What item could, in a sense, potentially bring 3-D printing to the masses?

February 1, 2013 By News Staff

Answer: personalized Pez dispensers

Toronto-based Hot Pop Factory, which primarily makes 3-D printed jewelry, recently made several working Pez dispensers fashioned after individual people's heads, Gizmag reported.

To build the plastic candy holders, Hot Pop Factory scans a person's head to form a model for a 3-D printer. Using 3-D capturing software from ReconstructMe and an Xbox Kinect sensor, the designers can quickly make 3-D models, and then clean them up using Autodesk's MeshMixer tool.

A few adjustments were also made so the 3-D-printed heads would fit onto a Pez dispenser and push the delicious, chalky candy out as intended.

A trip to the Hot Pop Factory is currently required to get your own, personalized Pez dispenser, but as Gizmag says, "this is one of the more entertaining examples of what's possible as 3-D printing technology becomes more widespread."

Photo via Hot Pop Factory

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