ANTHONY STUART

About the Project

As a final project for my MAS.111: Fundamentals of Media Design class, I was asked to create a piece of artwork that showed the intersection of art and technology.  Since I love 3D printing and had recently heard about 3D scanning, I decided to explore 3D scanning as a tool for art creation, not just for realistic images, but also for more abstract art styles.

The Process
I used a Kinect sensor and a free program called Skanect to create 3D printable STL files from the 3D scans. To create the scan, I simply moved the Kinect sensor around the object until all angles of it had been captured. The program then recreated all of the information and allowed me to export the file. The scanning technique used varied depending on the object being captured. When capturing my upper body, I sat in a rolling chair and rotated myself slowly while the Kinect stayed largely fixed. However, a full-body standing piece or an environment piece would require an additional person to move the Kinect around while the subject stayed completely still. 

Results

I created seven art pieces, each of which portrays myself in a different art style. These pieces were displayed at the MIT Media Lab during the MAS.111 final project exhibition. The descriptions and art pieces can be seen in the slideshow below.