Lotus Top
My approach is fairly unique. I scan the subject in 3D and sculpt the design using a haptic interface. The challenge is making it easy to involve customers in this process, and I believe I have a solution for that as well. Photogrammetry reconstruction is just barely becoming good enough to accomplish this sort of work. It still requires extensive measurements, carefully controlled photography, and laborious processing of the resulting data. Constructing the design itself requires some rare hardware and software that can be tricky to use (but a lot of fun). This was not my first design, but this was the first prototype where the measurement numbers were in close enough agreement that I could be fairly certain the fit was accurate (approximately 1% accuracy).
Here is the final print being worn:
I'm Happy to be offering this design and several others for sale in my Shapeways shop. The designs could simply be scaled to the customers measurements if their body type matched that of the models, but the shape is not nearly as form-fitting without an actual scan. These perfectly fitted, wearable designs are an example of the first digital couture designs on Shapeways (Continuum offers scan-fit versions on their website, but the Shapeways versions are generic sizes). If you'd like more information on how to aquire a scan, please contact me.
For those who are interested in the creation process, here are images of another design in progress:
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