put together to create a unique toy. "It's the same material used to make Formula 1 car parts," says cofounder and COO Jo Roach.
It took Roach, plus CEO and founder Alice Taylor a year to go from starting the business to mailing out the last of their test run. With the trials over, anyone can make, or be, a MAKIE -- even Wired's jet-pack-wrangling cover star Rob Brydon -- although Taylor had to work to perfect his look. "His chin! And the beard!" says Taylor. "We had to get creative to replicate them. Facial hair is still in the pipeline, so I made the beard-hair indentations with a lock-picking kit which I acquired at [hacker conference] DEF CON. I think that's pretty Wired..."
Their business plan goes beyond custom creation, though, and into a future of play that switches between digital and physical through the MAKIE's double life. By playing games online, kids will unlock new printable accessories and parts for their doll -- a set of wings for reaching level 20, or a new, scarred face after losing a life.
The first release will be a tablet game, where the digital avatars of the dolls can find or make new toys for themselves.
Then the same 3D-printing technology that made the dolls can bring the best of these new accessories into the real world.
Lastminute.com founder
Martha Lane Fox recently became board chair. She and the investors behind MakieLab's £800,000 funding see a chance for children to learn and play in a new, interactive way. "There are plenty of opportunities for children to consume content, but not many for them to play creatively using technology," says Taylor. "The MAKIE mix of toy, video game and 3D design aims to change that." Who needs imaginary friends when you can 3D-print them?
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
