3-D printer and Kinect combine to make creepy masks

Mike Krumboltz
3-D printed mask (Do the Mutation)
3-D printed mask (Do the Mutation)

This ought to freak out the squares.

A new software program called Collagene works with a 3-D printer and Microsoft's Kinect video game motion controller to create creepy/cool facial masks. The masks, which are made from Windform materials, are designed to perfectly fit an individual's face. The Kinect acts as a facial scanner.

The project was developed by Do the Mutation. The first three masks, which you can see in the video below, made their debut on Feb. 10 at the Venice Carnival.

From Do the Mutation's site:

This project explores the border territory between physical and virtual, connecting computer code’s abstractions with the intimate, visceral dimension of body alteration’s sense brought by the mask theme. The topographic anatomy of the face acts as input for a set of algorithms that under designer’s control generate the fibers that form the object, creating a material formation that after 3d printing perfectly fits its territory, people’s faces.