A little three-dimensional you

A little three-dimensional you

Me Limited Edition is riding the early wave of 3D printing, offering replicas of its clients in action figure-like form, as well as objects for medical use

SOCIAL & LIFESTYLE
A little three-dimensional you

In the arts there’s a popular saying: “Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination gets you everywhere.” For anyone familiar with current and emerging technologies, the same can be said about 3D printing.

Three-dimensional figures made to resemble clients, printed from a 3D printer.

For those unfamiliar with the term, 3D printing is the process of creating tangible three-dimensional solid objects by using a digital file and a 3D printer. The technique once had a heavy industrial association, but today has increasingly been applied to serve various, more common uses. From bioengineered kidneys to functional guns — even an entire house — virtually anything can potentially be made with 3D printers.

For designers, the technology is the latest tool to serve their imagination. In many places in the world, 3D printing is beginning to make headway into the consumer market. Among Thai studios riding the early 3D wave is Me Limited Edition in Siam Square. Using a sophisticated combination of 3D scanning and printing, the studio’s aims to represent anything, from automobiles to pets, as tangible 3D-printed objects. Interestingly, the main service of the store is not objects, but three-dimensional printed replicas of its clients.

“3D printing isn’t really popular in Thailand at the moment,” said Supachai Prabyai, owner and creative director of Me Limited Edition. “The media was very excited of what our technology was about. But for the public, I’d say 80% of the people still don’t know about 3D printing, while the other 20% might have some knowledge about it.

“But I like the fact that there are many possibilities with 3D printing. It’s very exciting.”

In the design industry, 3D printing is largely used to build replicas of products in place of creating actual prototypes. Me Limited Edition takes an innovative approach towards the technology, building its framework around pop culture and the growing consumer market. Supachai said there are many limitations in the process of designing physical objects. In other countries, 3D technology has been employed to overcome or minimise those limitations to realise a particular design according to the imagination of the designer.

Me Limited Edition’s idea is to merge the separate technologies of 3D scanning and printing. Supachai’s experience came from seeing 3D printing and scanning innovations in Japan, a country that is recognised as being one of the first to combine the two technologies.

The process of producing 3D printed objects at Me Limited Edition is straightforward and easily understood.

Whatever object that is being created as a 3D model needs to undergo 3D scanning to capture its physical dimensions. This is done with the Artec Eva, a scanner that provides a quick and accurate scan in high resolution and rich colour.

Once every detail is digitally captured, computer software translates the data into a model that the 3D printer can create.

Me Limited Edition uses the Projet 660 Pro, a colour jet printer that uses an automated powder and recycling system to produce 3D printed models in 256,000 colours.

Prices from the services offered at Me Limited Edition differ depending on the type, size and level of detail needed for the order, but usually range from 4,000 to over 40,000 baht.

While Me Limited Edition largely caters to creative products, the store also has other 3D printing services, namely in healthcare. Although the idea is unusual in Thailand, many countries, including Japan and the US have begun using 3D printing for medical purposes. From printing prosthetics to creating blood vessels, the technology offers great benefits in healthcare.

At Me Limited Edition, Supachai frequently uses the store’s equipment to produce 3D-printed body parts and limbs for Thai doctors and hospitals free of charge.

There are other novel uses of 3D printing. In China, the printers have been used to build houses, and there are ongoing developments in Germany to produce 3D printed food suited for palliative care.

Research and development of 3D printing is seemingly vast, but the technology itself is still treated as a fairly new concept in Thailand, and there is a general lack of recognition of the various implications of 3D printing in Thai society.

“People need to see the importance of the technology,” said Supachai, who believes that for 3D printing innovations and developments to happen in Thailand there must be encouragement to exploit the technology’s potential.

For 3D printing to become prevalent in Thailand there should be institutions and organisations established specifically for the technology.

“Other countries have been moving forward with 3D printing,” Supachai said. “There’s a need for this technology in Thailand.”

Supachai Prabyai, owner and creative director of Me Limited Edition.

A combination of 3D scanning and printing technology lets you have a mini replica of yourself.

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