Paris pop-up store immortalises shoppers with 3D printed

A new pop-up shop in the hip Marais district of Paris is giving people the opportunity to immortalise themselves with a tiny printed 3D figurine for the not so tiny price of 230 euros (USD 286).
The studio, called "Le Moimee Store", hails itself as the world's first specialising in 3D portraits. It allows customers to print a figurine 1/12th their size, in whatever pose they like, wearing their favourite clothes and accessories.
"We think of it as giving new life to the portrait," said Sylvie Roche, the project director.
But it's a portrait with a different perspective.
"You know what you look like in a picture, but the day you see your 'Moimee' you go 'Wow, I look like that'?" said Roche.

The Moimee studio has just opened to the public, and is a venture of The Vibrant Project, a company specialising in digital and interactive art installations.

Before its official opening, the company held a contest called "Le Peuple des Cours" or "The People in the Courtyard", where participants could win one 3D printed version of themselves, and have a second one used in a special art installation representing the Marais neighbourhood.
So far, about 150 winners have been immortalised as figurines and about 15 people have come to purchase them at the pop-up shop.
The new store hopes to surf the wave of 3D printing, which is fast becoming the hot new trend -- as well as big business.

According to research firm Gartner, 3D printing is one of the top 10 strategic technology trends for 2015, with global shipments of printers expected to double by then.