3-D scanning has arrived in Central Oregon, and the technology has applications for everyone, from aviation companies to shoppers, looking for unique holiday gifts.

Digital Scan 3D, a Portland-based digital scanning company, wants to expand into Bend. To accomplish that, the company has partnered with the High Desert Maker Mill, a makerspace operated by the nonprofit High Desert Makers, to demonstrate several of its 3-D scanning tools.

One such tool is a body-scanning booth that produces an intricate 3-D digital file of one person or a group in under 10 minutes, said Richman Siansimbi, engineering manager for Digital Scan 3D.

The Artec Shapify Booth takes 12 seconds to complete a scan, as 144 LED lights rotate around a subject while cameras take 720 rapid photos, creating a detailed composite image. It’s then uploaded to the cloud, and the subject can download the scan or send it to a 3-D printer to create a figurine. Siansimbi said the personalized action figures begin at $99.

“The entire process — from a scan to a completed, ready-to-print model — is about seven minutes,” Siansimbi said.

Gator Hudson, a board member for the High Desert Makers, said the High Desert Maker Mill, located at 213 SW Columbia St., plans to host the booth at least through the end of December.

While the applications for the Shapify booth are mainly commercial, other digital scanning services offered by Digital Scan 3D have local manufacturers interested. Digital Scan 3D’s handheld scanners can be used to scan components. Hudson said the scans can be used to help manufacturing companies uncover flaws in component parts by comparing the scan to the product’s blueprint.

“It’s actually revolutionizing quality control,” Hudson said. “Now (companies) can scan every part and compare it to within microns of what the engineer originally intended.”

Siansimbi said the scanners are the first of their kind available in Central Oregon, which gives local manufacturers an advantage by allowing them to avoid shipping parts to Portland or California.

“I think it’s going to dramatically speed up the process of high-tech stuff being manufactured here,” Hudson said.

Moreover, producing the figurines through the Shapify booth requires access to a 3-D printer. Since the High Desert Maker Mill has access to several, hosting the booth there was a natural fit, said Scot Brees, president of the High Desert Makers.

Brees said the scanners would not affect the cost of membership but added that having digital scanners could attract more corporate members to maker mill.

Siansimbi came to Bend in late summer to demonstrate the product for local manufacturers, including Stratos Aircraft and Epic Aircraft.

Brees said the interest was sufficient from members of the maker mill, several of whom work at manufacturing companies in town.

“We’ve got a space and someone with the right mindset to support our entrepreneurs,” Hudson said. “It all just came together.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7818, shamway@bendbulletin.com