Transforming 3D reality

By Annie Aggarwal

Photography: People’s Industrial Design Office   

Read Time: 2 mins 

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3D Copypod is a 3D scan booth, where a transformable structure combines with photographic equipment to allow instant digitization of varied subjects.

Conceived by Beijing-based studio People’s Industrial Design Office, the structure is a seamless blend of design, mechanics and technology.

  

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To briefly revisit, what transformable structures are: These are structures capable of transforming their shape and size in a smooth and continuous process based on their underlying geometry. Transformable structures effectively add portable buildings, retractable coverings, kinetic surfaces and more to the lexicon of architectural possibilities.

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Hoberman’s sphere patented by architect, inventor Chuck Hoberman, which inspires the structure of the 3D Copypod, manifests the idea of transformable structures. The interlocked pieces of the sphere (a dome in the case of the 3D Copypod) can be spread apart by a synchronized scissor-like action allowing the structure to contract and expand between a wide range of sizes, whilst retaining its shape and integrity.

 

Detail

The 3D Copypod exhibits a skillful combination of a transformable structure with technology to further the world of 3D reality.  A volumetric space that morphs easily by a minimal adjustment of strings allows scanning of small objects up to even a group of people. 

 

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The isokinetic structure also provides a framework for a spherical array of over one hundred fixed, focal length DSLR cameras, allowing construction of digital models from photographic data. The cameras allow even subjects in motion to be captured in a snap, in high quality and full colour.

Further, the structure of the 3D Copypod is enclosed within folding and flexible panels lit from the interior to ensure an apt photography environment without shadows.

 

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The experiential structure allows production of high-resolution 3D prints of various-sized subjects in a transformable space, opening even more possibilities in the world of 3D printing and transformable structures.

Fact File:

Principal: He Zhe, James Shen, Zang Feng

Project Team: Xiang Weixing, Xie Jun, Feng Ziqing, Zhang Zhen, Pablo Herraiz Garcia de Guadiana 

Location: Beijing, China