SoraNews24 —Japan News—

Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.

TOP

» Internet
TOP

• Japan
» Exciting promotional campaign offers chance to win horrifying cat figure

Featured

Weird
Studio Ghibli
Jobs

Exciting promotional campaign offers chance to win horrifying cat figure

Preston Phro Sep 22, 2014
Tweet

DMM6

When it comes to science fiction technology made real, 3-D printing is one of the most exciting. While we might all say we wish we had jet packs, the fact is that 3-D printing had 96.6 percent fewer leg burn injuries in a direct comparison that we just made up and is totally not real. But putting fake statistics aside, 3-D printing not only enables for cheap, efficient manufacturing, it also allows us to make figures out of nearly anything we want with little more than photos and some software.

And to prove it, Ima Topic and DMM.make, the web-based 3-D printing division of web-retailer/video-on-demand company DMM, are offering what can only be described as a horribly awesome campaign: A chance to win a figure of Setsu, the gorgeous, blue-eyed house cat who looks like roadkill when she sleeps. This is one contest you will almost certainly regret winning!

Setsu, the adorable white-haired cat of Japanese Twitter user Mino, has turned into something of an Internet celebrity thanks to her bizarre way of sleeping. While most cats look mind-destroyingly cute when napping, Setsu looks as if she had just drank a gallon of antifreeze. Kimokawaii is definitely a thing in Japan, but we’re still not completely able to enjoy pictures of Setsu sleeping, despite how gorgeous a cat she is. Maybe if it were just the eyes…

Well, regardless of the wave of WTF that washes over us every time we browse Mino’s timeline, Ima Topic, a blog run by Goo, is using the feline in a promotional campaign. The picture above is an advertisement explaining that Setsu has been turned into a 3-D figure thanks to a collaboration with DMM.make. In addition to the photos of the real Setsu, you can also see the computer-generated, 3-D model created for printing purposes. The uncanny valley may not usually be for animals…but we think it applies double in this case.

In case you haven’t heard of it before, DMM.make is still a relatively new project, though their aggressive marketing is attempting turn the somewhat esoteric business into a household name. The company has already produced a gorgeous commercial starring none other than Kitano “Beat” Takeshi. What the aging comedian/actor/director has to do with 3-D printing is beyond us, but he sure does make it look cool.

By collaborating with DMM.make, Ima Topic is apparently hoping to drum up some publicity for themselves as well by offering a 3-D figure of Setsu to one lucky (or, perhaps, unlucky) Twitter user. All you have to do is go to this site and click one of the blue buttons at the bottom of the page (they both open identical pop-up Twitter windows). Tweet the message and you’ll be automatically entered in a draw! You’ll also have to follow @ima_topics (so they can send direct messages to the winner) and having a shipping address in Japan. But don’t wait too long–entries will only be accepted until September 24.

It turns out that Mino has already received a figure, in case you’re wondering what the actual final product would look like. The print quality is pretty impressive, if you ask us.

Twitter (Mino)

And in case you’ve forgotten what the real Setsu looks like, here are a few photos Mino has recently tweeted. RocketNews24 is not responsible for any psychological damage that may result from viewing this pictures.

https://twitter.com/mino_ris/status/489337253081001984/

https://twitter.com/mino_ris/status/508534584984608768/

The 3-D computer model of Setsu was first compiled through a few dozen photos taken while the cat was sleeping. The photos were used by a computer program to “scan” the cat and, after a bit of touch-up by DMM.make technicians, the figure was printed using a Zprinter, which looks like it might be several hundred step ahead of the 3Doodler.

On the other hand, nothing made with the 3Doodler has ever given us nightmares…

Sources: IT Media, Ima Topic (1, 2), Goo, DMM.make, Twitter
Images: Ima Topic, Twitter