Start-Up Links Virtual Objects, 3D Printing

To print a 3D object you have to start with a 3D model. But what if you want to print different types of virtual objects, things that only exists as images in a video game or as a rendering, and you don't actually have all of the data that you would normally find in a CAD model? Up to now, that's been impossible. There simply isn't enough information in an object optimized for virtual display to create a 3D object.

Whispering Gibbon, a Newcastle-based start-up in England, claims to have solved that problem.

The company says its technology can allow users to generate their own custom figurines or items from images captured within video games or even movies. To create models using the incomplete visual data available from the images in a video game, for example, the company has developed a technology it calls RenderFab.

According to the company:

“RenderFab is a technology for converting objects optimized for visual display to models optimized for 3D printing – it is the only fully automated system to guarantee the structural and visual integrity of any model whilst minimizing cost and material usage.”

The solution fills in the blanks left in these images so that models can be built from the incomplete visual information. Users can create custom characters in specific poses, print parts of a Minecraft construction (as well as other types of user generated digital environments), or print live, in-game image captures.

The company plans to commercialize the technology with the help of grants and funding from the Microsoft Ventures and Innovate UK.

Source: Forbes