Japan's 3D photo booth opens for business

Using the power of 3D-printing technology, a new Japanese photo booth will turn you and your loved ones into miniature 3D figures from a regular photo shoot.

The Omote 3D Shashin Kan is a photo booth-style experience unlike any other. Rather than sitting for a standard 2D photo with a photographer in a studio, the service captures your 3D likeness using a special handheld scanner. The process takes approximately 15 minutes, in which you need to stand pretty still — so it's probably not ideal for antsy kids.

Still, if you are patient enough, once your 3D model has been captured, the studio then adds other important details, like hair colour and extra bits and pieces from clothes when the computer processes the data. Once everything has been added, your Mini Me is sent to a 3D printer, with the finished product available after a month.

Three figurine sizes are available, ranging from 10cm to 20cm in height. Unfortunately, the service is only available until 14 January 2013, but if you're in the area, it's a photo gift that keeps on giving.

It's not the first example of using the human form to create a 3D likeness. In New York, the Makerbot store allowed customers to produce models of their own heads.