Big Bang Theory turns to 3D scanning technologies

“Are you a fan of the Big Bang Theory? We are! Those geeky, nerdy, awkward, but lovable guys often remind us of…well…us! And last season on the show, those boys finally caught up with us. They stumbled onto 3D scanning/printing.

In Season 6, Episode 14 (called the “Cooper/Kripke Inversion”), Howard Wolowitz and Raj Koothrappali order customized figurines of themselves online. When the toys arrive, they are quickly disappointed at how little the dolls resemble them. Raj suggests buying a used 3D Printer and doing the job right. They scan themselves and Bernadette with a Kinect sensor and manufacture perfect replicas of each other in color.

The episode as hilarious, but there is a dark secret… Fact of the matter is, the real scanning was done with an Artec Eva scanner, not a Kinect sensor. The scans done with Kinect didn’t have the right resolution/texture for a quality, color 3D print.” – artec3d.com