Company offers 3D Printer Model service

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - Are you ready to see yourself as a 3D model? How about a family shot, or your favorite pet standing there to look at every day?

A German company called Doob has developed the technology to take a 3D photo of you, then use 3D printer technology to create something a snapshot never could do, create your own 3D figurine.

"I don't think we've ever said no to a request, I mean there are some things people want to do that are just very difficult to print," said Michael Anderson.

"The first step to getting scanned is figuring out how you'd like to pose," said Anastasia Tighe.

Doob's customers pay hundreds of dollars to strike that pose inside "The Doob-Licator."

54 cameras ring the walls of a polygon shaped structure. Each snap captures 54 images at the same instant which Doob's software converts into a high-resolution 3D file.

"We have a lot of proprietary processes," said Anderson.

And after more than 10 hours of 3D printing, dusty figurines emerge from a bed of powder.

"I think we've gotten the product to a point where it can really start to appeal to the mass-consumer, it's not just 3D printing for the sake of 3D printing, it's really a product that people connect to emotionally," said Anderson.

Each figure is then bathed in a solution and emerges revealing colors and details. After some last minute handling the final products ship out to consumers, three weeks after their photos are taken.

"Instead of a vanity purchase it's an emotional purchase, so it's families coming in, getting their children scanned, coming in with their pets," he said.

3D replicas of the animals and people we love have brought Doob to at least three different countries. But in the future the German company hopes to build a digital avatar in a matter of minutes allowing it to offer something greater.

"Try on clothes online, you can be yourself in a video game, we can work with businesses to custom make products for the individuals," said Anderson.

So far Doob USA has stores in New York and Los Angeles only, but it's hoping to expand. The standard 3D image costs $95 and the price goes up about $100 for every two inches in height.

For more information visit: www.doob3d.com