Company Offers Creepily-Realistic Masks of Clients

Zothecula writes "It appears that there's a number of customers willing to pay a lot to be in possession of a lifelike replica of their face or even their whole head ... or at least, REAL-f hopes so. The Japanese company offers extremely realistic 3D models of human faces and heads made using vinyl chloride resin, based on its own technique called 3DPFs (3 Dimension Photo Forms)."

FTFY

[TheSpoom]

It appears that there's a number of customers willing to pay a lot to be in possession of a lifelike replica of someone else's face or even their whole head...

FTFY

Re:

[hedwards]

That was my first thought. This would be a godsend for anybody that's wanting to pretend to be somebody else. And what happens if it's stolen? I doubt very much that the police would accept that as an excuse if you've been arrested. It might add some doubt in court, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Re:FTFY

[cornface]

That is not what people would use them for. Let's be honest.

Re:FTFY

[Nadaka]

Put your own face mask on your partner, takes narcissism to a whole new level.

Re:

[timeOday]

I would have modded you but +1: Insightful and -1: Sick cancelled each other out.

Re:

[The Archon V2.0]

Put your own face mask on your partner, takes narcissism to a whole new level.

Not that new. Liberace did that with plastic surgery [wikipedia.org] YEARS ago.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

If you are that sick, then f*ck you!

Yes, that's the idea!

Re:

[Kamiza Ikioi]

So you really can tell someone to go F' themself, brilliant!

Re:

[tehcyder]

That is not what people would use them for. Let's be honest.

But the problem is, how would you get access tof Natalie Portman's face/head to copy it? I foresee a whole new level of stalking going on.

Re:

[SleazyRidr]

As the second commenter to TFA said "I can see several uses for this not all of them illegal."

Of course, the illegal ones are the most fun ;)

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

There's a way around this. Buy an extra copy. Have a trusted friend or family member hold on to it. Bring it in the courtroom. When the trial begins, don the mask and yell OBJECTION! at the first reasonable opportunity. Seeing the resemblance will disturb the jury, especially if the gender doesn't match.

Re:

[tehcyder]

I'm Spartacus!
No, I'm Spartacus! etc etc etc
Don't forget the Romans just crucified the whole lot of them.

Re:FTFY

[dgatwood]

I was totally wishing I had something like this last week when there were all those hundreds of reporters at Apple's campus.

• Don a black turtleneck and torn blue jeans.
• Walk over there into the crowd.
• Wait until a reporter starts doing a report.
• Put on a Steve Jobs mask.
• Stick your head up over the top of the crowd in front of the cameras.
• Duck back into the crowd.
• Take off the mask.
• Walk away quietly as if nothing had happened.
• Wait for the 10:00 news that night and the rumors that ensue.

Maybe it's just me, but I think Steve sightings could become the new Elvis sightings.

Re:

[Lord Balto]

As the next young man jumps off the roof of one of Apple's factories in China.

Re:

[bill_mcgonigle]

Maybe it's just me, but I think Steve sightings could become the new Elvis sightings.

You have a sick, twisted mind. Please subscribe me to your newsletter.

Re:

[mcmonkey]

Because the different heights, body types, voices, bone structure, movements, and mannerisms won't make a difference as long as you have that other person's face.

If you don't want to be recognized, just put on (or take off) a pair of glasses. Works for Clark Kent.

I need them

[Smallpond]

This is perfect to outfit my team of Ninja bodyguards. The assassins won't know who to attack.

Re:

[fragfoo]

This is perfect to outfit my team of Ninja bodyguards. The assassins won't know who to attack.

They will attack the one without a blank face expression.

Re:

[Nadaka]

They are from Japan, they are supposed to have blank facial expressions.

Re:

[The Great Pretender]

Hell with Ninjas I need to get one of Kate Beckinsale for the wife...you think they do whole body models?

Re:

[nullchar]

Yeah, that's called the Real Doll [NSFW] [realdoll.com].

Re:

[Hillgiant]

They will attache the one they can see.

Re:

[McPierce]

This is perfect to outfit my team of Ninja bodyguards. The assassins won't know who to attack.

Just don't hire those midget body guards you were eyeing before...

American style

[roman_mir]

I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

Re:

[Darinbob]

But they won't quite be the same as faceless minions then.

Elvis.

[Anonymous Coward]

Guess there's gonna be a lot more Elvis sightings.

Going to be a big issue.

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

The security camera does not have high resolution. Criminals can make use of this and fake alibi and to throw suspicion on others. Already some high school kids photographed the license plate of the teachers they disliked, printed them at real size, stuck it on their own cars and went through camera-equipped red lights. The teachers are getting hundreds of dollars of fines and they have hard time fighting it. With this technology, crime fighting is going to get very very complicated.

Re:

[hierophanta]

security cameras have extremely high resolution. I dont know why you think the opposite. - i say this from experience and am too lazy get a link. but the ones we use can read the text 'bic' on the pen in your pocket from a good distance (30-45 feet)

Re:

[sconeu]

After you use the "enhance" command 10 times, right?

Re:

[Culture20]

Real-Time security cameras have high res. Cameras intended for recording are almost always low res (esp in high traffic areas) because otherwise the recordings would be huge.

I have a feeling that

[gurps_npc]

President Obama is going to show up at crime scenes a lot more often. Hm, I may need to get a "Sarah Palin" mask for when I speed through red lights.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Honey, we got a ticket in the mail for running a red light. Who is this woman driving your car?

Re:

[pixelpusher220]

Nevermind, but would you mind wearing this mask while we have sex?

Re:

[pixelpusher220]

She may claim I'm a 'small business', I prefer to think of myself as 'too big to fail'!

Re:

[KingMotley]

Are you looking for a government bailout?

Re:

[pixelpusher220]

I'd prefer to 'make a deposit' ;-)

Re:

[CreatureComfort]

You want to have sex with Sarah Palin? That's sick.

Re:

[tehcyder]

You want to have sex with Sarah Palin? That's sick.

Not as sick as voting for her.

hmm...

[rish87]

I need to make my girlfriend wear one of these made from my face. I'm VERY narcissistic .

Re:

[GodfatherofSoul]

Yeah, now when she tells you to "Go fsck yourself" you'll be more inclined to do so!

Where Did I see this?

[alexander_686]

Now I was reading somewhere - can't rember - about a copanany unveiling a Personalized Anime Robot Girl? Maybe we can cross these technologies?

Re:

[Captain Spam]

Now I was reading somewhere - can't rember - about a copanany unveiling a Personalized Anime Robot Girl? Maybe we can cross these technologies?

Yeah! Then we'd finally see if the uncanny valley is additive or multiplicative!

Re:

[OzPeter]

Now I was reading somewhere - can't rember - about a copanany unveiling a Personalized Anime Robot Girl? Maybe we can cross these technologies?

Throw in a dose of Real Doll [realdoll.com] and it gets even more interesting.

Darkman

[WizzardX]

This reminds me of an an interesting 1990s superhero movie called Darkman [wikipedia.org]. In that movie, a scientist is brutally attacked and disfigured by mobsters. Darkman uses his lab to make fake faces, which he then uses to go under cover and destroy the mobsters (framing them against each other, etc). He's also crazy and immune to pain :-)

I can tell who the target market is...

[JohnnyBGod]

I can tell who the target market is... people who enjoyed M:I 2.

Re:

[Capt.DrumkenBum]

Who are these people? We need to get them professional help at once!

Yawn.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yawn, these guys [spfxmasks.com] will make an entire silicone head mask that can be taken on and off easily and moves with your face. [youtube.com]

Re:

[Big Nemo '60]

I was just thinking that the two companies should partner together, and offer totally customized masks made on request.

What could possibly go wrong?

BTW masks from SPFXmasks have already been used to perpetrate crimes:

News - Bank Robbery Suspect Fools Cops with Realistic Mask - InsideEdition.com [insideedition.com]
Face mask that's so good every crook wants one - Americas, World - The Independent [independent.co.uk]
Spfxmasks - Gizmodo stories - Gizmodo [gizmodo.com]

A Head for Crime

[lorinc]

Reminds me of a comics by Franquin called "La mauvaise Tête" in french... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_mauvaise_t%C3%AAte [wikipedia.org]

Plan "a-head", save on surgery

[wrencherd]

The price should scale down the older one gets.

If you get it down when you're 22 it's a lot more valuable (in terms of avoiding plastic surgery later on) than if you are "of a certain age".

Past 88 years, it ought to be free. (Unless youre with the IM team.)

been there done that

[beschra]

Just ask Peter Graves and Tom Cruise. Well, I guess you can't ask Peter Graves anymore, but Tom Cruise is still available.

Mission Impossible movie multiple faces

[peter303]

There was an early Mission Impossible movie where they pull off face mask after face mask. I wonder if they were real masks or special effects.

Re:

[freeze128]

Before that mission impossible movie, there was a whole Mission Impossible TV series (Two, actually). Watch them. They are much better than the movies.

Re:

[Lord Balto]

Yeah, I used to watch those. The masks always seemed the most hokey part of the show. No mask is that realistic.

I bet he wished he kept some of those...

[Thud457]

Have you seen Leonard Nimoy [google.com] lately?
aw man, that was mean, now I'm going to Star Trek hell.

Re:

[tehcyder]

Before that mission impossible movie, there was a whole Mission Impossible TV series (Two, actually). Watch them. They are much better than the movies.

That's not exactly setting the bar high.

I'd like some of my younger self

[peter303]

Maybe people could make a ritual of this, getting their faces digitized every five years. Could be interesting for posterity.

I saw Chinese "mask-dancer" this year

[peter303]

I had seen them in movies, but thought they might have been special effects. But I saw one master perform live earlier this year. He was able to flicker through 30 some masks, changing them as fast as he could flash his hand. It looks like magic. The performers work this into some historical dance and song.

Not as creepy as silicon babies

[LordKronos]

You think these are creepy? Have you ever seen silicone babies? Now THAT is creepy:
http://www.juliemolloydolls.com/silicone_babies [juliemolloydolls.com]

I've seen a number of people making these, and some are pretty poorly done...you can very easily tell it's fake. The ones in the link above a extremely realistic. They have all of the imperfections in the skin, like birthmarks, veins, blotches, etc. About the only part that isn't quite perfect is the eyeballs (sort of a glassy marble material). And the way they move is just odd.

Re:

[GodfatherofSoul]

Maybe it's just me, but newborns look pretty gross.

good for spying and to frame others

[Joe_Dragon]

Now how long before the law shuts them down?

Creepy indeed...

[timeaisis]

Uncanny Valley, anyone?

Uses

[Caerdwyn]

Hey, there are some good uses for this:

• Give to a friend to make sure you're seen somewhere else while I'm in ur kitchen takin ur cookies
  Put on a dummy to make sure you're seen somewhere else while I'm in ur kitchen takin ur cookies
  Hold your mask in front of a facial recognition camera so I can be takin ur cookies
  Back up my face before my horrible scarification ritual. Ur cookies aren't involved in this one.

Re:

[owlstead]

New feature request: automatically mod down (by personal preference) anything that uses YouTube language on Slashdot.

Re:

[tehcyder]

Seconded.

Also, whilw we're at it, any reply that begins "This."

Re:

[SleazyRidr]

This is a case where I agree with your first point, but disagree with your second.

Re:

[gknoy]

Fortunately, your "This" was followed by a space and not a period, so you're safe. :D

film-making applications of this technology?!?

[chaosmind]

a bit prohibitively-expensive for the backyard amateur filmmaker, but I'd be curious to see what FX-guys like George Romero/Tom Savini/KNB group would do with this technology. i think old-school, in-camera analog effects are always more dramatic... how will the next Martin Scorcese or Sam Peckinpah make use of this?!?

finally!

[Gravis Zero]

a decent solution to a butter face.

Guy Fawkes!

[EmagGeek]

I guess they can redo V for Vendetta now using a much more realistic mask...