Selfies in Another Dimension: The Implications of 3D Scanning

Abstract

The rise of 3D printing has been supplemented by the increasing availability of 3D scanning techniques, whereby data is collected from pre-existing objects or even people and turned into a virtual 3D model which can then be used as a design fi le for input into a 3D printer, then to be printed as a 3D object. This innovation of 3D scanning greatly expands the potential content for 3D printers, but also provides challenges to various areas of law, namely IP and data privacy, since the 3D scanning of human bodies is an initial consumer-oriented application of this technique.