3D-Printed Kinect-Scan-Fitted Masks

Schöne Arbeit von Do The Mutation, die eine Software für individuelle Masken per Kinect-3D-Scan und 3D-Drucker entwickelt haben. Mit Collagene kann man Masken beziehungsweise dreidimensionale passgenau auf Gesichter malen.

 Vimeo Direktmasks, via Designboom

This project explores the border territory between physical and virtual, connecting computer code’s abstractions with the intimate, visceral dimension of body alteration’s sense brought by the mask theme. The topographic anatomy of the face acts as input for a set of algorithms that under designer’s control generate the fibers that form the object, creating a material formation that after 3d printing perfectly fits its territory, people’s faces.

The set of objects produced represent a population of differentiated individuals, phenotypes sharing the same genotype. No matter how many masks might be produced, they all will share the same genetic code. The system is then flexible in offering possibilities of formal and diagramatic variation, in creating even highly different objects, customizable on different faces and as expression of different designers.

Für das Konzept gibt es übrigens auch eine ganz praktische, medizinische Anwendung – als Gesichtsprothese nämlich. In England haben sie grade in einem ganz ähnlichen Verfahren eine neue Gesichtshälfte produziert:

after years of having people stare and recoil at his disfigurement, surgeons have employed cutting edge three-dimensional printing technology to create a prosthetic face for Mr Moger, 60, in what is thought to be the first procedure of its kind in Britain.

By making scans of what was left of his skull and using computers to recreate what his face would look like, they were able to use a new type of printer that builds up layer upon layer of nylon plastic to produce the components they would need.

How a 3D printer gave a man his face – and his life – back