With 3-D printers and scanners becoming ever more affordable, it’s great to see creatives turning their previously unrealised ideas into reality. Not wanting to be outdone by the face-shaped Valentine’s Day chocolates doled out by Japan’s ladies this Valentine’s Day, the clever people at coffee house and creative workshop FabCafe in Tokyo have come up with the perfect gift for men to give this White Day: personalized gummy men.
As part of its “Think 3D” workshop, the staff at the Shibuya-based cafe have invited the city’s men over to create an alternative White Day gift for their wives, girlfriends or generous female coworkers. For 6,000 yen (US$62), warm-hearted gentlemen who like the idea of giving their other half something soft to enjoy on March 14 are able to make their own set of gummies as well as enjoy a drink and sweets at the cafe while they’re waiting. She gets a cute gift, he gets an afternoon out to relax and enjoy a coffee. Sounds good to us.
Here we see how the alternative gummy bears are made.
▼ Models pull a silly face and stand still while their entire body is scanned and fed into a modelling program.
▼The Freeform program allows the technician to make any necessary nips and tucks. If it were me, though, I’d leave my big ol’ nose intact since it means more gummy for my wife.
▼After the data is sent to the modelling “printer”, the gummies are left to set.
▼ And since they’re soft and pliable, you can even strike unusual poses!
After that, all that’s left to do is hand them over to your loved one on the big day and smile and she sits and devours miniature versions of you, possibly by biting their heads off first.
The entire process is not entirely dissimilar to the one that our own Mr. Sato went through in creating his own lifelike figure at the end of the year. Albeit far more delicious looking. It might well be too late for this year’s White Day, but it’s good to know that there are plenty of quirky and original options open to us when we return the favour next year!
Source: FabCafe (Japanese)
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